When the price of something (in this case, a top-of-the-line tablet) goes from $700-$800 down to $99, that means it was a fad.
Or it could be the boring and predictable "Product Lifecycle" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle that pretty much is the same for every product. The fact is their are many factors at work here. Including the fact that the $800 tablet was priced with a massive mark-up, and existed without real competitors for a couple of years.
This has started to expand to Android devices as well, as a way of working around royalties on the SD card format and the FAT file system.
Then you object to Android devices that aren't called Nexus, most of which can't be upgraded very far past the operating system version that shipped on them if at all. Every iOS device, on the other hand, has been able to run at least two major versions after the one it shipped with.
Apple currently supports versions of Phones it *sells*. In absence of a real product line it sells legacy versions of its Phones...with its current OS. How that will work in future looks *interesting*. Android in its current form doesn't *fit* on weaker hardware of the previous generation of phones [its too advanced] although fortunately is has binary compatibility with later versions, and Google update all their Applications. The reality is potential customers are seeing *support* as a feature, and manufactures are waking up. The Nexus Line you mention is successful because it sells itself on this very feature [I notice Motorola is suddenly updating phones is previously said it wouldn't]. Your right if this is important buy a Nexus, but the reality is most users never want change...look at how iOs never changes.:)
the most jaded Android will admit that the Nexus 7 is a junk built for Walmart type consumers.
Android fills the niche of supplying disappointing cheap crap for the lower middle class to buy at Christmas time.
The Nexus 7 [10] has received universal acclaim, but its just one of many great Android devices. I agree Apple is failing because it cannot compete on price [or quality], and your right Android has devices at every price point its why its such a great platform.
Then your confused because Linux is the kernel, and nothing else. Linux based distributions are commonly grouped together as Linux [Like the Netherlands are called Holland] because its such a major component [something shared with the my desktop]. In fact every other part is replaceable [including X11].
The fact that the interface is Application based not Windows based has no relevance. The fact that I run Ubuntu on my 23" screen attached to a keyboard and mouse and Android on my 7" touchscreen doesn't mean the Linus is not going to release a new improved copy of its [arguably] the most important part of both every three months; Microsofts Lock-in (Direct X; Office) is broken as Android becomes dominant...but Again I want to run binary Android Apps on My 23" touchscreen ubuntu on my new chromebook [which runs Chrome which would I suspect fry your little brain].
Acer CEO JT Wang to tell the Financial Times that Microsoft's plans to launch its own tablet in October would be a "negative for the worldwide ecosystem" in computing and beg the software giant to rethink the move.
"We have said think it over. Think twice," Wang is quoted as saying. "It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction. It is not something you are good at so please think twice."
Wang went on to suggest that if Microsoft moves ahead with its tablet plans, the Taiwan-based Acer might replace the software giant as a partner.
"If Microsoft is going to do hardware business, what should we do? Should we still rely on Microsoft, or should we find other alternatives?" he is quoted as saying.
Who is afraid of Microsoft when everybody wants Microsoft [Apart from Dell hmmm]
Android is for second-rate iPad and iPhone knockoffs.
Except any bullshit or distortion field Apple once had...isn't working. Apple need to break into a new market or re-reinvent its current market. Its 30% decline is shares reflect its failure to innovate. Its literation is actually damaging its brand and people are starting to question its value. Its market share for phones has dropped 23% down to 14.9% and its market-share in tablet dropped again hitting 50% both with downward trends; Fresh of the largest product refresh in its history.
The bottom line is Anonymous Coward throwing mud at the more successful platform makes Apple continue to look weak and vulnerable; Apple are innovating less than the nimbler than Google [...and Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Acer, Asus, LG, Sony....]. IMHO their whole business strategy of putting profits before everything else is suddenly not working out:)...but on topic the Apple mini retails for $329 and already looks overpriced compared to the better specced, and arguably better software of the Nexus 7 that launched 6 months ago at $156; how is it going to look against $99. In context of this thread...Apples best years are behind it:p.
