Doctorow on the iPad

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by stustaff

No, no I didnt. and by the way I much prefer the choice of 100 apps on iphone to the 1 app on android...

If 98 of them turn out to be crap then it will take you a fair old time to whittle your way down to the increased choice though.

Yet the iphone process took 5% out of the DS games sales in less than one year and continues to do so! the apple system over the last year increased their share of the handheld games market by 14% Nintendo's process reduced their share by 5%

Which is the better process? the only reason the DS has 70% is because of the number of years it has been around! Apples process is rapidly closing that gap.

The main loser due to the iphone was the psp rather than the ds, but the reason that it has managed to establish a share of that market is the pricing model you saw with the iphone apps, $1-2 is nothing much even if you only play a game for an hour then delete it, whereas ds games at $30 or so are less of an impulse purchase.

Also, you should remember that it is a lot easier for companies to gain marketshare when they first arrive, extrapolating that initial jump into the longterm situation is fairly idiotic.

Smartphone market Apple has 50% thats pretty significant

Highlights from the February 2010 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report include:

· iPhone OS increased its share of smartphone requests from 33 percent in February 2009 to 50 percent in February 2010.

· Symbian's share of smartphone requests fell from 43 percent in February 2009 to 18 percent in February 2010.

· Android increased its share from two percent in February 2009 to 24 percent in February 2010.

Look at what is being reported before spouting idiotic figures, these merely relate to that admob stuff that is inherently biased towards iphone and android since those are the platforms that also embed its ads in apps.

Globally the latest smartphone marketshare based on actual sales is as follows:

symbian 46.9% (-5.5)
rim 19.9% (+3.3)
apple 14.4% (+6.2)
windows mobile 8.7% (-3.1)
linux 4.7% (-2.9)
android 3.9% (+3.4)
palm 0.7%
other 0.6% (-2.3)

In the american market you have rim just under 50%, apple about 23% and windows mobile and android around 10%.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

That's the US market. On the world market, they have 17%. There is more to the world than the USA.

Actually that wasn't the us market either.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Based on what Google (and HTC) did with the Nexus One, I really wish they would do a tablet.

If they announced one, it may put a wrench in Jobs' plans....

In many ways, the nexus one is fairly unimportant, its a useful update to the older developer handset and a nice phone in its own right, but it's the offerings from the likes of htc and motorola that are available by more conventional methods which are driving android sales.


The main problem with Google and tablets is they still seem to want this chrome os stuff when devoting more resources to making android more suitable out of the box for tablets, one of the big strengths for android at the moment is that hardware makers don't need to spend a long time working on it unless they choose to do so like htc and their sense ui, whereas in a lot of the reports on forthcoming android tablets you hear a lot of mentions of the work needed to make android more presentable on a tablet.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Sonist

I run W7 on my Home Theater PC (one of only two Windows machines I own - everything else is Macs). The HTPC runs 24/7 and it often goes for a month or more without reboot. Pretty much the same as my Macs, so I don't see any difference in stability. Anecdotal, I know, but it seems to be common enough.

And months between reboot is a very short time between reboots. For a server computer they should run years.

People I know running Linux HTPC runs them longer than months.

[m-reader]

I come a bit late to the discussion - but I thought I'd chime in anyway.
Even without getting into merits of iPad as a device itself, I agree with Doctorow on the most important issue here. Just the fact alone that Apple sells you a product with an Apple operating system which can only run Apple Approved (C) Applications sold by Apple Store with (coming in v4) Apple approved and delivered Ads - scares me to hell and back.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by stustaff

... and by the way I much prefer the choice of 100 apps on iphone to the 1 app on android....

Do you run Windows instead of Mac OS on the same principle? Because Mac fanboys traditionally argue the opposite when the subject of apps comes up in the Windows/Mac context.

Originally Posted by Crowl

In many ways, the nexus one is fairly unimportant, its a useful update to the older developer handset and a nice phone in its own right, but it's the offerings from the likes of htc and motorola that are available by more conventional methods which are driving android sales....

While I actually think the Nexus One is important, because it showed that an Android phone can be as elegant as the iPhone, its marketing is certainly all wrong.

I do hope, however, that Google stays in the game (although the Motorola-made "Nexus Two" with a physical keyboard is not my idea of elegant - but I suppose it may appeal to corporate types who currently carry BBs). Maybe by the time I am done with my 3G Ss, there will be a Nexus Three and it will be the right one.

