Slashdot Mirror
HP Drops Price Again For Its WebOS-Based iPad Challenger
oxide7 writes with this selection from IBT: "Hewlett Packard reduced the price of its TouchPad tablet computer again, highlighting the uphill battle manufacturers will need to overcome as they go head-to-head against the dominant Apple iPad line of tablets. Much of a tablet's success is based on the ecosystem of apps that is available to the end-user. HP is far behind Apple or even the No.2 tablet platform, Google's Android."
"I'll buy that for a dollar!"
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Are there even third party apps for this tablet? Selling it as a email/web/video playbook device doesn't do it much good if there's no third-party functionality available.
There was a time many tech users and writers were excited about WebOS. I have read many reviews claiming it was possibly the best OS, compared to iOS and Android at the time.
But HP has taken an extremely long time to ship anything running WebOS. They have a tablet out, but still have not shipped a phone with competitive hardware.
They lost their momentum......
Until there is a robust application ecosystem for the tablet, it will remain niche. Who cares if you save $100, but you can't do anything fun with it? Hundreds of apps - even if they're all good - means very little competition on pricing and features, and lots of black market segments (insert fart app joke here). It the reason I skipped the android tablets this past spring - a dearth of full screen apps.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Folks, if you want to beat iXYZ (of which I'm not a fanboi):
1. You have to have better hardware
2. A lower price
3. Or both (best)
Otherwise, why would anyone move to your platform?
That said, WebOS is an awesome open-sourceish platform. It looks great too, and it's easy to make apps.
I hope it gains traction to preserve some sanity in the marketplace and prevent a total Steve Jobs monopoly.
I see it as a partner, and not enemy of Android in this endeavor.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
lukewarm reviews criticizing the ... poor battery live
Just how bad is it? Merely journalistic hyperbole where it runs about 5 minutes less than a ipad, or is it so bad you can't watch a full length movie on one charge?
Much of a tablet's success is based on the ecosystem of apps that is available to the end-user.
B.S. journalist doesn't know anything, just repeating what other journalists say. Every user I know spends 99.99% of their time in safari, mail, facebook app, or the video/music player. With an honorable mention of the kindle app.
No one buys based on which platform has the most fart soundboard apps or the most "20 pictures of attractive women for 99 cents" apps.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
You can buy a $99 tablet at Walgreens. Of course, it's a piece of shit compared to the iPad, but if you really want a cheap tablet, they are available.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
"Bring the price down to less than $200."
Computer businesses want to preserve margin. That's why they don't keep producing older models and dropping the price. Anyone not liking that can buy a used machine instead.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Which is a damn shame, because WebOS is such a damn good mobile OS.
I'm not sure if it's this price drop or the fact that it showed up on Woot for 20 bucks off a few days ago that really is the final bell for WebOS.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Apple fans have too much money, huh? That must explain why many of the iPad competitors actually cost more?
The fact you are, 1) calling the iPad a "tablet", and b) comparing its hardware specs to a netbook, tells me you don't get what makes the iPad the dominant device in its segment.
There's also an assortment of them down to maybe $79 now on DealExtreme, free shipping on a slow boat from China. Actually, it comes by air, but you couldn't tell by how long it takes to show up. Some of them are actually quite credible, DX has relatively uncensored fora so it's relatively easy to find which ones they are.
That reminds me, I need to see about reporting some defective Foakleys.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"Much of a tablet's success is based on the ecosystem of apps that is available to the end-user."
It seems like the summary author needs to be reminded that this was precisely Apple's dilemma for decades, and to a degree still is with its desktop OS versus Windows.
Personally I'm inclined to resist any browser-as-OS solution with every fiber of my being, just as I have been software subscriptions. The writing is on the wall: the browser-as-OS gambit is intended to warm people up to the notion of software in the "cloud", and software in the cloud will inevitably lead to subscriptions. Once the instructions no longer even execute on your hardware, you're a hostage.
you don't get what makes the iPad the dominant device in its segment.
Marketing?
What is it if not a tablet?