Android can't even put more than one application on the screen. I have a Nexus 7 tablet, whose 7 inch, 1280x800 pixel screen is bigger than the screens of two 4.3" phones side by side.
But this post has nothing to so with mine [or the whole thread], it does demonstrate how versatile Android is. Like I say personally I want touch-screen chromebook running Debian derivative with Android compatibility...and I would want that as you describe...but as for your off topic post on a 7" its a little silly.
Until you need to use an application that exists for PC but does not exist for tablet-specific operating systems. Then what do you do?
Android/iOS are hitting 700,000 applications and that trend is set to continue. All the main applications were covered years ago. The reality is the latest must have applications are hitting tablets before it will ever hit the PC [if they are ported at all]...but that has nothing to so with my point. The fact that tablets have longer battery life; more portable; HDMI out; High resolution screens...at very little cost than their net-book equivalent, the software advantages are simply icing on the cake.
You have to cut some corners in build quality to get it down to the price point.However you are right, especially Acer and Asus can make real junk if you let them to.
Ironically in the context of this article. I own a Nexus 7; Made by Asus. It was launches 6 months ago. at US$159.25 per unit, [US$19 more per unit than the Kindle Fire.]. In that context a $99 tablet without sacrificing hardware quality [in fact it should be improved, and will have higher specifications], and is part of the Nexus line so will get untainted software updates. Oh Its a steller piece of hardware, and comes with features like a high definition display something its competitors lack.
The problem with Linux on a tablet is not installing Linux but making it usable with a touchscreen.
Gnome/KDE/Unity are moving towards a more touch-screen friendly approach [whatever you think of that], as well as Linux Os's designed for it https://www.tizen.org/ and my personal favourite sailfish http://jolla.com/ you need to keep your eyes open.
I'm not arguing against netbooks. I personally would prefer an "evolved" netbook over tablet...but it never happened, because of Microsoft. Early netbooks were cheaper, came with linux, and haven't evolved from its second generation of crippled starter edition/atom 32-bit [Microsoft insisted on single processer]/Low res screens/analogue/increased. Tablets are simply better value devices that do more for less.
Limits for XP:
Display: Max of 12.1 inch screen Storage: 160GB HDD or 32GB SSD Graphics: Up to DirectX 9 Graphics CPU: Single core processors like the Atom N or Z series and VIA Nano.
Windows 7 (Starter):
Display: Max of 10.1 inch screen Storage: 250GB or 64GB SSD Graphics: No Graphic limit and for the CPU CPU: Single core processors up to 2GHz
my comment was based on Linux over Android on the tablet.
And an irrelevant one [seriously semantics!?]. That's the point sweetness. Microsoft put an extraordinary amount of time and effort into ensuring that GPL did not get a hold on the Desktop, so lost control of the OS market, Android is set to eclipse Microsoft Market share as early as next year.
However you spin it, There is no Office, Direct X, Binary Compatibility, on a platform that shares a kernel [not exactly, but benefits from] with the Desktop [GNU/Liunux if you insist] I'm using...and is the dominant platform. The fact that is not all GNU:) is something I'm not going to lose sleep over, but will be keeping an eye on project like Tizen; KDE; Ubuntu to see what they are doing in the mobile space [I'm pretty much sold on the first of these that offers binary compatibility with Android].
Your desperate to paint the loser Microsoft into having any kind of relevance, in a topic where it is considered a joke, and has a business model that does not fit with a $99 tablet. [I've ignored Apple as they seem to want to occupy the same niche they did in the PC market, and that worked out really badly.]
Raspberry Pi, 5 dollar keyboard and a TV and THAT IS IT! Wanna bet he won't take that deal? Wanna bet NOBODY on Slashdot will?
LOL I have been hooking my 2nd PC upto my TV, for the past 10 years. Actually I currently using a Fujitsu siemens Scaleo E running Ubuntu which uses a Celeron CPU and an i915 graphics, and replaced its earlier incantation that was a pentium PC that only really ran Windows 98.
Apples market share is not shrinking when you consider real tablet usage.
