An Awful Review of the ANN and the Kobo Touch

[RockdaMan]

Pogues Touchpad review:

In this 1.0 incarnation, the TouchPad doesn’t come close to being as complete or mature as the iPad or the best Android tablets; you’d be shortchanging yourself by buying one right now, unless you’re some kind of rabid A.B.A. nut (Anything but Apple).

But there are signs of greatness here. H.P. is coming to this battle very late, but it says it intends to stay the course. True, it’s tilting at windmills — but at least it’s riding an impressive steed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/te...30pogueAA.html

[RockdaMan]

And Mossberg:

I've been testing the TouchPad for about a week and, in my view, despite its attractive and different user interface, this first version is simply no match for the iPad. It suffers from poor battery life, a paucity of apps and other deficits.

H-P stresses that webOS is a platform and that the TouchPad is just one iteration of it. The company plans to add the operating system to numerous devices, including laptops, and hopes that this scale will attract many more apps. And it pledges continuous updates to fix the current shortcomings.

But, at least for now, I can't recommend the TouchPad over the iPad 2.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...TTopCarousel_1

[John F]

Originally Posted by ST-One

On which eink-device can you actually scroll the page or use multitouch?

Doesn't the Sony 650 scroll? I thought I remember seeing a video of them doing it (maybe a PDF or image)?

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Pogues Touchpad review:



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/te...30pogueAA.html

Not surprised by this. The only really positive review I've read on the TouchPad so far was on PreCentral.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Not surprised by this. The only really positive review I've read on the TouchPad so far was on PreCentral.

This is My next did a decent review.
Everyone seems to be on the same page about the UI and the OS itself, it seems to be the best out there. And judging from the videos it really does.
The hardware I think too much is being made out of. I think too many tech pundits are hyponotized by thinness. .5 inches is not thick, it's just thicker than most of the competiton I have no idea why all of a sudden that just makes it a deal breaker.

but its OS looks really amazing. the whole "cards" idea looks wonderful. I'm intrigued. Apps will come and besides alot of apps generally tend to be a shortcut to the mobile site so if you can learn to manage bookmarks, then they basically do the same function as many of their app counterparts.

it does look really slick.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

And Mossberg:





http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...TTopCarousel_1

Interesting point on battery life Josh toposky(spelling) at This is my next.com commented on how terrific it's battery life was.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by boswd

This is My next did a decent review.
Everyone seems to be on the same page about the UI and the OS itself, it seems to be the best out there. And judging from the videos it really does.
The hardware I think too much is being made out of. I think too many tech pundits are hyponotized by thinness. .5 inches is not thick, it's just thicker than most of the competiton I have no idea why all of a sudden that just makes it a deal breaker.

but its OS looks really amazing. the whole "cards" idea looks wonderful. I'm intrigued. Apps will come and besides alot of apps generally tend to be a shortcut to the mobile site so if you can learn to manage bookmarks, then they basically do the same function as many of their app counterparts.

it does look really slick.

From what I've read, the main complaints were about some sluggishness and the lack of apps. I don't think people are hypnotized by thickness so much as they have a certain expectation. It's not just the iPad that's thinner than the TouchPad, after all. I can understand how a mobile device's dimensions might be important, if you're carrying it around. I do think it's a style over substance argument, but I can't say style doesn't count at all, either.

Apps are a problem. There's no real way around that. Android can afford to launch w/ 300 tablet apps, because they've got lots of momentum and developers. WebOS, as slick as everyone acknowledges it is, hasn't ever picked up that kind of momentum, mainly because Palm was so late out of the gate w/ an SDK. Couple that with the fact that Palm's initial Pre advertising was an unmitigated disaster, and it's no surprise the platform didn't get a lot of early action (despite selling fairly well the first month or so). So that's the problem: HP has to convince developers they can get people to use the platform, and they have to convince users that there will be lots of apps for them to use.

It's going to be a tough slog.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

From what I've read, the main complaints were about some sluggishness and the lack of apps. I don't think people are hypnotized by thickness so much as they have a certain expectation. It's not just the iPad that's thinner than the TouchPad, after all. I can understand how a mobile device's dimensions might be important, if you're carrying it around. I do think it's a style over substance argument, but I can't say style doesn't count at all, either.

Apps are a problem. There's no real way around that. Android can afford to launch w/ 300 tablet apps, because they've got lots of momentum and developers. WebOS, as slick as everyone acknowledges it is, hasn't ever picked up that kind of momentum, mainly because Palm was so late out of the gate w/ an SDK. Couple that with the fact that Palm's initial Pre advertising was an unmitigated disaster, and it's no surprise the platform didn't get a lot of early action (despite selling fairly well the first month or so). So that's the problem: HP has to convince developers they can get people to use the platform, and they have to convince users that there will be lots of apps for them to use.

It's going to be a tough slog.

Was just reading the Zdnet review and it seems to basically say. Business market = Awesome Everyday Consumer market = not quite there yet

here's a quote :

"I expect a lot of the consumer-oriented reviews to hit the HP TouchPad pretty hard because of its bulkiness, lack of games and entertainment content, and fewness of third-party apps (although it’s ahead of Android Honeycomb and BlackBerry PlayBook when they launched). Those are all valid concerns and because of them I certainly wouldn’t recommend the TouchPad for the average consumer.

However, for people who couldn’t care less about the latest games and movies and just want to get work done in meetings and on airplanes, the HP TouchPad will be a breath of fresh air. I consider it the most productive tablet yet and the first one that can serve as a legitimate laptop replacement for professionals on the road."


http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/review...t;feature-roto

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

This is My next did a decent review.

Yes, they said:

Still, the bottom line here is that the stability and smoothness of the user experience is not up to par with the iPad or something like the Galaxy Tab 10.1, even if many of the underlying ideas are actually a lot better and more intuitive than what the competition offers. That, coupled with the minuscule number of quality apps available at launch make this a bit of a hard sell right now.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

Was just reading the Zdnet review and it seems to basically say. Business market = Awesome

No, just like every other tablet they say 'maybe in the future':

I would fully recommend the TouchPad to professionals if it weren’t for the performance issues and the fact that HP needs to add editing capability for Microsoft Word and Excel files (something HP says is coming “this summer”). With those two things in mind, I would recommend holding out until HP addresses those issues and adds more productivity apps to the catalog.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Yes, they said:

they didn't blast it to the level of Mossberger and Pogue the two biggest apple goons.

What? No apple logo on the back, FAIL>

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Yes, they said:

But in typical Rock's selective reading you just passed right over this quote

"I consider it the most productive tablet yet and the first one that can serve as a legitimate laptop replacement for professionals on the road."

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

they didn't blast it to the level of Mossberger and Pogue the two biggest apple goons.

What? No apple logo on the back, FAIL>

Is that what Pogue said about the Xoom?

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

But in typical Rock's selective reading you just passed right over this quote

"I consider it the most productive tablet yet and the first one that can serve as a legitimate laptop replacement for professionals on the road."

I know, it was contradictory, right? Calling it productive, and then failing to recommend it.

[rdfry]

My prediction even though WebOs is really nice is that it is going to go nowhere.