(posted from my Xoom :)
which is totally what she said
This is a little inflammatory, but I think Apple's dominance in tablets can be attributed to the fact that tablets have no real function. With the iPhone they had an innovative product, one worth copying, but people who buy iPads do so because they're Apple's new thing, not because they really need a laptop/cellphone hybrid that can't do as much as either one. So people who aren't Apple people, the market for non-Apple tablets, have no compelling reason to purchase one of these.
OK some of hp greps linux [printers and enterprise], but at a 'consumer level' its all windows.
I use a lot of linux, but at a consumer level who buys hp computers for technical support. Can consumer support at hp do linux and windows ?
For a Windows based piece of hardware, I expect to pay less than Apple just because they are not Apple.
Apple is a premium brand.
Windows is the value brand.
Therefore, comparing an iPad with certain hardware requirements with a Windows based one, I wouldn't even consider the Windows based one unless it's at least 25% less: A Windows equivalent of the base iPad would have to go for $400.00 - max. That's my expectation in the computing World and if HP or any other Windows hardware maker can't meet those price expectations, then I'll buy Apple.
The number of typographical and grammatical errors in the article itself lead me to question its integrity
the ipad is not a tablet, it's a rectangular slab of magic !
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Before the iPad was officially announced, there was speculation it would start at $1000. And people were ready to buy it at that price point. The fact you can get them now for less than half of that is amazing.
The iPad is a tablet. I'm not sure what else you could possibly try to call it.
It's somewhat reasonable to consider tablets specs to netbook specs, in that they're often used for similar tasks. Not a lot of heavy lifting going on with either.
And there are lots of reasons why the iPads are hugely dominant. They're good products and all, but not least of which is a great track record with their previous (and somewhat similar) devices. Virtually no one who owned an iphone 4 is afraid to own an ipad too, if they're in the market for a tablet.
I mean, I wouldn't be the first to say the iPads are really just large iPhones, without the phone. It's not a hard sell for most folks.
You can buy a $99 tablet at Walgreens. Of course, it's a piece of shit compared to the iPad, but if you really want a cheap tablet, they are available.
It's a piece of shit compared to the iPad, quality Android tablets, HP's WebOS tablet and RIM's Playbook. It's even crap when compared to other low-end craptastic tablets (either 'dime store' Android offerings hacked together from second rate parts and companies, or other Android wanna-be's). At some point the value to the consumer will become the yardstick upon which purchases are based. The real question is will other players (besides iOS & Android) survive the lack of apps and features in their current crop of offerings. WebOS has a lot of upside, and Playbook needs to handle web, email, etc without pairing with a separate Blackberry.
Consumers are impatient and fickle, but they also have relatively short memories.
>You can buy a $99 tablet at Walgreens. Of course, it's a piece of shit compared to the iPad..
Well yes, $99 is pushing the envelope a little. But seriously, why can't hardware on par with an iPad or more important a Xoom be sold for $199-$250? For $250 you can buy a new, not discontinued, netbook. It has a 10" display, an expensive, battery sucking Intel CPU, a Windows license and a more complex housing including a pointer and keyboard. Compare to a tablet that replaces the Intel Inside with what is supposed to be a cheaper ARM based SoC solution, replaces Windows with Android and a tablet with an Arm uses smaller (and cheaper) LiPo slabs for batteries. On the plus side it adds a touchscreen and accelerometer and if it has 3G you usually get GPS as part of the phone plan. Why does the tablet cost so much more? A lot of people who aren't able to run the bill of materials just look at the two and know one is jacked up beyond what it should be; they are right.
Thus the only ones buying are the ones immune from price effects, or more bluntly, the iDrones. And everyone else is left wondering why they can't move product as fast as China can deliver it and make insanely great margins too. Guys, you can't, get over it and compete the only way anyone has ever competed with Apple, sell at price points they refuse to compete with and drive the bastards back into their single digit boutique niche.
Democrat delenda est
This is informative? A post laden with Apple stereotypes and a comparison of hardware without taking into account software and Q&A testing? Also a comparison between a charity to a business? There's a reason why the iPad costs more, the hardware and software is top notch over anything else.
