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Its shocking how effectively Apple is able to move the eight-ball on companies like Toshiba. "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!" Hey Toshi

Its shocking how effectively Apple is able to move the eight-ball on companies like Toshiba. "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!" Hey Toshiba: no one cares about those specs right now - Apple shifted the conversation for the majority of the tablet market to screen res, where they have an essentially unassailable competitive advantage for quite some time. And, Toshiba missed the boat, which makes their claims for cores and screen sizes seem flat and mis-timed. Note: I have an awesome toshiba laptop that I carted around the world for me in 2008, which is still going strong. Added a hybrid ssd/platter drive to perk up win7 performance, and its still my daily driver. Toshiba makes great products, they're just eating Apple's dust, like everyone else.

listic 15y ago
Care to elaborate what's your particular hybrid drive model? I thought the fashion for hybrid drives faded away.
- dreadsword 15y ago
  Sure - Seagate Momentus XT, 750GB model; 16GB SSD. The OS boots at SSD speeds, and the ~7 applications that I use frequently do too. But, I have the storage of a traditional drive, and the whole deal cost $170. Hybrids aren't for eveyone - gamers, pro photogs, heavy developers, etc. I think would overwhelm the hybrid's ability to offer any advantage. But I knew my usage patterns (a limited retinue of light weight applications) were ideally suited for it. The laptop is a U200, has a first gen Core Duo, and 2GB of RAM. Bought in 2008 ($800!), upgraded the RAM too, obviously. Boots Win7 to password screen in ~15 seconds.
huggyface 15y ago
* "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!" Hey Toshiba: no one cares about those specs right now* We're talking about the Apple that is trialing a 7" tablet, right? The one that talked up "4 cores" at the 3rd generation unveiling? Same Apple? There are millions and millions of non-Apple tablets being sold. This seems like a laughably tiny number compared to the incredible success Apple has yielded, but in consumer electronics it is substantial. It is bloody sad, however, that every time someone tries to make a product this whole clucking "nah nah Apple is better" nonsense gets carted out. Keep on keeping on Toshiba, and samsung, and LG, and...
- dreadsword 15y ago
  You've managed to nail my point exactly in your pugnacious response. A year from now, when Toshiba, Dell, and everyone else have pivoted and are talking up even better screen resolution, Apple's going to move the eight-ball again: maybe to 7 inch tablets, maybe to cores, nobody knows but Tim & Jon. Did you even read my post? I don't think Apple is "better" - I think they're great at wagging the dog, the dog being us consumers.
  - nkassis 15y ago
    I believe it's only a matter of time before tablets become commoditized like the smartphone market is doing right now. Amazon is working hard on that. Some will still care for the Apple brand and whatever quality advantage it has but in the end Apple won't be forever selling 5 times what it's competitors are selling. You don't have to be the best at this point, just managed to sell enough to make some money per run.
    - dreadsword 15y ago
      You're missing one point - if tablets become commoditized, Apple still wins because they're establishing ownership of the ecosystem today. You're spot on identifying Amazon as Apple's only real competitor.
      - huggyface 15y ago
        You're spot on identifying Amazon as Apple's only real competitor. Amazon was, however nowadays Google sells music, rents and sells movies, sells books, and of course sells apps. The reason they rebranded the Android market to Google Play is because of this ecosystem.
        dreadsword 15y ago
        Fair enough; I'd say outside of apps Google has a credibility curve to climb however. The market doesn't perceive google as a content provider the same way it does apple or amazon, and both apple and amazon worked for many years to achieve the perception that they have today. So - my counter point would be that Google will be a competitor in time.
cryptoz 15y ago
Has anyone ever launched a modern tablet with a 13" screen size? I don't think so. And it doesn't matter what Apple sets the conversation to; just like most consumers don't care how many cores it has, most don't care how many pixels it has. The product has to work well, be priced right, have good marketing and be visible to consumers. A 13" tablet is unique and may attract some attention, if only as an experiment (which may fail in the market, but would still provide valuable lessons and information to the industry).
cultureulterior 15y ago
Uh, the toshiba thrive 7 had retina display months before apple did.

listic 15y ago

Care to elaborate what's your particular hybrid drive model? I thought the fashion for hybrid drives faded away.

dreadsword 15y ago
Sure - Seagate Momentus XT, 750GB model; 16GB SSD. The OS boots at SSD speeds, and the ~7 applications that I use frequently do too. But, I have the storage of a traditional drive, and the whole deal cost $170. Hybrids aren't for eveyone - gamers, pro photogs, heavy developers, etc. I think would overwhelm the hybrid's ability to offer any advantage. But I knew my usage patterns (a limited retinue of light weight applications) were ideally suited for it. The laptop is a U200, has a first gen Core Duo, and 2GB of RAM. Bought in 2008 ($800!), upgraded the RAM too, obviously. Boots Win7 to password screen in ~15 seconds.

huggyface 15y ago

* "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!" Hey Toshiba: no one cares about those specs right now* We're talking about the Apple that is trialing a 7" tablet, right? The one that talked up "4 cores" at the 3rd generation unveiling? Same Apple? There are millions and millions of non-Apple tablets being sold. This seems like a laughably tiny number compared to the incredible success Apple has yielded, but in consumer electronics it is substantial. It is bloody sad, however, that every time someone tries to make a product this whole clucking "nah nah Apple is better" nonsense gets carted out. Keep on keeping on Toshiba, and samsung, and LG, and...

dreadsword 15y ago
You've managed to nail my point exactly in your pugnacious response. A year from now, when Toshiba, Dell, and everyone else have pivoted and are talking up even better screen resolution, Apple's going to move the eight-ball again: maybe to 7 inch tablets, maybe to cores, nobody knows but Tim & Jon. Did you even read my post? I don't think Apple is "better" - I think they're great at wagging the dog, the dog being us consumers.
- nkassis 15y ago
  I believe it's only a matter of time before tablets become commoditized like the smartphone market is doing right now. Amazon is working hard on that. Some will still care for the Apple brand and whatever quality advantage it has but in the end Apple won't be forever selling 5 times what it's competitors are selling. You don't have to be the best at this point, just managed to sell enough to make some money per run.
  - dreadsword 15y ago
    You're missing one point - if tablets become commoditized, Apple still wins because they're establishing ownership of the ecosystem today. You're spot on identifying Amazon as Apple's only real competitor.
    - huggyface 15y ago
      You're spot on identifying Amazon as Apple's only real competitor. Amazon was, however nowadays Google sells music, rents and sells movies, sells books, and of course sells apps. The reason they rebranded the Android market to Google Play is because of this ecosystem.
      - dreadsword 15y ago
        Fair enough; I'd say outside of apps Google has a credibility curve to climb however. The market doesn't perceive google as a content provider the same way it does apple or amazon, and both apple and amazon worked for many years to achieve the perception that they have today. So - my counter point would be that Google will be a competitor in time.

cryptoz 15y ago

Has anyone ever launched a modern tablet with a 13" screen size? I don't think so. And it doesn't matter what Apple sets the conversation to; just like most consumers don't care how many cores it has, most don't care how many pixels it has. The product has to work well, be priced right, have good marketing and be visible to consumers. A 13" tablet is unique and may attract some attention, if only as an experiment (which may fail in the market, but would still provide valuable lessons and information to the industry).

cultureulterior 15y ago

Uh, the toshiba thrive 7 had retina display months before apple did.