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The tech press needs to play up the competition to the iPad as much as possible, because drama drives clicks. But the reality is that Apple's iPad is so far ahe

by tumult 16y ago

The tech press needs to play up the competition to the iPad as much as possible, because drama drives clicks. But the reality is that Apple's iPad is so far ahead of everything else that it's almost out of sight. Have you used one of the 'iPad killers'? That is not competition. It's a joke. You can't even buy any of them, except for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. [And the Motorola Xoom, but only at retail Best Buy in America, from what I can tell.] I applaud Samsung [and Motorola] for giving it a real try, but I think they fall short of the iPad. Few people are buying those things. I wouldn't, myself. I have some Android phones, but I probably won't get an Android tablet, if Honeycomb indicates where the platform is heading. The lack of competition is allowing Apple to, rightfully, do whatever it wants to with the App Store. And I don't see the situation changing anytime soon. Apple is making the rest of the consumer tech industry look incompetent. edit: Updated with Xoom.

dr_ 16y ago
Well the Xoom has now been released as well, so in theory it's competition as well. But you are right, in reality there is no competition. There are a lot of people out there who think competition is on specs alone - #slots, ports, ram, memory, etc. Because that's how it was in the PC era. They are wrong.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- tesseract 16y ago
  That shouldn't be so surprising. 'Sell the benefits, not the features' has always been a sales mantra. The PC market has always been kind of a weird exception to this, and I think that's in part because of the way the PC market grew out of the enthusiast/hobbyist microcomputer scene of the 70s and early 80s. Enthusiasts like to see impressive technical specifications and a long feature checklist - that's true with phones, cars, computers, cameras, espresso machines, and lots of other things that certain people are enthusiastic about - but in general that is not the way consumers view products.
orangecat 16y ago
You can't even buy any of them, except for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. The Xoom is available now.
- dhh 16y ago
  Unfortunately I found it to be, well, shit compared to the iPad. I bought one for the lure of speed and returned it the next day when I realized that speed was very low on the list of properties that actually mattered. The total user experience is just far worse. The Xoom feels like a PC that has better specs than a Mac. Yes, the frame rate is higher but the game sucks. I seriously wish that webOS is going to show Apple some real competition. It's not healthy for one company to be so far ahead. Power corrupts.
  - edderly 16y ago
    Strange really because I've found the iPad to be a dull clone of an iPhone where the Xoom seems to have a UI which exploits the size of the screen.
    - rbarooah 16y ago
      What UI? The UI of the 65,000 full screen iPad specific apps, or the UI of the 16 Android Tablet apps? Have you actually tried a Xoom?
      - edderly 16y ago
        Yes, I've tried a Xoom today, I also have bought an iPad a while back. Have you tried a Xoom yourself? I don't really see the relevance of the number of applications to the the UI experience.
        rbarooah 16y ago
        I have tried one myself otherwise I wouldn't have asked. The relevance is that the apps are what provide the UI. For the iPad there are 65,000 of them customized to utilize the full screen. For the Xoom, there are 16 customized for the full screen, and the rest are literally just blown up phone apps, many of which don't even rescale properly.
rbarooah 16y ago
Many of the companies in the consumer electronics spent the last decade wasting energy trying to screw each other over interoperability and standards issues - failing to agree because none of them wanted one of the others to gain an advantage. Meanwhile Apple just ignored the silly games and built their own end-to-end ecosystem. It's not lack of competition that's killing the rest of the industry - it's lack of cooperation.
rudiger 16y ago
Precisely. I don't think people understand just how huge of a deal the iPad really is. They're well on their way into a defining a huge product category in a bigger way than Microsoft defined PCs to be Windows. I don't think their competition can compete effectively; price is cheaper, software is better, hardware is better, UX is easier, even the store is a more pleasant experience, which is important, because that is when the largest transaction actually takes place. It's scary thinking how far ahead of the competition they are.
jerf 16y ago
Serious competition with the iPhone took time to emerge, but it did. It's a temporary advantage, not a permanent one, as are all such advantages. Just as in the iPhone arena, Apple won't stand still but eventually it will not be able to singlehandedly defeat everybody on all fronts. But while they lead, they will rake in the bucks, and more power to them. I don't want them to be the only viable company out there and I'm not personally a fan of their products per se (don't "hate" them but they do not sing to me) but I'm glad they're out there pushing the envelope in a way few other companies are. Smartphones and tablets would still have happened eventually but I'm sure they moved the timeline up a good two or three years. (I wouldn't go much further though; the major factor driving the iPad is that the tech is finally ready. You simply couldn't build an iPad as recently as 2007 and have anything like the same experience at any price.)
- alecperkins 16y ago
  In some ways it doesn't even matter if they have competition or not, since Apple effectively defines the category and the expectations of the users. Even now, smart phones are generally playing catch-up to the iPhone. Yes, there is some innovation above and beyond Apple; Windows Phone 7 is surprisingly impressive, and the Web OS notification system is arguably superior. But, the comparison always comes back to the iPhone or iPad, just as it did to the iPod. By providing the first truly mainstream offering in each category, Apple establishes its products as the benchmark. This gives it the freedom to go where it thinks makes sense, instead of being stuck following the leader.
  - phil 16y ago
    > defines the category and the expectations of the users It's stunning how long that has been true. The modern desktop OS is patterned after the Macintosh, modern laptops all use the form factor introduced by the Powerbook 100s, and now all the best phones are made to look like an iPhone.
    - MrScruff 16y ago
      Exactly. The thing that gets me is people claiming they hate Apple and Apple products while eulogising competing products that are derived from a category that Apple defined in the first place.