Jonathanjk.com
The iPad is a good product because it's well *designed*, and once again not just the hardware, but the experience of using it. Apple is *good* at that part of a product. Others seem to copy the idea, but fail in the proper implementation of the concept. A lot of time they focus on spec lists, cost or miss the point in some other way.
OK, I'll throw in a software comparison for you: Windows: $$, Android: free.
Also, I suppose netbooks are sold without any Q&A, so you might have a point there: A device with no moving parts and much fewer buttons and internal connectors is certainly going to have a higher Q&A cost.
If you think that everything above $200 is not margin, YOU are part of the reason why these things still cost too much.
anything they touch turns to sand.
They could have written the book on 'How to take over a profitable business and destroy it' or 'Business Destruction for Dummies'.
I should know, having worked for them for 20+ years and seen it all happen.
Now I'm an HP Pensioner my opinion of them is that they couldn't make a decent product to save themselves.
It is a shame really. Once upon a time the was a lot of really good talent there but the Dilbert PHB says everything you need to know about HP management,
Carly was known as the 'Wicked Witch from Elbonia' in my former group (which she disbanded despite increasing business by 25% year on year).
I'd give a shit if they hadn't screwed me out of my Sprint Pre's WebOS 2.0 update.
Agreed. Although I think it's fair to point out that everything could magically change tomorrow. It wasn't long ago that Apple wouldn't even try to play in this space because of the massive failure that was the Newton.
This signature has Super Cow Powers
> Apple can get away with a huge margin because they're the market leader and quite frankly, Apple fans have too much money.
There is more to the computer then just hardware and software young grasshopper. There is the User Experience, ergo, a consistent and well-designed UI for a touch device, or I should say, lack of them, is what makes all the other touch devices look like toys compared to the iPad. You are paying for Apple's brand because you are paying for (relatively) good UI design.
Repeat after me:
- Consumers, counter-intuitively do NOT want choice (1) which is why Android's fractured hardware is a hindrance.
- Consumers, for the most part, don't give a shit about tech specs. Look at the demographics at WHO is buying the majority of iPads: people > 40 years. They just want something that works.
(1) http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html
Buying Borders would give HP about 400 stores in US overnight. Remove the stationery, most CDs and DVDs, keep the books. Divide into thirds: 1. HP tablets, phones, computers, printers, Kobo e-reader, show how WebOS connects them; 2. Coffee bar, event space with huge internet TVs, sponsor book clubs and author interviews; 3. Books, magazines, top CDs and DVD/blurays. HP will need to demo directly to customers why WebOS is great. HP should either get serious or just give up.
If WebKit would support textArea (SVG Tiny 1.2) the applications I write would work on any device using it. eg. They would scale to any screen size. As a result they would have more applications to list.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
HP released a TabletPC running Windows 7 back in October. It's called HP Slate 500. It was initially priced at $800. Today, almost one year later, the device is still sold at $800. And there has never been a promotion involving rebates or coupons. The price has consistently stayed at $800 since October 2010.
Compared to the iPad:
- thicker
- heavier
- more expensive
Yet, HP has never dropped its price....
There is more to the computer then just hardware and software young grasshopper.
Irrelevant. User experience has zero marginal cost. I'm specifically looking at the things that cost money when you make more devices. Arguably the Apple competitors are not getting the user experience right anyway, so they shouldn't try to charge for it either. The price needs to come down, a lot.
If software titles were platform independent then people wouldn't get locked in to a certain platform, and wouldn't care about buying what their friends have in order to have apps/games that talk to each other nicely. More people probably would be buying HP (or other) tablets if it weren't for this. Funny, because Apple originally wanted only web-clips and not native apps, it's the users and developers that were screaming for that. It's like they walked right into a cage and demanded for a padlock. Of course then devices probably could not run any apps locally.
Twinstiq, game news
Its completely doable. I have a $169 tablet that has essentially the same or better internal specs as the original ipad (1.2GHz A8, 512MB ram, 4GB nand flash upgradeable to 64GB), runs android 2.3, 6 hour battery life...but obviously its a little thicker and a little bit heavier and the screen isnt quite as nice as the ipads. But its $169.
