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2011, Year of the Tablet?
frontwave writes "After the huge success of the iPad, with over 4 million units sold since its introduction, all major hardware vendors of PCs and mobile devices are coming out with new tablets in the next few months, including Apple with a smaller version of the popular product. Analysts estimate the market for tablet devices (over 6" screen size) to be around 25 million units for 2011."
i can foresee /. headline for the next 10 years.
"2012: is this the year of linux on the desktop tablet?" ...
"2021: is this the year of linux on the desktop tablet?"
Yeah, just like that faddish "mouse" idea Jobs got from Xerox, or that overpriced dysfunctional "computer" he and a buddy hacked up in their garage. Delusions of grandeur and crazy out-of-the-box designs left him a pauper ... no, wait, that's right, he's a multi-billionaire whose garage-startup is one of the most valuable companies in the world. Huh.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
Uhoh....I really hope this doesn't devolve into an apple flamewar. Its like debating religion around here.
My point is that the ipad is intentionally closed and crippled, and intentionally lacks features.
When everyone is running around with tablets that have native USB/HDMI/SD ports/slots, and can change their own battery, can download and install different ROM's, can install any software they want, can choose whatever cell carrier they want....when all those options are available on competing devices, the current ipad will look like a cruel joke, because all those features were available at the time, yet weren't included. Its not like the technology simply didn't exist yet.
The Linux kernel of yesteryear wasn't intentionally crippled. The ipad of today *is*.
That's not to say that the current ipad isn't a slam dunk, because it is. But the only reason apple was able to get away with such a crippled device is because they were indeed first, and if you want a usable tablet, you've got to buy theirs, and if steve doesn't want you to be able to use an SD card, you can't. But once people become accustomed to a feature complete tablet market, the ipad will indeed seem like a cruel joke, as such basic features were intentionally excluded.
It would be like if apple was the first to produce a laptop, and the only product they offered was the macbook air. Everyone says "oh wow, how cool is that, its a portable computer!!", then a year later, everyone is running around with laptops with DVD burners, replaceable batteries, a full compliment of ports, faster CPU's, and half the cost. Does that mean the macbook air was a shitty product? No, but 95% of every other laptop sold is cheaper and more feature rich. And 99% of laptop consumers, if given the choice, will choose a laptop other than the Air. My point being, 99% of consumers, if given the choice, would choose a tablet other than the ipad. But since they're not given a choice, the joke is on them.
I'm sure they will continue to sell, and I'm sure people will still line up around the block to buy ipad3, and I'm sure those that do will still insist their product is superior to everything else, and they don't want ugly HDMI ports anyway, but their share of the tablet market will likely more closely resemble their share of the computer market.
And no, I'm not predicting the demise of apple, so please don't trot that one out again. I'm just hoping for an honest discussion.