blinkingled 16y ago
Xoom can be bought online at Verizon or Moto websites. That nitpick aside it isn't anywhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. I am typing this post on one. The browser is far better. The OS is far more usable than the iPad, the higher screen resolution is great - I can RDP into my work PC and use it all day. The hardware is top notch, and battery life is plenty. I haven't connected it to a PC yet - have my apps, music and video wirelessly synced! Once Flash is out and Moto ships SD Card enabling update I have everything I need from a PC replacement tablet. People sadly have just decided to exclusively fall for whatever Apple markets them and there is no convincing them to drop their prejudices.
- rbarooah 16y ago
  Yes but for most non geeks, the Xoom doesn't do much beyond the built in apps, whereas the iPad has 65,000 apps they can use today. That might be different in a year's time but the average user would be crazy to choose a Xoom over an iPad 2 now for that reason alone.
  - blinkingled 16y ago
    Umm no - most existing Android apps work and look good on the Xoom. Better than the iPhone apps looked on the iPad. I gave it to my wife who has an iPod touch and she has yet to complain about lack of apps - I found most of what is needed for her. So lack of apps is not really a burning problem.
    - rbarooah 16y ago
      You're seriously trying to claim that blown up android phone apps, many of which don't even rescale properly, are competition to the dedicated iPad designs? Have you looked at iPad apps lately? Even if you don't include iMove and GarageBand that were just announced, how about OmniGraffle, Sketchbook, Inkpad, the Korg Apps, Reeder, Osmos, iWork, etc.
      - jrockway 16y ago
wvenable 16y ago
> Few people are buying those things. That's not really true. While Apple has a huge lead, they've already begun to lose marketshare (95% down to 75% last quarter). With more and more competition coming soon, I don't think that Apple will be able to hold on. One only has to look at the success of Android phones -- which literally didn't exist at all when the original iPhone was released -- to see that such a lead is not insurmountable. > Have you used one of the 'iPad killers'? Have you? The Motorola Xoom gets very good reviews -- most praising the software as much as the hardware.
- rbarooah 16y ago
  75%? Where does that come from?
- bonch 16y ago
  Where are you getting your marketshare figures? It's no surprise that Android phones have numbers. They're on multiple carriers compared to just one (now two). Tablets don't have carriers backing them like that--they must stand on their own. Apple fought off "iPod killers" for 10 years, so they've proven they know how to keep a lead. I think there's a lot of wishful thinking from some people wanting Apple to fall. For some reason, Apple's constant success antagonizes them.
- albedoa 16y ago
  The number that wvenable mentions is shipped units and conveniently ignores Samsung's admission that sales are low. http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/android-tablet-marke-share/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/android-tablet-marke-share... When you have to twist numbers to demonstrate a drop in Apple's market share, it's a good sign that Apple's market share is sitting pretty.
dannyr 16y ago
Ah, I still remember when the 1st Android phone came out (G1). A lot of people were dismissing it because the IPhone had a 2-year head start. Interface was ugly, phone is thick like a brick, only on 1 carrier, the smallest of the Big 4 at that. Well, how did that turn out? Android is selling more than the IPhone. A proper tablet OS didn't arrive until last month and people are already saying it's almost too late for Android to catch up with the IPad. Alright, people will say that it's not the same. But I believe the barriers to entry to the table market is lower than that of phones since manufacturers do not really need carrier approval. Once Google refines the Android tablet OS, I can't wait to see what manufacturers can come up with.
- lloeki 16y ago
  Not selling more in Europe where Apple dominates. The only Android device cracking around here is the Galaxy Spica, not quite the same league as the iPhone.
  - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
    IDC predicts Android to be the second best selling smarphone OS in Europe Q1 2011, that is, now. The first is, of course, Nokia which undermines your claim that Apple dominates on a second level. (Also, in the UK RIM is, somewhat inexplicably, the premier choice for young people and recently overtook Apple's web market share).
    - lloeki 16y ago
      I was unclear: I meant iPhone (20%, +6%) vs Android (11%, +10%). Not saying Android won't pass, but I see it more like Q4-2011, 2012 even. Mostly depends on Apple's strategy notably WRT entry-level devices: phones like Spica are really appealing price-wise, especially when they're sold with small contracts (sometimes less than half the price per month of high-profile smartphones like the Galaxy S, Desire HD or the iPhone). Nokia's decline is staggering and unless they build up steam quickly with WP7 I see them in troubled waters. Data source comScore: http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/02/smartphone-operating-system-market-share-in-europe/ http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/02/smartphone-operating... That said, I actually encountered more WinMo6 devices than Symbian ones (read: not much). Really don't know where they hide. Lots of "dumb" (mostly old) Nokia phones though.
code_duck 16y ago
I was playing with a Xoom at a Verizon booth yesterday.
runjake 16y ago
Have you used one of the 'iPad killers'? That is not competition. It's a joke. You can't even buy any of them, except for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Have you played with them before coming to these conclusions? Jumping to conclusions without actual experience & trusting the media is a fool's errand. I've played with them all, some being not-quite-release models. I'd have to largely agree that they are jokes. The Xoom comes closest to being an iPad competitor, but I'd still much rather have an iPad. However, I think that there's a sizable segment of the market who would prefer a Xoom over that of an iPad, and maybe that's good enough for Motorola. Apple is still at what? single digit percentages with the Mac? They seem happy enough.
joebadmo 16y ago
As an Android user, I agree with you. Is anyone else concerned about the way Apple is changing the way we think about computers, more as appliances than what we think of as computers now? Maybe that's actually the more natural state, and the last few decades have been the anomaly. Makes me a bit sad, though, and concerned about the future.
cma 16y ago
I am posting this from a nook color running honeycomb smoothly... it is on sale for 200 bucks.