That does not even make sense. We have Apple launching a last generation device like the iPad mini [low resolution; low memory; old CPU] at twice the than of established competitors like the Nexus 7 [High resolution, new CPU] with standard connectors....yadda yadda yadda, and we are expected to believe they are not being used [rolls eyes].
The reality of Apple is they needed to to compete with both cost and innovation, they failed on both accounts [across all their product lines] and their stocks are taking a battering as a result, bullshit on forum discussions is not going to change that.
I found netbooks clumsy devices because of the small (lower res) screens and the small ficky keyboards. Even today I still don't see any good use for them.
...and there is no reason they couldn't include higher resolution screens...or better keyboards. You could use them exactly like you would a tablet or a keyboard
*I'm gonna let you into a secret people create content *all* the time from tweets to email to photos MORE than they ever have. What has lost importance is Office.
I too welcome the next eight years being heralded as "the Year of the Linux Tablet", after all of the success of Linux on the desktop.
Linux is already becoming the dominant platform on the tablet, as it did on the smart-phone. The truth is Andorid is becoming the next dominant platform. Your post dates back to a time when computing was about Microsoft and its monopoly due to inertia. Those days are gone...we now talk about the "pack of four", and well Microsoft is not in it. That is not to say I don't want more GNU on my tablet, but we are seeing signs of that everywhere from Tizen; KDE; Ubuntu etc etc.
Netbooks, at least with a proper OS, were actually useful
No Netbooks were intentionally crippled by intel and microsoft ladened with a starter edition OS [expensive], no touchscreen, no HDMI out, and expensive. for the sake of its more expensive laptop market, and to kill Linux. Then the iPad happened...and the strategy looks kind of stupid. I bought a Nexus 7...I never bought a netbook, and desperately wanted one.
would be those that run Linux instead of Android. Archos tablets support Angstrom Linux, but it would be better if one of the bigger OEMs such as Acer were o offer Linux tablets. Many more use cases and usage senarios would be possible then.
Microsoft successfully derailed Linux on the netbooks, and killed meego by killing Nokia; costing them Billions. Microsoft have been incredibly successful in not letting GNU/Linux win. Its kind of sad as all that has happened is they have been made irrelevant by the "pack of four".
The reality is GNU/Linux [if I can call that today], will survive, due to its open nature. I'm personally looking forward to running Android applications on my new touchscreen Chromebook running Debian [one of its derivatives].
tablet is an analog of a clipboard, not a typewriter
No a Tablet is just that a tablet. I play games; read books; surf the internet; watch movies on mine...I have never used it for anything I would a clipboard for. Ironically exactly the same things I would have used a netbook for, if Wintel hadn't broken the market by putting a crippled OS; No touchscreen; Low resolution displays; HDMI out...ironically sone of these were solved by the suface, for 5x the cost!! I'd own one; I bought a Nexus 7. I'm tired of this swings an roundabouts argument, when the truth is Netbooks...including surface don't have a dog in the fight, look at the title $99.
Get your china-cheap tablet today, for $99.99, and tomorrow, get anotehr for $99.99 !!. Why so cheap ?? Because tomorrow you WILL need to buy another !!
Interesting the reverse is true. the iPad the most expensive device on the market six times more expensive than a better value tablet elsewhere, yet comes with proprietary software, hardware, with a shrinking market share...and no expandable storage. I object to that built in obsolescence, but ironically it only happens on overpriced electronics. Its [one of the many] why I think Apple is unhealthy right now, and Android is doing so incredibly well.
I would rather claim the reverse. Tablet sales are displacing sales of "more capable machines" at an astonishing rate. A $45 tablet already fulfills the computing needs of a whole lot of people, why should they spend more on a PC?
Those high-priced PCs will be relegated to the niche of users who require functions that a tablet or smartphone cannot provide.
I am sure that a $5 keyboard is not an expensive addition to a $45 device. Hell we have seen mainstream devices like the pi that use a TV for a monitor, that are in every way as functional as a hi-priced pc, and cheaper than $45. The form factor for tablets is different, and the interface is designed for fat fingers...but price is not so different don't kid yourself. As for Capable, seriously one simply sacrifices [trades] input for portability.