Perfectly usable, runs everything I've thrown at it. Since I bought it last month I see A9 based tablets with perfectly decent capacitive screens for under $200.
The really nice part is when my six year old says "Dad, can I play angry birds?", I can hand it over to him without any concerns. Saw a mom pass her new ipad 2 to her kid the other day, who dropped it during the hand off. Smasho.
The diversity of the android market is a strong point. The fragmentation is also its biggest weakness.
Given that Android can match the Apple Platform in terms of Hardware and are pretty well on a par with the software why do Android makers act the way they do?
What do I mean?
Well
- The lack of updates. How many posts do you see where people complain that maker xxx won't upgrade their device.
Look at Apple's history with IOS. They don't abandon a device until it has been replaced by at least two models. Android makers? Well many Android devices are using software that is frankly obsolete by the time you buy the device and the maker has already moved onto another release of Android and left your newly purchased device in the dust for dead.
This IMHO is not sustainable
You might argue that people can root their device and install an unsupported version of android.
Well, aside from the fact that MOST people are not geeks and would even consider such a move, by doing so that have plainly thrown any warranty validity right out the window.
If you treat a tablet as an Appliance much like your Washing Machine do you purposley go out to invalidate the warranty? I'd be willing to wager that 90% of consumers wouldn't. Again the Apple business model wins. You buy one in the full knowlege that the IOS updates will come out and you can install them at will.
The Android market needs to get its act in order. This direction can only come from Google.
Sadly this direction seems to be totally absent because they want to keep the market diverse.
See, Strength & Weakness in the same breath.
I'd rather be riding my '63 Triumph T120.
OK, I'll throw in a software comparison for you: Windows: $$, Android: free.
Also, I suppose netbooks are sold without any Q&A, so you might have a point there: A device with no moving parts and much fewer buttons and internal connectors is certainly going to have a higher Q&A cost.
If you think that everything above $200 is not margin, YOU are part of the reason why these things still cost too much.
Spend any time at all comparing apps on Apple versus Android apps and you'll understand his comment about software Q&A. Apple apps get Q&A before published, stick to a gui convention, and almost always work. Android apps on the other hand are generally of a lower quality. Read the Android market reviews on a dozen apps and at least half will have lots of users complaining about force-closes, poor screen layout, cpu hogging, etc. The only reason I own an Android tablet is because I don't mind debugging apps or having to dig into the OS to get things running. If Apple had a 7" iPad with GPS for $250 I would sell the Android and get that instead.
Plus Apple still has far more apps than Android, even counting all the Android apps that are listed in the market multiple times under slightly different names (is that app spamming?)
Apple, for good or bad, knows how to build up anticipation to the masses of somewhat "drones", to stand in line to get their products. They are, in my opinion, pretty good at the device, but personally, I can't see paying for their devices, when I don't use mp3 or video that much. Unless HP, or any other tablet maker figures out a way to overcome the "iFans", they won't be able to compete. You have to give the ifans a REASON to leave their beloved apple products.
A product is priced based on what people are willing to pay. The fact that the iDrones are buying iPads at lower costs than usually inferior products, I guess they aren't as mindless as you suggest.
I guess those Russell Brand ads and that boxer.....whatever his name is, aren't working huh?
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
I have a palm pre phone and a color nook running CM7. I really like the nook and felt like I got a good value for my money. But going from my pre to my nook feels like getting my hands lopped off when it comes to actually using the thing. Android feels like only being able to run one app at a time, whereas with the card metaphor in webOS I can seamlessly bounce back and forth between apps, have many things running in the background, and just generally be more efficient. The number of apps in the webOS marketplace is not that big a deal to me. When I got the nook I thought "hot damn, now I can finally get some of the android app goodness." But in fact, all *I* really use is the nook app, kindle app, a good filesystem explorer (EZ Explorer), mail, the web browser, a FB app, and a Google+ app. I think that's about it. Not too long of a list, and basically all those apps are already there.
