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I got in a lot of fights with Apple fans over this last year. :) My point is that tablets have never ever taken off---even though various companies have been tr
by jordanb 16y ago
I got in a lot of fights with Apple fans over this last year. :) My point is that tablets have never ever taken off---even though various companies have been trying for decades.
Of course the argument that the iPad is different from every other device in history due to ubiquitous internet access and multi-touch. And I admit that I couldn't even convince myself entirely that those weren't game changers, but a year later it seems that the verdict is in: they're not.
PS: One of my Apple friends just bought a Macbook Air and was trying to sell his iPad to me last week. :)
- epochwolf 16y agoI vastly prefer my iPad over a laptop. The only reason I have my laptop anymore is for a few games and programming.
- Groxx 16y ago>a year later it seems that the verdict is in: they're not. Not entirely sure what world it is you live in... how has touchable computing not been a game-changer? Just look at all the iDevice apps out there, and how frequently and powerfully the UI decisions there have changed desktop applications.
- jordanb 16y agoMy argument isn't that touch devices haven't taken off, nor do I argue that ubiquitous internet isn't a huge deal for the pocket computing market. I love my new Nexus S for those reasons, and I'm sure if Palm had had those features ten years ago, we'd be in a different place today. My argument is that---regardless of those features' importance for pocket computing---they haven't changed the game for tablet devices. Tablet devices remain wedged in that space where they're too big for the pocket and too small for the lap or desk. If you're going out, take your phone; if you're staying in, you might as well use your laptop and get some work done.
- epochwolf 16y agoThe iPad is a game changer, anything called a tablet running Windows isn't in the same class.
- trustfundbaby 16y ago15 Million Ipads sold in one year would seem to handily contradict whatever argument you're trying to make. People love tablet pcs, because they simplify computing for them ... a lot of people on hacker news don't get that, because using computers (in all their delicious complexity) is generally second nature for us.
- blocke 16y ago$15 million impresses you? Chump change.
- trustfundbaby 16y ago15 million iPads sold in one year certainly impresses me, that's 5% of the US population reached ... In one year.
- gergles 16y agoThe iPad was sold worldwide.
- brisance 16y agoHow did 15 million tablets become $15 million?
- ctdonath 16y agoNo, but >$500*15M=$7.5B in less than a year with a new product in a went-nowhere-for-decades category does.
- blocke 16y agoI'm going to assume the parent post wasn't edited. I swore there was a dollar sign there.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]