No, the church example was a perfect comparison. Usually people...
The original poster was a bigot trying to associate one [artificial] negative cogitation with onto another. IT was simply offensive.
I'd address your other points, but clearly you live in some kind of fantasy where large corporations play nice, and where Advertising isn't an effective method. I don't live in the same world as you.
They're getting desperate. This is like a church handing out pamphlets outside of a movie theater or arcade. It'll all go in the garbage, and end up being a waste of time and resources.
That is called advertising, and its just how things work. Would you feel better if it was a multi-million dollar smear campaign, like Microsoft is buying [and openly I might add], or backroom deals done with politicians and companies. This is how Google make money. In fact this sort of advertising is how advertising should be to "inform" not "brainwash". Now you could argue its poor use of time and money compared to some alternative, but as time is freely given, and CD's are pretty disposable your answer would probably end.,,on the internet [Sigh]. The fact that your example involves a religion...instead of coca cola speaks of your own bigotry, ironically your church example is pretty poor, as Religions tend to do well from this type of advertising.
Race to the bottom is simply good old capitalism "compete on price". Its used here to justify Apples excessive product mark-ups [higher than every other company]. Which has worked out very "profitable" in markets where it had first mover advantage, elsewhere no so much, but the market is maturing, and Apple cannot continue gouging its customers. This is just normal product cycle behaviour.
The reality is though price is just one way of competing, people rarely buy cheapest, In this market we can see the more popular products are competing not just on price, but features. Seriously though sell your Apple stock.
Slashdot Mirror
When the price of something (in this case, a top-of-the-line tablet) goes from $700-$800 down to $99, that means it was a fad.
Or it could be the boring and predictable "Product Lifecycle" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle that pretty much is the same for every product. The fact is their are many factors at work here. Including the fact that the $800 tablet was priced with a massive mark-up, and existed without real competitors for a couple of years.
This has started to expand to Android devices as well, as a way of working around royalties on the SD card format and the FAT file system.
Then you object to Android devices that aren't called Nexus, most of which can't be upgraded very far past the operating system version that shipped on them if at all. Every iOS device, on the other hand, has been able to run at least two major versions after the one it shipped with.
Apple currently supports versions of Phones it *sells*. In absence of a real product line it sells legacy versions of its Phones...with its current OS. How that will work in future looks *interesting*. Android in its current form doesn't *fit* on weaker hardware of the previous generation of phones [its too advanced] although fortunately is has binary compatibility with later versions, and Google update all their Applications. The reality is potential customers are seeing *support* as a feature, and manufactures are waking up. The Nexus Line you mention is successful because it sells itself on this very feature [I notice Motorola is suddenly updating phones is previously said it wouldn't]. Your right if this is important buy a Nexus, but the reality is most users never want change...look at how iOs never changes. :)
the most jaded Android will admit that the Nexus 7 is a junk built for Walmart type consumers.
Android fills the niche of supplying disappointing cheap crap for the lower middle class to buy at Christmas time.
The Nexus 7 [10] has received universal acclaim, but its just one of many great Android devices. I agree Apple is failing because it cannot compete on price [or quality], and your right Android has devices at every price point its why its such a great platform.
Then your confused because Linux is the kernel, and nothing else. Linux based distributions are commonly grouped together as Linux [Like the Netherlands are called Holland] because its such a major component [something shared with the my desktop]. In fact every other part is replaceable [including X11].
The fact that the interface is Application based not Windows based has no relevance. The fact that I run Ubuntu on my 23" screen attached to a keyboard and mouse and Android on my 7" touchscreen doesn't mean the Linus is not going to release a new improved copy of its [arguably] the most important part of both every three months; Microsofts Lock-in (Direct X; Office) is broken as Android becomes dominant...but Again I want to run binary Android Apps on My 23" touchscreen ubuntu on my new chromebook [which runs Chrome which would I suspect fry your little brain].