If Apple has better apps, then Androids should cost less, but they're very much in the same price range. It's the wrong comparison anyway. Why do tablets cost more than netbooks? The tablets are certainly made of cheaper hardware, and the software is free. The only reasonable answer is that manufacturers are greedy for Apple margins. They won't get them and either prices will eventually be cut in half or Apple will have the whole market to itself.
Wasn't this the very same problem with Linux at the start? (and some say till today they rather be buried with a copy of Photoshop than Gimp)
And it may not be the best solution, but what about offering a repository -- like Ubuntu's? Once people start to download things like Firefox, Opera for free, one can start charging little money for music, videos and fad apps (like that bird thingy).
BTW, this hint is not just for HP... ;-)
When is Shashdot going to get a "like" button?!
He's not complaining that it was called a tablet. He's complaining that it was called a tablet and then it's price was compared to that of a netbook, this implies the poster knew the comparison was flawed.
But it's not reasonable to complain that they are overpriced based on that comparison, since since you can use tablets in ways that you can't use a netbook. It's a different kind of device.
Love how the article makes it sound like they're just dropping the price of these willy nilly.
It's a fucking sale, they're having it from the 7th to the 9th. Companies have them all the time. It says right on the website that it's a limited time offer.
http://www.hp.com/touchpad
The article sounds more like a cock stroking for Apple.
What? The Newton wasn't a failure at all, let alone a "massive" one. Jobs axed it, along with a lot of other things at Apple, to streamline their focus. Apple was working on the iPad for years (and in fact, the iPhone came out of this project).
The only thing it failed was Jobs' return to Apple. What it wasn't was a massive success, like almost everything Apple has done for the past decade.
Guys, you can't, get over it and compete the only way anyone has ever competed with Apple, sell at price points they refuse to compete with and drive the bastards back into their single digit boutique niche.
That hasn't worked well in any market of than the PC market.
The premise of your question is flawed: the reason these tablets cost so much is because it actually costs them a lot to make them.
Ugh: "any market other than".
No, the reason they don't keep producing older models is that older models will eventually cost *more* to make, not less, and newer, *FASTER*, models will cost much less than the older model.
There's no way to continue producing older models at a profit. It's not about preserving margin (hell, in the PC world, margin is a fairly elusive thing as it is), it's about having a *positive* margin. If they could make even $10 per old PC, they would. Just take a look at the $300 shit models from Acer, Gateway, and Lenovo at your local computer store.
you don't get what makes the iPad the dominant device in its segment.
Marketing?
No, delivering a product people want. Marketing tells people about your product, but you can't keep something as popular as the iPad (and the iPhone and the iPod) popular for as long as it has been primarily on marketing.
That's what you guys have been saying about the iPod for a decade now. When the truth is much simpler: most people don't like what you like.
What is it if not a tablet?
Not a netbook, which was his point.
(posted from my Xoom :)
Funny, I recall a rather strong marketing campaign for the Xoom. As I understand it, Motorola has sold many thousand of them. But since it's what you like, these sales had nothing to do with marketing. Only the "mindless drones" who like things you don't like are that stupid!
Even this Slashdot thread quickly diverges into talking about the iPad. HP and the others struggle because not only fans of the iPad are constantly talking about it, but "enemies" of it, too. So the iPad becomes the de facto tablet.
I knew since the Xoom had a large company behind it (and a large userbase from the marketing drive) that it would be more likely to receive updates to the OS. Not strictly necessary, but nice to have. I already knew I wanted an Android 3 device, and it fit the bill perfectly (large high quality display for YouTube and LoveFilm streaming via Flash, expandable storage and plenty of RAM for the movie editor).
I have nothing against iPods since the pricing became competitive. If I hadn't already switched to Spotify rather than buying music, I'd probably have bought a 128GB Touch, whenever they get around to making it.
which is totally what she said
Although in The Marching Morons it was "Would you buy that for a quarter?" which reflects inflation between 1951 and today.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Exactly, somehow *your* choice had nothing to do with marketing, because you're so superior, but anyone who chooses something you don't like? Why, that can only be due to marketing!