But I also want a tablet. Soon.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Sonist

(although the Motorola-made "Nexus Two" with a physical keyboard is not my idea of elegant - but I suppose it may appeal to corporate types who currently carry BBs).

Physical keyboard on a phone is a must for me. I hate texting with on screen keyboard on a small screen (even the iPhone).

I have an LG voyager and love the qwerty keyboard for texting. But I hate the touch screen on the front for dialing phone numbers, scrolling through contacts etc. Of course, part of that is the touch screen on it sucks compared to the iPhone....

Originally Posted by m-reader

Even without getting into merits of iPad as a device itself, I agree with Doctorow on the most important issue here. Just the fact alone that Apple sells you a product with an Apple operating system which can only run Apple Approved (C) Applications sold by Apple Store with (coming in v4) Apple approved and delivered Ads - scares me to hell and back.

I don't like it, and it does give me a bit of pause in buying an iPad vs. seeing if some more open tablet comes out from someone else that can match the form factor, screen, battery life, UI etc. without being closed.

But it doesn't scare me. At the end of the day as long as I can get apps that work well for all my needs, I don't care about Apple controlling what apps are released.

I have pretty basic needs in a tablet--e-book apps, a good PDF annotation app, streaming video apps (netflix, network sites, hulu etc.), e-mail, newspapers, weather, magazines, comics etc.

So even a little over a week in, the iPad has most of the Apps I need, and I'm impressed with them so far from playing around on my girlfriend's iPad. It's more wanting a file management system, maybe an inch or so larger screen etc. that has me waiting that the closed nature of Apple products. My needs are basic and I'm not a customizer/tweaker/tech head in general so that's just not something that affects me much personally.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Based on what Google (and HTC) did with the Nexus One, I really wish they would do a tablet.

If they announced one, it may put a wrench in Jobs' plans....

Yay!

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80126

Google really listens to me....

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Sonist

While I actually think the Nexus One is important, because it showed that an Android phone can be as elegant as the iPhone, its marketing is certainly all wrong.

You have to assume its marketing is intentional, it being on the market acts as a stick to beat hardware makers that are slow to update to the current android version, but isn't too overt that it strangles the entire android market.

[ardeegee]

This just in-- Jobs endorses Android!

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...r-Fans-of-Porn

[Jaime_Astorga]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

This just in-- Jobs endorses Android!

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...r-Fans-of-Porn

Haha, I saw that on Digg today. That is seriously the stupidest thing I've ever seen Steve Jobs and/or Apple say in public. And to think that marketing is usually their strong point...

[HansTWN]

They are becoming more restrictive by the day. Why don't Apple users rise up and say "enough"? Apple products are turning into the proverbial golden cage, only you pay for it yourself. I was interested in the iPad but the last few weeks have thoroughly convinced me to stay away from all things Apple.

Even worse is that other companies are following the Apple line of dumbing down their products. As hardware is getting more powerful, we can do a lot less with it. I can only hope that people will wake up and demand more real functionality and less restrictions.

[Teyrnon]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

They are becoming more restrictive by the day. Why don't Apple users rise up and say "enough"?

Judging by the number of people who've actually told me they think Apple's restrictions are a good thing, I think that's answer right there. The impression I get is that they feel warm, fuzzy, and safe with Apple products.

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Even worse is that other companies are following the Apple line of dumbing down their

I'm not disputing the claim but could you give a few examples of products where companies have dumbed things down in this manner?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

They are becoming more restrictive by the day. Why don't Apple users rise up and say "enough"? Apple products are turning into the proverbial golden cage, only you pay for it yourself. I was interested in the iPad but the last few weeks have thoroughly convinced me to stay away from all things Apple.

Even worse is that other companies are following the Apple line of dumbing down their products. As hardware is getting more powerful, we can do a lot less with it. I can only hope that people will wake up and demand more real functionality and less restrictions.

HansTWN - peasants like being peasants (not referring to you, of course)

(Bless the lord and his relations,
And keep us in our proper stations.)

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Teyrnon

...
I'm not disputing the claim but could you give a few examples of products where companies have dumbed things down in this manner?

One example is MS's upcoming WM7.