by tumult 16y ago

dr_ 16y ago

Well the Xoom has now been released as well, so in theory it's competition as well. But you are right, in reality there is no competition. There are a lot of people out there who think competition is on specs alone - #slots, ports, ram, memory, etc. Because that's how it was in the PC era. They are wrong.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
tesseract 16y ago
That shouldn't be so surprising. 'Sell the benefits, not the features' has always been a sales mantra. The PC market has always been kind of a weird exception to this, and I think that's in part because of the way the PC market grew out of the enthusiast/hobbyist microcomputer scene of the 70s and early 80s. Enthusiasts like to see impressive technical specifications and a long feature checklist - that's true with phones, cars, computers, cameras, espresso machines, and lots of other things that certain people are enthusiastic about - but in general that is not the way consumers view products.

orangecat 16y ago

You can't even buy any of them, except for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. The Xoom is available now.

dhh 16y ago
Unfortunately I found it to be, well, shit compared to the iPad. I bought one for the lure of speed and returned it the next day when I realized that speed was very low on the list of properties that actually mattered. The total user experience is just far worse. The Xoom feels like a PC that has better specs than a Mac. Yes, the frame rate is higher but the game sucks. I seriously wish that webOS is going to show Apple some real competition. It's not healthy for one company to be so far ahead. Power corrupts.
- edderly 16y ago
  Strange really because I've found the iPad to be a dull clone of an iPhone where the Xoom seems to have a UI which exploits the size of the screen.
  - rbarooah 16y ago
    What UI? The UI of the 65,000 full screen iPad specific apps, or the UI of the 16 Android Tablet apps? Have you actually tried a Xoom?
    - edderly 16y ago
      Yes, I've tried a Xoom today, I also have bought an iPad a while back. Have you tried a Xoom yourself? I don't really see the relevance of the number of applications to the the UI experience.
      - rbarooah 16y ago
        I have tried one myself otherwise I wouldn't have asked. The relevance is that the apps are what provide the UI. For the iPad there are 65,000 of them customized to utilize the full screen. For the Xoom, there are 16 customized for the full screen, and the rest are literally just blown up phone apps, many of which don't even rescale properly.