At least, that's what your one-liner response of "marketing?" conveys. The iPad dominates the market because people buy it. People buy it because they like it. You bought a Xoom because you like it. Just because someone likes something you don't like is no reason to lash out at them.
And that is the focus which dooms the non-Apple manufacturers. I mean local TV ads for the LG Incredible 3G tells the viewer it has "dual core, dual channel, dual memory" - what does that mean to the average consumer? It's just pointless tech masturbation.
Argh, 3D not 3G.
"This coupon, plus a few rebate cards I'd been saving meant I was able to snag a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for about $227. Sweet deal."
http://www.sethclifford.me/stream/2011/7/25/why-yes-that-is-a-galaxy-tab-101-in-my-pocket.html
Some consumers want reliable consistent quality. Some are more willing to risk that to get choices, or simply must have the choices to meet their needs - price, keyboard, ports, storage, display resolution or size, availability, performance.
There are only two iPads, and intermittently they can't be had at all because they're sold out. When they can be had they don't meet the needs of all users, which creates demand for fairly similar products that do meet those needs. If it doesn't have a feature that you must have in a similar product the iPad may as well not exist at all for you, and you don't exist as an iPad customer for Apple either. This need, unmet, is a vacuum. It serves noone to leave this need unfilled. Nature abhors a vacuum.
Fragmentation is choice. It's that simple. Apple will continue to make a few products that are excellent with a strict set of features that serves a vast mass of people. Everybody else will serve the rest of the world's needs. Isn't that wonderful? Everybody gets what they want.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
eh...by this time, all the iDrones have already bought theirs long ago. So who are Apple selling to? Might it be new customers impressed with iPad over other fondle slabs? Or is it the sheep simply aren't intelligent as yourself and are mindlessly buying because everyone else is? C'mon, enlighten us, which excuse do you have for Apple succeeding where others are failing (so far).
One of two things are happening here:
1. TouchPads are selling poorly and HP is so impatient about the bottom line that they can't handle having a 6 to 18 month plan to get the system popular. Oh and they must not be able to afford possibly losing some money during that time.
2. They planned this from the start. I read somewhere that the breakdown on the parts and manufacturing costs for the TouchPad were around the $300 mark which means even discounted to $400 they are making a profit, or at least not losing money. They discounted it $50 and then offered a $100 rebate (which wont last I'm sure). So they got whatever early adopters they could, then lowered the price a bit. Then offered a steep temporary discount to pull in any early adopters who were perhaps a little undecided.
I think HP probably knows better than to give up after a couple months (if that?), and I imagine they have a year or longer term plan in progress. They also arent going to be running out of money any time soon. Granted I think they could have gotten this out sooner, and they should have had the Pre 3 out at the same time. I'd like to think they had this as a plan, or least as a backup plan. I'm sure if it sold like hotcakes they wouldnt have discounted it. But to think this is indication they are already dead or giving up seems shortsighted.
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
Amazon is showing 274 Android tablets in the $100-$200 range, 310 at $200 and up. You know what? Some of these are a whole lot of technology for about the price of a Kindle, or less. With hundreds of thousands of apps, that's a lot of value. Not everybody needs the $500 tablet.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
There is more to the computer then just hardware and software young grasshopper. There is the User Experience, ergo, a consistent and well-designed UI for a touch device, or I should say, lack of them, is what makes all the other touch devices look like toys compared to the iPad.
Take a look at WebOS and the QNX OS on the PlayBook -- both are vastly superior in terms to the iPad in both the UI and the nebulous "User Experience".
They make the iPad look like a clunky antique. Hell, they STILL haven't managed a notification system that's even comes close to what a 10-year-old blackberry!
Maybe someday Apple will catch up to the competition, but I'm not holding my breath. They seem to be doing quite well selling the myth that their product is easiest to use and had the best "user experience"; why bother innovating when you can dominate the market on that basis alone?
Required reading for internet skeptics
Are there any tablets running Gnome3 or Ubuntu Unity? Wouldn't this be a way to get something out the door albeit with Apps which are not explicitly designed for the tablet format.