Microsoft is not the Monoply to fear any more.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57487883-75/acer-begs-microsoft-to-think-twice-about-surface-tablet/
Acer CEO JT Wang to tell the Financial Times that Microsoft's plans to launch its own tablet in October would be a "negative for the worldwide ecosystem" in computing and beg the software giant to rethink the move.
"We have said think it over. Think twice," Wang is quoted as saying. "It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction. It is not something you are good at so please think twice."
Wang went on to suggest that if Microsoft moves ahead with its tablet plans, the Taiwan-based Acer might replace the software giant as a partner.
"If Microsoft is going to do hardware business, what should we do? Should we still rely on Microsoft, or should we find other alternatives?" he is quoted as saying.
Who is afraid of Microsoft when everybody wants Microsoft [Apart from Dell hmmm]
Android is for second-rate iPad and iPhone knockoffs.
Except any bullshit or distortion field Apple once had...isn't working. Apple need to break into a new market or re-reinvent its current market. Its 30% decline is shares reflect its failure to innovate. Its literation is actually damaging its brand and people are starting to question its value. Its market share for phones has dropped 23% down to 14.9% and its market-share in tablet dropped again hitting 50% both with downward trends; Fresh of the largest product refresh in its history.
The bottom line is Anonymous Coward throwing mud at the more successful platform makes Apple continue to look weak and vulnerable; Apple are innovating less than the nimbler than Google [...and Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Acer, Asus, LG, Sony....]. IMHO their whole business strategy of putting profits before everything else is suddenly not working out :)...but on topic the Apple mini retails for $329 and already looks overpriced compared to the better specced, and arguably better software of the Nexus 7 that launched 6 months ago at $156; how is it going to look against $99. In context of this thread...Apples best years are behind it :p.
Android can't even put more than one application on the screen. I have a Nexus 7 tablet, whose 7 inch, 1280x800 pixel screen is bigger than the screens of two 4.3" phones side by side.
Its not something anyone want on a small screen device [a must have on a large screen I can see why Windows 8 users are upset], Although if you really require such functionality its available on the samsung 10" tablet. http://allthingsd.com/20120815/new-samsung-tablet-offers-a-stylus-and-a-split-screen/
But this post has nothing to so with mine [or the whole thread], it does demonstrate how versatile Android is. Like I say personally I want touch-screen chromebook running Debian derivative with Android compatibility...and I would want that as you describe...but as for your off topic post on a 7" its a little silly.
Until you need to use an application that exists for PC but does not exist for tablet-specific operating systems. Then what do you do?
Android/iOS are hitting 700,000 applications and that trend is set to continue. All the main applications were covered years ago. The reality is the latest must have applications are hitting tablets before it will ever hit the PC [if they are ported at all]...but that has nothing to so with my point. The fact that tablets have longer battery life; more portable; HDMI out; High resolution screens...at very little cost than their net-book equivalent, the software advantages are simply icing on the cake.
If Netbooks were so great then Apple would have invented them.
I think they call it the Macbook Air. Although personally I think these are going to look pretty shabby next to a touchscreen cromebook.
You have to cut some corners in build quality to get it down to the price point.However you are right, especially Acer and Asus can make real junk if you let them to.
Ironically in the context of this article. I own a Nexus 7; Made by Asus. It was launches 6 months ago. at US$159.25 per unit, [US$19 more per unit than the Kindle Fire.]. In that context a $99 tablet without sacrificing hardware quality [in fact it should be improved, and will have higher specifications], and is part of the Nexus line so will get untainted software updates. Oh Its a steller piece of hardware, and comes with features like a high definition display something its competitors lack.
The problem with Linux on a tablet is not installing Linux but making it usable with a touchscreen.