rbarooah 16y ago

Many of the companies in the consumer electronics spent the last decade wasting energy trying to screw each other over interoperability and standards issues - failing to agree because none of them wanted one of the others to gain an advantage. Meanwhile Apple just ignored the silly games and built their own end-to-end ecosystem. It's not lack of competition that's killing the rest of the industry - it's lack of cooperation.

rudiger 16y ago

Precisely. I don't think people understand just how huge of a deal the iPad really is. They're well on their way into a defining a huge product category in a bigger way than Microsoft defined PCs to be Windows. I don't think their competition can compete effectively; price is cheaper, software is better, hardware is better, UX is easier, even the store is a more pleasant experience, which is important, because that is when the largest transaction actually takes place. It's scary thinking how far ahead of the competition they are.

jerf 16y ago

Serious competition with the iPhone took time to emerge, but it did. It's a temporary advantage, not a permanent one, as are all such advantages. Just as in the iPhone arena, Apple won't stand still but eventually it will not be able to singlehandedly defeat everybody on all fronts. But while they lead, they will rake in the bucks, and more power to them. I don't want them to be the only viable company out there and I'm not personally a fan of their products per se (don't "hate" them but they do not sing to me) but I'm glad they're out there pushing the envelope in a way few other companies are. Smartphones and tablets would still have happened eventually but I'm sure they moved the timeline up a good two or three years. (I wouldn't go much further though; the major factor driving the iPad is that the tech is finally ready. You simply couldn't build an iPad as recently as 2007 and have anything like the same experience at any price.)

alecperkins 16y ago
In some ways it doesn't even matter if they have competition or not, since Apple effectively defines the category and the expectations of the users. Even now, smart phones are generally playing catch-up to the iPhone. Yes, there is some innovation above and beyond Apple; Windows Phone 7 is surprisingly impressive, and the Web OS notification system is arguably superior. But, the comparison always comes back to the iPhone or iPad, just as it did to the iPod. By providing the first truly mainstream offering in each category, Apple establishes its products as the benchmark. This gives it the freedom to go where it thinks makes sense, instead of being stuck following the leader.
- phil 16y ago
  > defines the category and the expectations of the users It's stunning how long that has been true. The modern desktop OS is patterned after the Macintosh, modern laptops all use the form factor introduced by the Powerbook 100s, and now all the best phones are made to look like an iPhone.
  - MrScruff 16y ago
    Exactly. The thing that gets me is people claiming they hate Apple and Apple products while eulogising competing products that are derived from a category that Apple defined in the first place.

blinkingled 16y ago

Xoom can be bought online at Verizon or Moto websites. That nitpick aside it isn't anywhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. I am typing this post on one. The browser is far better. The OS is far more usable than the iPad, the higher screen resolution is great - I can RDP into my work PC and use it all day. The hardware is top notch, and battery life is plenty. I haven't connected it to a PC yet - have my apps, music and video wirelessly synced! Once Flash is out and Moto ships SD Card enabling update I have everything I need from a PC replacement tablet. People sadly have just decided to exclusively fall for whatever Apple markets them and there is no convincing them to drop their prejudices.

rbarooah 16y ago
Yes but for most non geeks, the Xoom doesn't do much beyond the built in apps, whereas the iPad has 65,000 apps they can use today. That might be different in a year's time but the average user would be crazy to choose a Xoom over an iPad 2 now for that reason alone.
- blinkingled 16y ago
  Umm no - most existing Android apps work and look good on the Xoom. Better than the iPhone apps looked on the iPad. I gave it to my wife who has an iPod touch and she has yet to complain about lack of apps - I found most of what is needed for her. So lack of apps is not really a burning problem.
  - rbarooah 16y ago
    You're seriously trying to claim that blown up android phone apps, many of which don't even rescale properly, are competition to the dedicated iPad designs? Have you looked at iPad apps lately? Even if you don't include iMove and GarageBand that were just announced, how about OmniGraffle, Sketchbook, Inkpad, the Korg Apps, Reeder, Osmos, iWork, etc.
    - jrockway 16y ago

wvenable 16y ago

> Few people are buying those things. That's not really true. While Apple has a huge lead, they've already begun to lose marketshare (95% down to 75% last quarter). With more and more competition coming soon, I don't think that Apple will be able to hold on. One only has to look at the success of Android phones -- which literally didn't exist at all when the original iPhone was released -- to see that such a lead is not insurmountable. > Have you used one of the 'iPad killers'? Have you? The Motorola Xoom gets very good reviews -- most praising the software as much as the hardware.

