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Then it's doomed. Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here. Whi

Then it's doomed. Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here. Which is sad, the Xoom looks like a great tablet.

cryptoz 16y ago
The Xoom will mostly compete with the yet-to-be-announced iPad 2. The Xoom's specs completely blow the original iPad out of the water, so it's likely okay that it's priced above the current iPad; we'll have to wait and see what the iPad 2 brings to the table. If Apple can hit similar specs at a cheaper price then you might be right, but I doubt that'll happen. The Xoom also has the Honeycomb advantage; I wonder what iPad 2's UI will look like. I think you underestimate how impressed average people will be when casually browsing tablets in stores. Honeycomb is gorgeous.
- Andrewski 16y ago
 It needs to have higher specs, as it is running a knocked off Java. And as good as honeycomb cereal is, Android is pretty sluggish and ugly compared to iOS. iOS is gorgeous. Nobody bought the iPad because of specs, aside from the battery life. If you think they did, you still do not understand the market, and are probably baffled that people are not buying Intel based tablets.
 - cryptoz 16y ago
 > It needs to have higher specs, as it is running a knocked off Java What? This makes no sense at all. How are those two thoughts related at all? And Android runs real Java, not "knocked off" Java. > And as good as honeycomb cereal is, Android is pretty sluggish and ugly compared to iOS. iOS is gorgeous. Oh I see, you're a troll. I'll respond anyway. Android is not sluggish compared to iOS; especially given that Honeycomb isn't even out in the wild running on real devices yet, this statement is totally unfounded. I'll grant you that iOS is gorgeous, though. But so is Honeycomb. :) > Nobody bought the iPad because of specs, aside from the battery life. If you think they did, you still do not understand the market, and are probably baffled that people are not buying Intel based tablets. iPad was a new product in a new form factor. It was a "game-changer". Nobody bought it based on specs because they had nothing to compare it to. I'm definitely not suggesting that people will buy new tablets based on specs either, but it will matter that the two devices are in the same league.
 - Andrewski 16y ago
 I'm not a troll, I'm perfectly serious. I am pointing out that Google claims that Dalvik "IS NOT JAVA!!!" which is funny because everybody knows Android runs Java™. Additionally, the specs are irrelevant when comparing the iPad, which runs C applications, to something that must ram everything through a Java VM. And I mean, irrelevant to geeks, as the platforms are so different that it is impossible to compare them based on specifications. To normal people, the specs are completely, 100%, totally irrelevant, aside from battery life. The new iteration of Android has some UI tweaks, but it's still awfully busy. It's clearly made for the power user who cares about specs. I mean, yeah, you can see two things at once. Ordinary people will just say "I typed in the wrong window." It seems like an important spec to be able to have an arbitrary number of things going on at once on the device, and their Expose knockoff is, well, an Expose knockoff, but I just wonder if they thought this through all the way, or if they are thinking in a Microsoft sort of way, that one more bullet point on a spec sheet will make that sale.
- protomyth 16y ago
 As Apple discovered from the other side of the fence, the better specs often don't overcome a large pricing difference. Also, betting that the iPad 2 will cost more than the iPad 1 is probably not a winning bet. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a price drop coming.
blinkingled 16y ago
Well, the 32Gb iPad 1 with Wi-Fi is $599 and Motorola is quoting $600 for 32Gb Xoom with load of more features - USB 2.0 port in itself is a big win along with plenty (1Gb) of RAM.
- christophe971 16y ago
  A message to anyone still believes the specs have something to do with the success of a tablet, against the iPad: Only two things matter: The price, and the OS. No tablet is even coming close to competing the iPad to this day only because of these two things. I'm not sure I actually have to dig into the mass grave of all "iPad killers" to prove my point.
  - blinkingled 16y ago
    >Only two things matter: The price, and the OS. Honeycomb based Android tablets, for the first time, are getting it right on both counts. You may not like Honeycomb and that would be your personal taste, but both feature wise and aesthetics/attractiveness/usability wise, it is looking great in comparison to iOS 4.x.
ojbyrne 16y ago
Well, the wifi version is the same price, and, given the Apple nonsense of the past few days, if it lets me read and buy Kindle books, I'm likely going to be a customer.
Kylekramer 16y ago
I don't see why it has to be doomed at this price. It is in the same ballpark as the iPad. With a subsidy, it will appear even cheaper than iPad. I am sure it won't ever beat the iPad on sales, but I can easily imagine it being a very successful and profitable product. We learned from the iPod competitors that cheaper price and cheaper looking devices, even with more features/storage, won't win. So why not go head to head with a similarly priced, similar build quality device? I feel like Apple gets this win-win perception. Competitor releases a cheaper product, it is called a piece of junk that is DOA. Competitor releases a similar or higher priced product, it is overpriced and DOA. Plus, "[a]ny tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here"? Isn't a bit early to say? There has been only one real competitor, and while the Galaxy Tab hasn't taken the world by storm, it seems to be doing a tidy business.
ryandvm 16y ago
I disagree. The Xoom has superior specs to the iPad. Pricing it any lower would give the consumer an unmistakable whiff of inferiority. Pricing it dead even with the iPad is exactly what Motorola should be doing.
- rimantas 16y ago
  Who cares about the specs? Does it offer better experience than iPad? If yes, then ok, it has the chance.
npalli 16y ago
>>> Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here Which tablet higher priced than the iPad failed to generate any interest? Xoom should the first Honeycomb based tablet. Given how close the Xoom is the current iPad in price but blows it away in specs, hard to see why it should be priced lower than the current iPad.

cryptoz 16y ago

The Xoom will mostly compete with the yet-to-be-announced iPad 2. The Xoom's specs completely blow the original iPad out of the water, so it's likely okay that it's priced above the current iPad; we'll have to wait and see what the iPad 2 brings to the table. If Apple can hit similar specs at a cheaper price then you might be right, but I doubt that'll happen. The Xoom also has the Honeycomb advantage; I wonder what iPad 2's UI will look like. I think you underestimate how impressed average people will be when casually browsing tablets in stores. Honeycomb is gorgeous.