Gnome/KDE/Unity are moving towards a more touch-screen friendly approach [whatever you think of that], as well as Linux Os's designed for it https://www.tizen.org/ and my personal favourite sailfish http://jolla.com/ you need to keep your eyes open.
one hell of a steal
I'm not arguing against netbooks. I personally would prefer an "evolved" netbook over tablet...but it never happened, because of Microsoft. Early netbooks were cheaper, came with linux, and haven't evolved from its second generation of crippled starter edition/atom 32-bit [Microsoft insisted on single processer]/Low res screens/analogue/increased. Tablets are simply better value devices that do more for less.
Limits for XP:
Display: Max of 12.1 inch screen
Storage: 160GB HDD or 32GB SSD
Graphics: Up to DirectX 9 Graphics
CPU: Single core processors like the Atom N or Z series and VIA Nano.
Windows 7 (Starter):
Display: Max of 10.1 inch screen
Storage: 250GB or 64GB SSD
Graphics: No Graphic limit and for the CPU
CPU: Single core processors up to 2GHz
my comment was based on Linux over Android on the tablet.
And an irrelevant one [seriously semantics!?]. That's the point sweetness. Microsoft put an extraordinary amount of time and effort into ensuring that GPL did not get a hold on the Desktop, so lost control of the OS market, Android is set to eclipse Microsoft Market share as early as next year.
However you spin it, There is no Office, Direct X, Binary Compatibility, on a platform that shares a kernel [not exactly, but benefits from] with the Desktop [GNU/Liunux if you insist] I'm using...and is the dominant platform. The fact that is not all GNU :) is something I'm not going to lose sleep over, but will be keeping an eye on project like Tizen; KDE; Ubuntu to see what they are doing in the mobile space [I'm pretty much sold on the first of these that offers binary compatibility with Android].
Your desperate to paint the loser Microsoft into having any kind of relevance, in a topic where it is considered a joke, and has a business model that does not fit with a $99 tablet. [I've ignored Apple as they seem to want to occupy the same niche they did in the PC market, and that worked out really badly.]
Raspberry Pi, 5 dollar keyboard and a TV and THAT IS IT! Wanna bet he won't take that deal? Wanna bet NOBODY on Slashdot will?
LOL I have been hooking my 2nd PC upto my TV, for the past 10 years. Actually I currently using a Fujitsu siemens Scaleo E running Ubuntu which uses a Celeron CPU and an i915 graphics, and replaced its earlier incantation that was a pentium PC that only really ran Windows 98.
Would you like photos :)
Apples market share is not shrinking when you consider real tablet usage.
That does not even make sense. We have Apple launching a last generation device like the iPad mini [low resolution; low memory; old CPU] at twice the than of established competitors like the Nexus 7 [High resolution, new CPU] with standard connectors....yadda yadda yadda, and we are expected to believe they are not being used [rolls eyes].
The reality of Apple is they needed to to compete with both cost and innovation, they failed on both accounts [across all their product lines] and their stocks are taking a battering as a result, bullshit on forum discussions is not going to change that.
I found netbooks clumsy devices because of the small (lower res) screens and the small ficky keyboards. Even today I still don't see any good use for them.
...and there is no reason they couldn't include higher resolution screens...or better keyboards. You could use them exactly like you would a tablet or a keyboard
*I'm gonna let you into a secret people create content *all* the time from tweets to email to photos MORE than they ever have. What has lost importance is Office.
I too welcome the next eight years being heralded as "the Year of the Linux Tablet", after all of the success of Linux on the desktop.
Linux is already becoming the dominant platform on the tablet, as it did on the smart-phone. The truth is Andorid is becoming the next dominant platform. Your post dates back to a time when computing was about Microsoft and its monopoly due to inertia. Those days are gone...we now talk about the "pack of four", and well Microsoft is not in it. That is not to say I don't want more GNU on my tablet, but we are seeing signs of that everywhere from Tizen; KDE; Ubuntu etc etc.
Your out of date.
Netbooks, at least with a proper OS, were actually useful
No Netbooks were intentionally crippled by intel and microsoft ladened with a starter edition OS [expensive], no touchscreen, no HDMI out, and expensive. for the sake of its more expensive laptop market, and to kill Linux. Then the iPad happened...and the strategy looks kind of stupid. I bought a Nexus 7...I never bought a netbook, and desperately wanted one.
would be those that run Linux instead of Android. Archos tablets support Angstrom Linux, but it would be better if one of the bigger OEMs such as Acer were o offer Linux tablets. Many more use cases and usage senarios would be possible then.
