What if there really is not a tablet market? Only an iPad market?

[mike123abc]

Android 3.0 tablets allegedly delayed due to low hopes | Electronista

Companies building Android 3.0 tablets are supposedly holding back on launches based on concerns of low sales and support from Google. Results for the Motorola Xoom were "lower than expected," according to rumors. Combined with Google's inability to help some partners, many have simply decided to wait before getting into tablets, Digitimes said.

Not so happy news from android tablet land... More time for Apple to lock in market share.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

My recent trip to NAB showed for the first time seeing more ipads in use than laptops by travelers. It's also convenient since you don't have to part the laptop from your carry on bag to go through security. Nice that I didn't have to deal with that issue this trip. Although I did take my laptop. I packed it with lots of padding in my checked bag and only pulled the hard drive which I carried in my carry-on for security reasons. MY Dell has the hard drive in a drawer for quick removal.

I do agree that the weakness of the ipad is the need to use it with a PC or MAC but I feel this will soon be a thing of the past. Mike you said you don't need a PC with Android, but that may be application specific. I have HTC sync necessary to be able to use Audible. May be a way around that but there are also some of the map programs I checked out last week that required me to unpack and configure on the PC before installing and activating on Android. The claim that Android doesn't need a PC may be application specific.

I have not had to sync to use audible. You can download anything from your library directly to the device. I did it a few weeks ago. You have to sync with an iPod to get your stuff from Audible, but not with the tab or droid. Seems like HTC must have a special app. I can ry to find the generic app if you want. It works great.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I don’t see tablets taking over the sales of desktops and laptops and I definitely don’t see a tablet as a suitable laptop replacement. My desktop has a nice 23” display, when I get a laptop it will have a nice 17” display. A tablet maxes out at 10” and when you have the on screen keyboard open a good chunk of your screen real estate is gone especially if you have one of those yucky DOA 7” things. With tablets lacking things like optical storage, USB ports for offloading content to flash drives, a LAN port, decent processors to be able to handle real tasks, tablets are a joke compared to current laptops and desktops.

I see tablets as a toy, a gadget that makes life in some ways more easier and something to play around with, but I don’t see writing a term paper on one, or even watching video for extended periods of time. And who knows tablets may end up like netbooks. Anyone remember those things? Hottest piece of technology 2 years ago, today all but irrelevant.

You might see it as a toy, but you are factually wrong about a lot of what you said. My GTab has a SD card, my iPad can transfer files via several cloud tools, and other sync tools that work with desktops. I use dropbox and have access to 40gb of files whenever I need them.

There is nothing DOA about 7 or 10 inch tablets. Both have their place and can be very useful.

I watch 45 min of video three times a week at the gym on an elliptical machine with my iPad and GTab. Both work great, so much nicer than anything else for that purpose.

Having went on a business trip with my iPad and left my 5 lb. Laptop at home, I was quite content, and did not feel that I was at any disadvantage, plus, for under $70 you can add a wireless keyboard, which weighs very little, for those times you want to type a lot. Such as when you needed to write a term paper. - which I have seen so e of my students do. A few take all their notes on their iPad quite successfully. Am I going to do my research and write my next book on the iPad? No, of course not, but there are many things I can do with it that is far from being a toy, and the next time I go to Northwestern Law Library to conduct research, I have no qualms at all about using the iPad over a laptop.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[Steve Mehs]

So what am I factually wrong about? Yeah Android tablets have micro SD slots, by optical storage I’m talking more to the tune of CDs, DVDs and BDs. Doesn’t having an external keyboard take away from what a tablet is about? First you throw in an external keyboard, then external storage, then outputting the video signal via micro HDMI to a larger display and you might as well bought a real computer. You can push the idea of cloud computing all you want but until the entire nation has wifi and wifi is actually a reliable form of networking cloud computing is for the wieners who sit all day at Starbucks sipping on their overpriced lattes while pretending to write a novel.

I have nothing against tablets, other than the iPad, I just can’t see where they provide any real functionality. They are TOYS! But like I’ve been saying all along, when HTC puts out a 10” for Sprint, I’ll buy one.

 

[diogen]

I see tablets just like another "flavour" of a computing device.