Based on very positive experience with the Palm Pre, my s.o. bought HP's 32gb Touchpad when it came out, and loves it. She just wooted another during this weekend's HP sales -- partly for the kids, and partly for experimenting with all the homebrew geekery. From a purely consumer perspective, the Touchpad rocks. On the plus side, the hardware is top-notch, with build quality as good or better than the iPad2. WebOS is truly inspired & makes iOS and Honeycomb look a little crusty. (A game of leapfrog, I know, but currently WebOS is clearly on top in terms of usability and extensibility). On the downside, I do miss having video out and a microSD slot. Iirc only Asus officially offers USB host, but it's been provided on other devices thru their communities -- I trust WebOS community efforts will exploit the MicroUSB port.
Other cool things? Going supernOOb with JustType to have it figure out what app is best for what I need to find. Then in the next breath going supergeek and installing the UbuntuChroot environment, realizing that there are thousands of "apps" available, and firing up a full office suite (OpenOffice) in an Xwindow. My bet is that our second Touchpad will have Backtrack 5 on it within an hour of arrival. I find it interesting that the Touchpad converges both the best un-geeky grandma-friendly UI (besting even the vaunted iOS), while sweeping in vast tracts of uber-geeky tools and capabilities (lands once occupied by Maemo and MeeGo) into one unified experience.
Lack of apps? Not a problem. The as-shipped config is tremendously well-thought-out, and most core apps are there. I find it hilarious when iPad-toting friends show me a "super awesome gottahaveit app" they paid $$ for... and it's essentially a browser bookmark on the desktop. Thanks, I'll take the Touchpad's skinny app catalog over iOS's app store full of thousands of iLighter/joke apps and paid-bookmark suckerware.
This rocks. Go, HP, Go!
I think not...(*poof*)
This is informative? A post laden with Apple stereotypes and a comparison of hardware without taking into account software and Q&A testing? Also a comparison between a charity to a business? There's a reason why the iPad costs more, the hardware and software is top notch over anything else.
Apple's own software is generally vile (judging from experiience with quick time, itunes and safari on Windows) and the hardware is just commodity stuff that everyone else uses.
The only genuine advantage that the iPad has is the relatively large number of apps compared with Android.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
There is more to the computer then just hardware and software young grasshopper. There is the User Experience, ergo, a consistent and well-designed UI for a touch device, or I should say, lack of them, is what makes all the other touch devices look like toys compared to the iPad. You are paying for Apple's brand because you are paying for (relatively) good UI design.
The UI of a decent Android tablet is as easy as that of an iPad. How hard could "use your finger to press the internet icon to access the web browser" be anyway?
Web and email are what most tablets are used for.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Can consumer support at hp do linux and windows ? Yes they can. Worked at an HP Customer Service Center on contract close to LA two years ago, doing hardware and network upgrades. Several large (read fortune 500) companies have service contracts with HP and many of them are running HP desktop with Linux and HP servers. They can certainly support Linux, and they do.
Windows assumes you are an idiot...Linux demands proof.
> Isn't that wonderful? Everybody gets what they want.
Wonderful is relative -- there are advantages and disadvantages...
Capitalism isn't about efficiency -- it is about freedom to chose.
Meanwhile we waste thousands of man-hours duplicating efforts because everyone is trying to make a buck off the consumer.
Try Apple's software on a Mac dude. Yes Mac hardware is commodity stuff, nobody said it wasn't but have you seen how it works compared to windows hardware? Clean, no screws, anodised aluminium, solid build construction and integrated so nicely with the software. By the way, the iPad's advantage is not just reasons I cited regarding the Mac but regarding software, surely the quality of the Apps matter as well?
Jonathanjk.com
Eric Raymond. Read it.
In the Cathedral one group offers one thing, and tells you to like it. This works for some. Apple's making a good go of it.
In the Bazaar "anything in the explored universe can be had by a man with cash, from a starship to ten grains of stardust, from the ruin of a reputation to the robes of a senator with the senator inside" - Citizen of the Galaxy, RAH. Android's making a good go of this one.
Somehow these different paths keep leading to the same places, which speaks volumes about the nature of humans.
Help stamp out iliturcy.