4 ms·

But that was not "revolutionary new", there were tablets previously.

by folmar 5y ago

dymk 5y ago
How popular were tablets before the iPad?
- folmar 5y ago
  It depends on how long before you look. In 1990s they were fairly popular as the smaller devices were expensive and small screens were hard on the users and custom development was not as easy, so field data entry was often with some b&w tablet, often connected to a portable printer and other accessories.
ricardobeat 5y ago
Technically yes, but in practice no. The previous products were extremely expensive, keyboard-wielding niche products which were extremely hard to come by. The iPad was the first viable commercial product, with multitouch, Wi-Fi, and a friendly OS. I bought one right after release in 2010, at the time Android was in its infancy, most people had a flip phone and I’d never actually seen a tablet in any form before (other than the iPod touch a few months earlier). It was mind blowing. Also, revolutionary != new. Apple rarely is the first to enter a new market.
- Phrodo_00 5y ago
  While not multitouch, the Nokia N770/N900 was a thing.
  - mynameisvlad 5y ago
    I mean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N900.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N... is absolutely nothing like https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg other than the fact that they both have screens. If you wanted to compare the N900 to an iPhone, that might be a slightly more apt comparison, but at the end of the day, the iPhone and iPad completely changed what "phones" and "tablets" look like. Their predecessors and successors are extremely different devices and perform different functions.
    - folmar 5y ago
      They do have different form factors, but do similar functions. To qoute Wikipedia: "The N900 functions as a mobile Internet device, and includes email, web browsing and access to online services, a 5-megapixel digital camera for still or video photography, a portable media player for music and video, calculator, games console and word processor, SMS, as well as mobile telephony using either a mobile network or VoIP via Internet (mobile or Wi-Fi)."
      - mynameisvlad 5y ago
        I mean, yeah that's what the first iPhone might be described as. Before the release of the App Store. Unfortunately for the N900, it was released by the time the 3GS was out. It has a resistive touch screen, which massively hampers what you can do on the device. This precludes it from any real gaming, or interactivity. By the time the N900 came out, the Apple App Store had 100k apps and 2 billion downloads. That's two magnitudes larger than the number of apps Maemo had in total. It's not a matter of "a different form factor" it's more that the N900 is a completely different class of device, it fundamentally can't compete with the iPhone and its massive (even at the time) ecosystem. If you were to squint with glasses of a completely different prescription to yours, sure, you can say they "do similar functions", but let's be honest with ourselves. The N900 was too little too late. It was released at a point in time when capacitive, glass touchscreens with high interactivity games and apps are what was the new norm.
- tombert 5y ago
  I was one of the people who made fun of the iPad when it was announced, and I am grown-up enough to admit that I was 100% wrong. I made fun of it for being a "wannabe laptop", and at some level I still kind of think that, but I didn't consider that people might not want/need all the features of a laptop all the time. I didn't see the appeal of "an iPod touch with a bigger screen" because I couldn't see through the eyes of a non-geek. I don't have an iPad, but I do have a Kindle Fire HD10, and I have to begrudgingly admit that I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

But that was not "revolutionary new", there were tablets previously.

by folmar 5y ago

But that was not "revolutionary new", there were tablets previously.

dymk 5y ago

How popular were tablets before the iPad?

folmar 5y ago
It depends on how long before you look. In 1990s they were fairly popular as the smaller devices were expensive and small screens were hard on the users and custom development was not as easy, so field data entry was often with some b&w tablet, often connected to a portable printer and other accessories.

ricardobeat 5y ago

Technically yes, but in practice no. The previous products were extremely expensive, keyboard-wielding niche products which were extremely hard to come by. The iPad was the first viable commercial product, with multitouch, Wi-Fi, and a friendly OS. I bought one right after release in 2010, at the time Android was in its infancy, most people had a flip phone and I’d never actually seen a tablet in any form before (other than the iPod touch a few months earlier). It was mind blowing. Also, revolutionary != new. Apple rarely is the first to enter a new market.

Phrodo_00 5y ago
While not multitouch, the Nokia N770/N900 was a thing.
- mynameisvlad 5y ago
  I mean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N900.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N... is absolutely nothing like https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg other than the fact that they both have screens. If you wanted to compare the N900 to an iPhone, that might be a slightly more apt comparison, but at the end of the day, the iPhone and iPad completely changed what "phones" and "tablets" look like. Their predecessors and successors are extremely different devices and perform different functions.
  - folmar 5y ago
    They do have different form factors, but do similar functions. To qoute Wikipedia: "The N900 functions as a mobile Internet device, and includes email, web browsing and access to online services, a 5-megapixel digital camera for still or video photography, a portable media player for music and video, calculator, games console and word processor, SMS, as well as mobile telephony using either a mobile network or VoIP via Internet (mobile or Wi-Fi)."
    - mynameisvlad 5y ago
      I mean, yeah that's what the first iPhone might be described as. Before the release of the App Store. Unfortunately for the N900, it was released by the time the 3GS was out. It has a resistive touch screen, which massively hampers what you can do on the device. This precludes it from any real gaming, or interactivity. By the time the N900 came out, the Apple App Store had 100k apps and 2 billion downloads. That's two magnitudes larger than the number of apps Maemo had in total. It's not a matter of "a different form factor" it's more that the N900 is a completely different class of device, it fundamentally can't compete with the iPhone and its massive (even at the time) ecosystem. If you were to squint with glasses of a completely different prescription to yours, sure, you can say they "do similar functions", but let's be honest with ourselves. The N900 was too little too late. It was released at a point in time when capacitive, glass touchscreens with high interactivity games and apps are what was the new norm.
tombert 5y ago
I was one of the people who made fun of the iPad when it was announced, and I am grown-up enough to admit that I was 100% wrong. I made fun of it for being a "wannabe laptop", and at some level I still kind of think that, but I didn't consider that people might not want/need all the features of a laptop all the time. I didn't see the appeal of "an iPod touch with a bigger screen" because I couldn't see through the eyes of a non-geek. I don't have an iPad, but I do have a Kindle Fire HD10, and I have to begrudgingly admit that I like it a lot more than I thought I would.