Microsoft successfully derailed Linux on the netbooks, and killed meego by killing Nokia; costing them Billions. Microsoft have been incredibly successful in not letting GNU/Linux win. Its kind of sad as all that has happened is they have been made irrelevant by the "pack of four".
The reality is GNU/Linux [if I can call that today], will survive, due to its open nature. I'm personally looking forward to running Android applications on my new touchscreen Chromebook running Debian [one of its derivatives].
tablet is an analog of a clipboard, not a typewriter
No a Tablet is just that a tablet. I play games; read books; surf the internet; watch movies on mine...I have never used it for anything I would a clipboard for. Ironically exactly the same things I would have used a netbook for, if Wintel hadn't broken the market by putting a crippled OS; No touchscreen; Low resolution displays; HDMI out...ironically sone of these were solved by the suface, for 5x the cost!! I'd own one; I bought a Nexus 7. I'm tired of this swings an roundabouts argument, when the truth is Netbooks...including surface don't have a dog in the fight, look at the title $99.
Get your china-cheap tablet today, for $99.99, and tomorrow, get anotehr for $99.99 !!. Why so cheap ?? Because tomorrow you WILL need to buy another !!
Interesting the reverse is true. the iPad the most expensive device on the market six times more expensive than a better value tablet elsewhere, yet comes with proprietary software, hardware, with a shrinking market share...and no expandable storage. I object to that built in obsolescence, but ironically it only happens on overpriced electronics. Its [one of the many] why I think Apple is unhealthy right now, and Android is doing so incredibly well.
I would rather claim the reverse. Tablet sales are displacing sales of "more capable machines" at an astonishing rate. A $45 tablet already fulfills the computing needs of a whole lot of people, why should they spend more on a PC?
Those high-priced PCs will be relegated to the niche of users who require functions that a tablet or smartphone cannot provide.
I am sure that a $5 keyboard is not an expensive addition to a $45 device. Hell we have seen mainstream devices like the pi that use a TV for a monitor, that are in every way as functional as a hi-priced pc, and cheaper than $45. The form factor for tablets is different, and the interface is designed for fat fingers...but price is not so different don't kid yourself. As for Capable, seriously one simply sacrifices [trades] input for portability.
No, the church example was a perfect comparison. Usually people...
The original poster was a bigot trying to associate one [artificial] negative cogitation with onto another. IT was simply offensive.
I'd address your other points, but clearly you live in some kind of fantasy where large corporations play nice, and where Advertising isn't an effective method. I don't live in the same world as you.
They're getting desperate. This is like a church handing out pamphlets outside of a movie theater or arcade. It'll all go in the garbage, and end up being a waste of time and resources.
That is called advertising, and its just how things work. Would you feel better if it was a multi-million dollar smear campaign, like Microsoft is buying [and openly I might add], or backroom deals done with politicians and companies. This is how Google make money. In fact this sort of advertising is how advertising should be to "inform" not "brainwash". Now you could argue its poor use of time and money compared to some alternative, but as time is freely given, and CD's are pretty disposable your answer would probably end .,,on the internet [Sigh]. The fact that your example involves a religion...instead of coca cola speaks of your own bigotry, ironically your church example is pretty poor, as Religions tend to do well from this type of advertising.
What happened to cause the race to the bottom?
Race to the bottom is simply good old capitalism "compete on price". Its used here to justify Apples excessive product mark-ups [higher than every other company]. Which has worked out very "profitable" in markets where it had first mover advantage, elsewhere no so much, but the market is maturing, and Apple cannot continue gouging its customers. This is just normal product cycle behaviour.
The reality is though price is just one way of competing, people rarely buy cheapest, In this market we can see the more popular products are competing not just on price, but features. Seriously though sell your Apple stock.