First there were mainframes (e.g IBM-360). Then minicomputers (e.g. PDP-11).
Middle of the 70's saw two new classes of computers: personal (Apple) and super (Cray-1 and CDC).
Ever since, mainframes are few years from being dead. But it never happened and it looks like the rumors about mainframe's death will die first.
The 80's brought workstations (Apollo, Sun Micro) and the other flavour of personal computer - IBM PC.

Now, 40 years later, the minicomputer and workstation markets are taken over by PC.
I believe this happened because of Intel (variety and low cost of CPUs) and Microsoft (Windows).
Every single attempt to beat Intel and prevent them from taking over neighbor markets failed.
Also, every attempt to create a new CPU niche with sustainable demand (VIA, Transmeta) failed.

The 90's brought Linux.
It has beaten most of the OSs (Windows included) in everything from embedded to supercomputers.
With one exception: desktop.

It looks like the only way to beat Microsoft on the desktop is to kill desktop as a class.
At least this is what Apple decided to try, I believe.

There are few factors that make this idea not as ridiculous as it would sound even 5 years ago.
More's law. Nobody needs the latest and greatest. Half the way to the top does everything just fine.
Better Windows )). Outsourcing (a PhD in India costs less than a high school dropout in the US).
And just like the share of farmers went from 50% some 100 years ago to 2% today, creative jobs are leaving NA.

This is where the tablets come in.
Moore's law made ARM competitive for whatever tasks are remaining of interest to NA populace (consumption, mostly).

Unless this planet starts outsourcing to Mars or something, I think somebody would have to do something outside of "consumption".
That task you can't accomplish without a keyboard, i.e. computer. Hence, the later won't die any time soon.
It might happen in the US. But not in the world.

Diogen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Good review Diogen.

I don't think tablets will kill PC's, just change their user-base in terms of what they are used for, and this will be most true for the casual consumer. Not power users like most of us. We'll continue to use all different types of devices: desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone.

 

[diogen]

Risking to sound dusty old, I readily admit I do not understand this Facebook/Twitter/etc. phenomenon.
I don't know why, it just doesn't tick. I spend more time "connected" than most but have no desire to take part in social networks.

I was glad to learn today that I am not alone and there are other people thinking that there could be something wrong with this phenomenon.
This Tech Bubble Is Different - BusinessWeek

The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.

Some 15 years ago this would be called consumerism (outside the internet), today we need a less polite term to describe
something that is resembling the techno bubble of the 98-99 in behavioral space.
This time around there is not even a pretense to create value.

Talk about consumption as the goal and the means, as hobby, job and everything in between...

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

Mike- I've only used two devices with Audible. My htc TP2 and the new Thunderbolt. Both I have had to connect to my PC to get the books transferred. I tried to figure out how on the Thunderbolt app but when I tried it just aborted the attempt. I'll look into it some more as I have another credit to use. The new audible app for Android is quite nice compared to the older windows mobile version.

Yesterday, my wife used my thunderbolt for the first time to research a shopping location and make a phone call. She was really impressed with the ease on how it worked.

I'm still also having trouble connection and controlling my security cameras from the Thunderbolt browser. It's much easier to connect the ipad to the Thunderbolt and use the ipad's safari browser for controlling the cameras.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Mike- I've only used two devices with Audible. My htc TP2 and the new Thunderbolt. Both I have had to connect to my PC to get the books transferred. I tried to figure out how on the Thunderbolt app but when I tried it just aborted the attempt. I'll look into it some more as I have another credit to use. The new audible app for Android is quite nice compared to the older windows mobile version.

Yesterday, my wife used my thunderbolt for the first time to research a shopping location and make a phone call. She was really impressed with the ease on how it worked.

I'm still also having trouble connection and controlling my security cameras from the Thunderbolt browser. It's much easier to connect the ipad to the Thunderbolt and use the ipad's safari browser for controlling the cameras.

I will check the app I have on my G Tab when I get home, but I just went into my Library, found the book, and selected download.

