A good deal of the development on the HP Slate was done right here in Houston. A vote against the HP Slate is a vote against Houston. BTW, I played with the iPad today for a few minutes. Came away fairly impressed, to be honest. It was damn fast, and the screen was nice.
Re: your sig - I supported you and am currently setting up an HP Elitebook I just got today. This thing is a beautiful laptop with about every spec I wanted. I'm also waiting to see how good the Slate will be when it comes out.
Everyone's looking at this media hyped Slate... forgetting about the Lenovo U1 which is better than the Slate from what features show.. Linux and Windows... the promotion video came out for the Slate today and it was pretty lousy, didn't show anything except the camera really.
People didn't forget about the U1 any more than Lenovo not marketing it like how Apple did with the iPad or how HP will with the Slate. I was and still am a Thinkpad guy. I still use my Thinkpad from time to time when I'm editing photos or what not (I have almost 3x as much ram in my Thinkpad than in my Macbook Pro). I think their products are always solidly built. The problem with Lenovo, in general, is their marketing team does not put the product out there for the masses to look at and think about. The U1 is perfect for anyone that wants a traditional laptop but also is looking for a tablet that they can carry around without the bulk of a laptop. That takes care of a lot of people's needs. Then you got the workhorse people that needs the computer to run multiple OSs out of the box and the U1 can do that too. I'm sure you realize that that's what it's all about. No, it's not about over hyping an inferior machine. Sure anything Apple does gets a lot of media coverage and a lot of hype and discussion but that's been the case ever since the 80s. But it's not that the products don't deserve SOME of the hype because, in the end, most of their products have succeeded and has been generally accepted. What it's all about it how a company markets their product. Only the true (albeit hardcore) computer users and people that are in the know would know what Lenovo is or what Android is (if we're talking about other products) without having the marketing and advertising blitz. With all that being said, engadget did their review on the U1 and the reviews for it back in January aren't that good. See here
Until some other company figures out how to duplicate apple touchscreen technology, apple will crush the market.
So, the iPad is out. But... will it blend? <object style="height: 344px; width: 425px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lAl28d6tbko"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lAl28d6tbko" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object>
I got the iPad tonight and been messing with it quite a bit...I have to say that it's amazing. Yes, other companies may be coming out with a better product, but that shouldn't take away anything from the iPad. Having lots of fun with it.
This reason the iPad or the iPhone is doing so well because of their simple but very affective OS. They have pretty much mastered the smoothness of their touchscreen with their OS on a no so spectacular processors. That's why I'm kinda pissed off with others companies that are concentrating too much on having great specs on their hardware but you can't blame them because their expertise aren't about great programming. That's where Microsoft step in. That's why the only company that will be able to compete against Apple is Microsoft. With the success of Windows 7, the upcoming Windows Phone 7 and the rumor Courier. Sony, HTC and ect will benefict greatly from Microsoft.
I know that Lenovo hasn't really paid much attention to making their products known... but I just think that everyone's looking at this slate to become a revolutionary tablet... Yes HP has done a good job with marketing it but I just believe that there are other products that will be better than the Slate. The Courier hasn't even been out yet, but I would find that to have more potential than the Slate because it's Microsoft who's doing the creating. I'm not trying to knock the Slate, I'm just saying, people should be aware of the other products that are coming out too. And that "review" of Engadget on the U1 wasn't a review.. it was just a quick look and their first impressions. I also believe that Lenovo was still improving the U1 after the announced it at CES, so those first impressions may change.
It's amazing when you really think about it. The iPad is like a case study in effective marketing and building brand equity. I can only imagine that if the iPad was manufactured and marketed by a different company, it would be blasted over its shortcomings and fade into obscurity. The only valid reasons I can really think to get one are if you fall into one of the following groups: 1. You have a strong dislike for physical keyboards. 2. You don't have a 3G enabled phone, but want internet connectivity everywhere. 3. You are technologically averse and want a simple, barebones computer/internet experience. 4. You have money to burn and want the newest, coolest device on the block. I think groups #3 and #4 are where the iPad picks up the bulk of its sales, and I don't think that is a bad thing. I know many people who use their laptop only for email, facebook, and basic internet sites. For those people, a laptop, or even netbook, can be overly complex for them. The training wheels style experience on an iPad assures them they they won't screw something up. Apps install themselves, you don't have to worry about viruses, and it's virtually impossible to bog down the iPad like I see happen to so many people's computers. As for group #4, that's where Apple's marketing and brand equity come into play. You are paying a premium for Apple's brand name and the image it conveys to others. There are better, more functional devices available for your purchase, but they won't be Apple products and you won't be the envy of your friends, neighbors, and anyone else who sees your iPad tucked under your arm. Let's not kid ourselves, Apple has created a brand image of having cool, hip devices and many people treat their products as a sort of status symbol. However, if you don't fall into group #3 or #4, I don't know how you can realistically take the iPad seriously. If you fall into groups #1 or #2, there are better options compared the iPad. There are netbooks, as well as other tablet PCs, that do everything the iPad does and more at better price points.
I'm not in those groups, yet I definitely want one. Well, I'm not that desperate to get it right now and most likely will wait till the next generation, but unless something comes out before then that clearly blows it out the water, I'll be getting an iPad at sometime in the future. It would be perfect to use anywhere in the house when I need to check some mail, look up something on the internet, use apps, play games etc. I have a laptop, and I understand I could get a netbook, but I don't like moving them around. If I need to do serious work outside of browsing the internet, I go to my desk and use my laptop. As it is, I use my iPhone a lot around the house. Its just easier to fire it up and have everything there. Obviously the screen size isn't ideal for extended use, so thats an area where the iPad comes in handy. I've only had an iPhone for a little over a year, and I really enjoy how simple it is, and how good it is at what it does. I don't want menus and have to use a keyboard and trackpad to consume media. I've just found a much easier and intuitive experience on the iPhone, and with the iPad having more robust features with the same multitouch technology, it gets a thumbs up in my book.
It's 'amazing' that you would look at these things and call them 'training wheels' and scratch your head. Guys like you are too busy hating on Apple to really understand what's going on. Or that you think your list of groups is really the only conceivable, logical explanation. I'm hoping you are just having fun (which of course is more than likely ), because if you really put that much thought into it and all you could come up with is the old standy 'people want to just look cool!! That's why!!' I really just have to smh.
1. I want an E-book reader that does more than E-books. 2. I travel a lot and would prefer to read or watch movies on a screen bigger than a couple of inches. 3. I want a readily available device to connect to the Internet in various parts of my house.
Why would you want to buy an item to be a show off? I would think the majority of people who buy products and gadgets aren't show offs and mainly buy it for their own luxury. Apple doesn't make it seem as though you need to have the next cool thing, they're just trying to sell their products on the basis of what they offer. You're not getting why people want the iPad if you think it's because they don't think there's a better product out there that does more... such as a netbook (which is a computer, the iPad is not).
So, would it be fair to say you would actually fall into group #3 if not for my strong language? Looking back on my post, limiting it only to the "technologically averse" was too harsh. I should have also included those who aren't necessarily aversed to the iPad's technical limitations, but actually prefer that simple experience. It also sounds like you would fall partially under group #4 if the language I used wasn't as harsh because Apple has built up a lot of brand equity in your eyes with your use of previous products. I'm not scratching my head over the iPad's "training wheels" at all. They are a very purposeful implementation by Apple and they yield positives and negatives for different types of users. It offers Apple a level of control that allows them to bring forth a specific user experience while also lending their customers a certain level of security and stability. These are massive positives for some users, but restrictive negatives to others. I would love to hear different viewpoints on the iPad though, so if you want to explain "what's [really] going on", I would actually appreciate that. And there are definitely other subcategories, or a blend of them, that would desire an iPad, but those aren't worth the effort in writing, so I didn't feel it was necessary to include them. For the sake of brevity (if you can even consider my post to be brief with how long it already was), I thought I would stick with the major categories as I see them. So my question to you would be, why do you desire an iPad specifically when it appears that other tablet PCs will soon be released at a better price point that will do what you need? If it is something along the lines of mere personal preference, then I would point back to my original post about how the iPad is like a case study in effective marketing and building brand equity. Speaking in terms of economics and marketing, that is a very valid reason for consumers-at-large to purchase the iPad, and it is a part of why the iPad's demand and sales is so fascinating. Maybe you or I don't buy items based on status and to "show off", but a very significant percentage of the buying public does. Why else do you think marketing is a multi-billion (trillion?) dollar industry in itself? Like I asked Rokkit to do, please explain to me what I'm not getting about the demand for the iPad. It seems that a large portion of it can be directly attributed to the marketing and brand equity that Apple has built up in the past decade.
I'll wait and see when the other tablets are released which one best suits my needs. At this time, there is only the iPad, so if I needed something today (or prior to the summer), I'd buy an iPad. Otherwise, I'll see what the others have to offer and make an informed decision.