Andrewski 16y ago
It needs to have higher specs, as it is running a knocked off Java. And as good as honeycomb cereal is, Android is pretty sluggish and ugly compared to iOS. iOS is gorgeous. Nobody bought the iPad because of specs, aside from the battery life. If you think they did, you still do not understand the market, and are probably baffled that people are not buying Intel based tablets.
- cryptoz 16y ago
 > It needs to have higher specs, as it is running a knocked off Java What? This makes no sense at all. How are those two thoughts related at all? And Android runs real Java, not "knocked off" Java. > And as good as honeycomb cereal is, Android is pretty sluggish and ugly compared to iOS. iOS is gorgeous. Oh I see, you're a troll. I'll respond anyway. Android is not sluggish compared to iOS; especially given that Honeycomb isn't even out in the wild running on real devices yet, this statement is totally unfounded. I'll grant you that iOS is gorgeous, though. But so is Honeycomb. :) > Nobody bought the iPad because of specs, aside from the battery life. If you think they did, you still do not understand the market, and are probably baffled that people are not buying Intel based tablets. iPad was a new product in a new form factor. It was a "game-changer". Nobody bought it based on specs because they had nothing to compare it to. I'm definitely not suggesting that people will buy new tablets based on specs either, but it will matter that the two devices are in the same league.
 - Andrewski 16y ago
 I'm not a troll, I'm perfectly serious. I am pointing out that Google claims that Dalvik "IS NOT JAVA!!!" which is funny because everybody knows Android runs Java™. Additionally, the specs are irrelevant when comparing the iPad, which runs C applications, to something that must ram everything through a Java VM. And I mean, irrelevant to geeks, as the platforms are so different that it is impossible to compare them based on specifications. To normal people, the specs are completely, 100%, totally irrelevant, aside from battery life. The new iteration of Android has some UI tweaks, but it's still awfully busy. It's clearly made for the power user who cares about specs. I mean, yeah, you can see two things at once. Ordinary people will just say "I typed in the wrong window." It seems like an important spec to be able to have an arbitrary number of things going on at once on the device, and their Expose knockoff is, well, an Expose knockoff, but I just wonder if they thought this through all the way, or if they are thinking in a Microsoft sort of way, that one more bullet point on a spec sheet will make that sale.
protomyth 16y ago
As Apple discovered from the other side of the fence, the better specs often don't overcome a large pricing difference. Also, betting that the iPad 2 will cost more than the iPad 1 is probably not a winning bet. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a price drop coming.

blinkingled 16y ago

Well, the 32Gb iPad 1 with Wi-Fi is $599 and Motorola is quoting $600 for 32Gb Xoom with load of more features - USB 2.0 port in itself is a big win along with plenty (1Gb) of RAM.

christophe971 16y ago
A message to anyone still believes the specs have something to do with the success of a tablet, against the iPad: Only two things matter: The price, and the OS. No tablet is even coming close to competing the iPad to this day only because of these two things. I'm not sure I actually have to dig into the mass grave of all "iPad killers" to prove my point.
- blinkingled 16y ago
  >Only two things matter: The price, and the OS. Honeycomb based Android tablets, for the first time, are getting it right on both counts. You may not like Honeycomb and that would be your personal taste, but both feature wise and aesthetics/attractiveness/usability wise, it is looking great in comparison to iOS 4.x.

ojbyrne 16y ago

Well, the wifi version is the same price, and, given the Apple nonsense of the past few days, if it lets me read and buy Kindle books, I'm likely going to be a customer.

Kylekramer 16y ago

I don't see why it has to be doomed at this price. It is in the same ballpark as the iPad. With a subsidy, it will appear even cheaper than iPad. I am sure it won't ever beat the iPad on sales, but I can easily imagine it being a very successful and profitable product. We learned from the iPod competitors that cheaper price and cheaper looking devices, even with more features/storage, won't win. So why not go head to head with a similarly priced, similar build quality device? I feel like Apple gets this win-win perception. Competitor releases a cheaper product, it is called a piece of junk that is DOA. Competitor releases a similar or higher priced product, it is overpriced and DOA. Plus, "[a]ny tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here"? Isn't a bit early to say? There has been only one real competitor, and while the Galaxy Tab hasn't taken the world by storm, it seems to be doing a tidy business.

ryandvm 16y ago

I disagree. The Xoom has superior specs to the iPad. Pricing it any lower would give the consumer an unmistakable whiff of inferiority. Pricing it dead even with the iPad is exactly what Motorola should be doing.

rimantas 16y ago
Who cares about the specs? Does it offer better experience than iPad? If yes, then ok, it has the chance.

npalli 16y ago

>>> Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here Which tablet higher priced than the iPad failed to generate any interest? Xoom should the first Honeycomb based tablet. Given how close the Xoom is the current iPad in price but blows it away in specs, hard to see why it should be priced lower than the current iPad.