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Here's a link for anyone who feels like exploring the wonderful world of cheap generic Chinese tablets: http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409 Or cheap generic Chinese anything, for that matter.
Start looking at ipadalternative, merrimobiles, pandawill. but do your own research WRT the sellers reputations.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What hardware are you using? I've wanted to try home automation for a while but all I can find is either the lowend stuff (X10) or the really highend stuff that requires a dealer to install it for you.
He mentioned Insteon, so I'm assuming http://www.insteon.net/ . I've been wanting to get into home automation too. My biggest fear is vendor lock-in. I'd like to hear more about how he gave his garage door a REST API, because that's something I could build my own interface for.
http://www.thex10shop.com/product/x10-pro-home-automation-pu...
Looks like its been discontinued but I'm sure something like it still exists. I probably payed the $20 retail for it. Thus my judgement that it cost less than a new clicker from Sears.
The garage door has a sensor that's part of the security system, which was replaced by a beaglebone. Between the two systems, I can use the main server to program a small app to GET the state of the door and PUT the door into the open and closed state.
I've already started sticking them to the walls of my house to control lights, the thermostat, the garage door etc. This didn't make sense at $400/device but as soon as they hit $100 or so the game was afoot. Now they're so cheap, its literally cheaper to grab one from "the pile" and whip up a nice html5 interface for the task than to buy a dedicated Insteon controller or Nest thermostat. Hell, it was cheaper to auto…
Also, where are you sourcing cheap touch screens 'from the pile?'
The low end of every successful product category ever created eventually becomes a commodity. The author has equated the commoditization of low end tablets with the death of one of the worlds largest industries. This would be like saying; margins are slim on spreadsheet software, the software industry is dead. This article exudes a failure to grasp basic economics.
The value is not how they look. The value is what you can do with them. The value is programming skills.
Similarly if you only produce Operating System software you are also "dead". Once the long extended death rattle of the PC compatible system is finally over there won't be a large common platform for third party companies to target. Even Microsoft sees the writing on the wall with this one hence Surface.
So to ensure survival a company needs to be in control of the entire widget, both hardware and software to produce the best possible system. This will yield a diaspora of almost but not quite compatible devices running a variety of different software platforms. Some will be open source, some will not. Some companies will survive the transition, most will not and new companies will rise and take their place.
Here's a link for anyone who feels like exploring the wonderful world of cheap generic Chinese tablets: http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409 Or cheap generic Chinese anything, for that matter.
Anyone know of any good review sites useful to someone interesting in buying some? I imagine there is huge variation in quality among the tablets on that page.
Your best bet is to ask on android tablet forums, and/or stick to the most common devices (eg. ainol).
To be honest i would say get an ainol novo7 elf2/aurora2 (tn/ips), or a used v1, or an a-n-7 fire, which is like the nexus 7 but uSD.
1. eg- i had a tablet that didn't autorotate, despite having all the right sensors, and also that made electronic noise with the headphone port (only) when nothing else was going on for a while.
If tablets with decent specs are available in China at relatively low volumes for $35 each, it's a matter of time before we start seeing free and nearly-free tablets in developed countries like the US. (Not just Amazon; companies like Verizon and Comcast could throw in a free 7" Android tablet just for signing up with them.)
Will consumers continue to shell out for iPads, iPhones, or iPods to the same degree when they can get decent Android devices for near zero?
I'm pretty sure that this is the table from the end of the story. http://www.frys.com/product/6982177?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT... I wonder how this compares to the Nexus 7 in terms of usability/response/lag/etc.
That tablet is not ICS.
"I thought discovering the A-Pad was pretty exciting. So I was dismayed to find that the week after I got back from China, a device that looks a lot like my A-Pad was on sale at Fry’s Electronics for $79. No brand listed. The process has already begun."
I didn't mean to say that the link was for the main tablet in the article. Guess that wasn't clear.