 

[mike123abc]

Xoom appears to be biting the dust: DailyTech - Motorola Xoom Sees Abysmal Sales, New Competitors Pour Salt on Its Wounds

Analyst: 25,000 to 120,000 Xooms sold. Motorola Mobility's survival at risk - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech

 

[diogen]

From the linked article:

The successful launch of the iPhone on Verizon (VZ), he writes, has "taken the wind" out of Android's sails. The Google app store is "a disaster"...

I'm wondering what this guy is drinking. Or smoking...

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

This is more than funny. The very next day, the same author is quoting Nielsen without any "rebuttal"

The launch of the Verizon (VZ) iPhone has not visibly slowed the triumphant march of Google's (GOOG) Android
operating system through the mobile heartland of America, according to a Nielsen Wire report released Tuesday.

So, did "Verizon iPhone launch" change anything?
Nielsen: Android gains, iPhone slips - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech

Modern tech journalism, I guess. The "objective", aka Mossberg-way...

Diogen.

 

[mike123abc]

Tablet Makers Start Bailing On Android

Acer. Motorola, RIM and other tablet manufacturers are reportedly bailing out of the Android tablet sector and heading back to their smartphones.

According to the sources, the competition with Apple's iPad tablet family has been rough, thus sales of competing tablets from Acer, HTC, LG, Motorola and RIM have been "flat." Samsung is reportedly the only manufacturer to have gained any ground after entering the tablet sector, claiming 10-percent of the market with its Galaxy Tab devices.

Kind of early for the market to already be shaking out, but interesting that the tablet market is so much harder than the phone market.

I would speculate that the polished apple interface is far more important on tablets vs a phone. Most people probably use their phones for calling/texting, the rest of the smart phone features are minimally used (i.e. most would only use a couple of the extra features). So, the interface is not very important on the phone, as long as it does what they need to do. But, tablets are far more interface oriented.

 

[diogen]

From the linked article:

Motorola, RIM and other tablet manufacturers are reportedly bailing out of the Android tablet sector

RIM has nothing to do with Android.

Android consumers simply don't have a "central hub" like iTunes... probably one of Android's biggest drawbacks.

Really? I think that's the reason Android beat iOS in the smartphone market...

Instead, they used older Android versions, some of which were not sanctioned by Google...

Sanctioned? I don't think he knows what he's talking about...
And the last sentence:

The unnamed sources said that other Android tablet manufacturers will continue to produce the devices, as they've been successful...

Is other words, some make it, some - don't. Business as usual. Nice to hear.
If Samsung, Asus, LG stay, I don't really give a rat's ass about the rest...

Diogen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I like my Droid, but to say that Android has "beaten" iOS in the smartphone market is kind of a stretch. Yes, it has a large global market, but I don't see Apple packing up and closing shop on the iPhone. Its a healthy competitive market, maybe a little less of the hyperbole is in order.

I am not surprised Motorola is thinking of bailing on the tablet; its a tough market to be in, given the cost of developing and manufacturing machines, and the fact that Google has kind of failed them with development of Honeycomb. I so wish Google had pushed for the killer 7" tablet, aka the original Galaxy Tab, running Froyo-enhanced (i.e. Gingerbread), but instead they splintered the market, and there are a bunch of devices, none anywhere close to an iPad killer, given the software.

Add to it I was shocked when I finally held a Xoom in my hands, of how heavy it was. Just made my iPad seem light, which is kind of laughable. And the widgets on Honeycomb just did not wow me; ANd I have long been a champion of Android OS for its widget capability. The Android tablet could be SO MUCH MORE, but to date, it just falls way short.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Another article, with a different spin on the same issue. Suggesting it may be too early to dismiss Google's failure with tablets.

History Shows That Google’s Android Tablets Can’t Be Dismissed Just Yet | paidContent

 

[mike123abc]

Another article, with a different spin on the same issue. Suggesting it may be too early to dismiss Google's failure with tablets.

History Shows That Google’s Android Tablets Can’t Be Dismissed Just Yet | paidContent

Another factor could be that Google does not see the $$ yet in the tablet business. They seem to be cashing in on the mobile market with android advertising, but does it work that well with the tablets? Google does this to make money eventually, they may not yet really see an incentive to devote a ton of resources to the tablet market.