rbarooah 16y ago
75%? Where does that come from?
bonch 16y ago
Where are you getting your marketshare figures? It's no surprise that Android phones have numbers. They're on multiple carriers compared to just one (now two). Tablets don't have carriers backing them like that--they must stand on their own. Apple fought off "iPod killers" for 10 years, so they've proven they know how to keep a lead. I think there's a lot of wishful thinking from some people wanting Apple to fall. For some reason, Apple's constant success antagonizes them.
albedoa 16y ago
The number that wvenable mentions is shipped units and conveniently ignores Samsung's admission that sales are low. http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/android-tablet-marke-share/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/android-tablet-marke-share... When you have to twist numbers to demonstrate a drop in Apple's market share, it's a good sign that Apple's market share is sitting pretty.

dannyr 16y ago

Ah, I still remember when the 1st Android phone came out (G1). A lot of people were dismissing it because the IPhone had a 2-year head start. Interface was ugly, phone is thick like a brick, only on 1 carrier, the smallest of the Big 4 at that. Well, how did that turn out? Android is selling more than the IPhone. A proper tablet OS didn't arrive until last month and people are already saying it's almost too late for Android to catch up with the IPad. Alright, people will say that it's not the same. But I believe the barriers to entry to the table market is lower than that of phones since manufacturers do not really need carrier approval. Once Google refines the Android tablet OS, I can't wait to see what manufacturers can come up with.

lloeki 16y ago
Not selling more in Europe where Apple dominates. The only Android device cracking around here is the Galaxy Spica, not quite the same league as the iPhone.
- ZeroGravitas 16y ago
  IDC predicts Android to be the second best selling smarphone OS in Europe Q1 2011, that is, now. The first is, of course, Nokia which undermines your claim that Apple dominates on a second level. (Also, in the UK RIM is, somewhat inexplicably, the premier choice for young people and recently overtook Apple's web market share).
  - lloeki 16y ago
    I was unclear: I meant iPhone (20%, +6%) vs Android (11%, +10%). Not saying Android won't pass, but I see it more like Q4-2011, 2012 even. Mostly depends on Apple's strategy notably WRT entry-level devices: phones like Spica are really appealing price-wise, especially when they're sold with small contracts (sometimes less than half the price per month of high-profile smartphones like the Galaxy S, Desire HD or the iPhone). Nokia's decline is staggering and unless they build up steam quickly with WP7 I see them in troubled waters. Data source comScore: http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/02/smartphone-operating-system-market-share-in-europe/ http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/02/smartphone-operating... That said, I actually encountered more WinMo6 devices than Symbian ones (read: not much). Really don't know where they hide. Lots of "dumb" (mostly old) Nokia phones though.

code_duck 16y ago

I was playing with a Xoom at a Verizon booth yesterday.

runjake 16y ago

Have you used one of the 'iPad killers'? That is not competition. It's a joke. You can't even buy any of them, except for Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Have you played with them before coming to these conclusions? Jumping to conclusions without actual experience & trusting the media is a fool's errand. I've played with them all, some being not-quite-release models. I'd have to largely agree that they are jokes. The Xoom comes closest to being an iPad competitor, but I'd still much rather have an iPad. However, I think that there's a sizable segment of the market who would prefer a Xoom over that of an iPad, and maybe that's good enough for Motorola. Apple is still at what? single digit percentages with the Mac? They seem happy enough.

joebadmo 16y ago

As an Android user, I agree with you. Is anyone else concerned about the way Apple is changing the way we think about computers, more as appliances than what we think of as computers now? Maybe that's actually the more natural state, and the last few decades have been the anomaly. Makes me a bit sad, though, and concerned about the future.

cma 16y ago

I am posting this from a nook color running honeycomb smoothly... it is on sale for 200 bucks.