Quote:
Originally Posted by Bremen Cole
Win 7 Tablets on the way!
http://www.news.com.au/technology/we...mpact+news_rss
I'm a Windows 7 fan, but the last thing I want is a bloated full OS (and that includes OSX) on something like the iPad. Owning the iPad has taught me the "old school' ideas of what I "need" are outdated... but I know many want this kind of thing. Between the lot of them (Dell, Toshiba, HP, Sony.....) I would hope at least one could be a bit inovative.....
I hope they do well.... the more competition the better for all
And yes, you can read on them  |
In 2006 I've had a tablet (pure tablet, not a convertible) from Fujitsu Siemens (back then one of my customers) as a demo unit for 2 weeks.
It was a full blown XP tablet with outdoor display.
It has been a phantastic experience: Installing Microsoft reader and watching movies with Media player, in full sunshine on the beach - absolutely top notch.
There only had been 2 problems:
a.) Price was € 1.700. For a notebook, that's perfectly okay (back then, it even was relatively cheap). But for an additional gadget, the € 500 to € 800 of iPad make more sense of course.
b.) There simply was no use for tablets. Even my contacts in Fujitsu Siemens themselves only did use some minor features: Marking PowerPoint presentations with some jotted notes, drawing a quick MindMap and the likes. But you simply couldn't write the presentation from scratch or other "professional" work.
And that's, in my opinion, the problem tablets have been facing for years:
Writing via stylus is slow and a frustrating experience. So what's the tablet actually good for?
And here iPad might have generated a shift of perspective: It's not a full blown PC and doesn't even try. You won't rip your DVD on it. You won't write lengthy documents on it. If you consider it a stripped down unit in the price range of netbooks (= way below $ 1.000), suddenly there's a market.
One might ask, why only Apple did identify that niche. But actually, it all started with Netbooks, way before iPad:
Before netbooks = as much processor power and features as possible.
Since netbooks = matching the price point of ca. € 500 and providing whatever's affordable for that price.
I'm absolutely sure: As soon as the "big ones" (HP, Dell, ASUS, ACER) or the "exclusive ones" (TOSHIBA, SONY, FUJITSU) accept the price point and understand the potential, we'll see tons of rival units to iPad.
Still, iPad will have some advantages because of IOS. The other players will need a "streamlined OS". XP tablet or VISTA tablet (haven't tried Windows 7 tablet) simply are too mighty = too slow and too expensive.
This needs a drastic change of mindset and it will be interesting to see, which companies are able and willing to do so...