 

[TheForce]

Heard a report last week that the Federal Government has been supporting Blackberry, but recently is starting to look closer at the iphone for a more robust smartphone. I've always found it fascinating how the industry is so different with smartphones. We have Apple who has it's own monopoly on the iphone. They make one phone sold with a couple options in design, mostly memory, color and carrier. Rim is the closest similar business model as they make all the Blackberry phones but they offer several models and many are completely different designs physically. Then we have Android and Windows Mobile. These are really operating systems and the OS is licensed to many manufacturers of many different designs of smart phones.
Between the two, WM and Android, I feel that Android works and Windows Mobile doesn't. I have an Android phone by htc and after switching to it from a windows Mobile htc phone, I came to that basic conclusion. iphone also works, but has some Apple design stubbornness that I don't like and is a game killer for me personally. Namely- Can't swap out a dead battery, can't swap out a memory card, won't see all the internet as in Flash etc. For me these were game changers and a new one added to the list is doesn't do 4G LTE. They resolved the single carrier monopoly but that isn't a complete DonLandis problem solver. So, I stay away from iphone.

When it comes to tablets, Apple follows the same rules. Contrast the phone device, I prefer ipad because first of all for me it is not carrier restricted as I don't use it with any carrier. The non-swappable battery is not an issue since it has such an excellent and long charge life. 8-10 hours is plenty of use time. 30 days standby is more than enough. My wife has run her battery dead a couple times only because she uses every day and only puts it on charge once a week or when it needs it. The other day she claimed her ipad broke. I looked at it and said when was the last time you charged it? her battery finally died. 4 hours on charger and back in business. Lack of Flash is annoying but we have several work arounds that work, just annoying. The big competition is Android but while the offerings are OK and the probably a bit lower cost for some, they just don't do it for me to make the switch. Interesting, that for what I wanted, the ipad really offered it all. I did think I would miss the lack of a camera but now ipad has them and I discovered if I need to make a picture call, I just use my smartphone which can do that, but I never need or really want to use that to make a call. There are lots of little things I wish the ipad did better, and I believe the Android tablet does do better, but these aren't enough to be a game changer for me. Today, when I see a new Android Tablet, I wonder how long it will be around, 2-3 weeks?. Or, will I ever see one of those being used in the public. I see ipads all over the place.

Another factor could be that Google does not see the $$ yet in the tablet business.

Oh they see it all right. BUT, most people don't understand the profit center in what Google does. They don't make their money directly on the Android OS but for them Android OS is a tool to fuel their mining of people's personal data.

They seem to be cashing in on the mobile market with android advertising, but does it work that well with the tablets?

Problem with Android Tablets is there aren't enough in use for it ( the fuel consumption )to be significant. Today, ask the average non-tech person if they want a tablet, they immediately think ipad. Ask what smart phone and they aren't sure what type you were referring to, They know them by the name Android, iphone and Blackberry. Android is an OS on a bunch of phones by a bunch of companies. iphone is one phone by one company. Blackberry is a bunch of phones by one company. Ipad is one tablet by one company. For most people, Android tablets and Blackberry tablets... ??? Do they even exist? will be the question they have.

 

[mike123abc]

I should have expressed the profit for Google in the tablet market better. I see most people on the ipad surfing the web. This generates Google money via thier normal internet advertizing. How much more money could Google make with a tablet OS vs what they already make on the iPad?

Again it is my current view of the phone being mobile and used a lot less for web surfing but for finding stuff (like maps), doing comparison shopping, etc. that could drive Googles business, vs the iPad used a lot more for web surfing at home (some mobile, but more like a laptop semi mobile) where Google already gets the majority of ad dollars.

I could see Google over the long run making just as much money on an iPad as Apple given Google's profit in internet advertizing.

 

[John Kotches]

I think google can't get the I release, i.e. Ice cream out the door fast enough. Once they have the merged desktops (i.e. a common scaling interface layer) the market will truly heat up.

Unlike some, I prefer the 7" form factor for a tablet. I find the 10" pads cumbersome and bulky for long term comfort. That's not to say I wouldn't buy one, but that's my experience. I have a nook color that's been rooted so I'm not just standing on the sidelines.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk