Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

You would need an upload speed of around 5Mbit/s to upload HD video (720p). Less for lower quality of course, but then why are you doing HD in the first place? It's doable, but not realistic for most people.

You also need a monster CPU to compress video that much in realtime. With a slower CPU you'd get worse compression and need a faster connection (or lower quality).

Reducing framerate doesn't help as much as reducing resolution because little changes between frames, so there anyway isn't much to upload. (You either upload a lot infrequently, or a little frequently. It doesn't matter a ton. You get some benefit, but not much.)

A consumer product should be classified by what it does, not what's under the hood. I don't think your average end user would put the Nook and the iPad in the same class.

A Toyota and a Lexus might have the same engine and HP but that doesn't mean they're necessarily competing for share of the same market. Yes, much of that is marketing - but that's the point of marketing.

You mean Apple, Microsoft, Google, RIM et al?

Yes, I think it's a pretty fair assessment to say that they are all losing steam. Their basic problem is that smartphones and tablets have gone from being the cool new toys of yesteryear to being mainstream, expensive tools, with just a soupçon of "too clever for your own good".

I saw an interesting debate a few weeks ago on HN. Some people saw these generic tools as the future and specialised tools increasingly becoming obsolete. Other people saw the generic tools as Jacks-of-all-trades whose weaknesses next to dedicated mobile phones, music players, e-book readers, satnavs, etc. were becoming increasingly apparent as practical experience starts to trump the hype.

If I were brave enough to invest in hi-tech companies, I imagine I would be shorting all of the stocks I mentioned above right now. They are making a staggering amount of money today, to be sure. I'm just not sure how much all these new technologies they have been coming out with recently actually help real people to do things they care about, and I think they are highly vulnerable to indirect competition as consumers become more aware of what they actually care about and which gadgets help them do those things.

[Edit: Would the downvoter(s) care to explain why? Apple have or have recently had significant problems with the reliability of the iPhone 4, the spec for the iPad, and their reputation among the communities of app and content developers who support their entire infrastructure. Google have released a string of flops, many of which have been killed within a year, and are starting to look vulnerable even in their main playgrounds of search and on-line advertising, so unless something is fundamentally different in Android world there are probably similar difficulties there as well. RIM's last two big product launches have made Microsoft's handling of Vista look professional. Microsoft themselves have released a string of Windows Mobile platforms that have horrible reliability, functionality and performance compared to other major mobile operating systems. How are any of these companies not losing steam?]

Look at SJ's talk as "entertainment" .. which is what practically all of Apple's products are about :)

Rgd Samsung tabs, I believe the writer's choice of "last quarter" itself shows bias, 'cos the debate on what "smooth" means seems to be about post-Christmas sales. It is indeed a vague word which can be interpreted as "slow" in comparison to "faster than expected". Bottom line is that we don't know what the sales figures are with any degree of accuracy if Samsung can say "2 million sold" .. and later on add quietly "to retailers".

The real bottom line is, do you care about these numbers when making your decision to get one of these things?

Good god, why on earth did that get downvoted? It's an intelligent opinion, and he's not the only one who thinks it.

That said, I strongly disagree. iPad class tablets are a portable window into the digital world. Apple's video did a pretty good job of showing how that could help people do things they care about, and we're only just getting started.