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Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

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Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#11

Post by rbanffy »

slantyyz wrote: post #4

The thing that makes my iPad great is its user experience, not its features. The fact that the app ecosystem is huge, has plenty of quality titles. I don't have to spend any time building apps to satisfy my needs, nor spend hours figuring out how it works. Yes, I could buy four of these devices for the price I spent on an iPad, but if they don't provide user experience parity to an iPad, how can it be considered a "r…

It's a competitor even if it addresses a subset of the iPad functionality. This one has e-book reading, something many people buy the iPad for. Different people weight different features differently (sory - had to do it) and this thingie may end up with a better value than an iPad for a lot of people.

Me included, BTW. I could buy one of these and a Nook for less than what an iPad costs. For me, it's a winner.

It's a competitor, even if you prefer the iPad.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#13

Post by hlidotbe »

ok, if I understand well this is a competitor, smaller, slower with an inferior screen and touch technology and you have to (easily but still...) change its software to support those features given it's not build for it.

The only advantages being cheaper (I would hope so given the specs!), running Android (debatable) and using an SD card for storage.

Even the site lists more cons than pros...

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#14

Post by mattmaroon »

david927 wrote: post #9
allend wrote: post #7

I love it when people think competing with the iPad means having more bullet point features.

I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

They're really not. My dad knows what an iPad is. Unless this device lays golden eggs he'll probably never hear of it.

Also, there are unmentioned features in the iPad's favor, most notably an App Store with 200k titles in it.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#15

Post by mattmaroon »

rbanffy wrote: post #11
slantyyz wrote: post #4

The thing that makes my iPad great is its user experience, not its features. The fact that the app ecosystem is huge, has plenty of quality titles. I don't have to spend any time building apps to satisfy my needs, nor spend hours figuring out how it works. Yes, I could buy four of these devices for the price I spent on an iPad, but if they don't provide user experience parity to an iPad, how can it be considered a "r…

It's a competitor even if it addresses a subset of the iPad functionality. This one has e-book reading, something many people buy the iPad for. Different people weight different features differently (sory - had to do it) and this thingie may end up with a better value than an iPad for a lot of people. Me included, BTW. I could buy one of these and a Nook for less than what an iPad costs. For me, it's a winner. It's a…

Do you really think people buy the iPad for reading ebooks? I find it to be not significantly better than reading on a monitor. The iPad is great for some things for sure (Plants vs Zombies being first and foremost in my experience) but I think if I wanted to read books I'd get a Kindle or some eink device.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#16

Post by slantyyz »

rbanffy wrote: post #11
slantyyz wrote: post #4

The thing that makes my iPad great is its user experience, not its features. The fact that the app ecosystem is huge, has plenty of quality titles. I don't have to spend any time building apps to satisfy my needs, nor spend hours figuring out how it works. Yes, I could buy four of these devices for the price I spent on an iPad, but if they don't provide user experience parity to an iPad, how can it be considered a "r…

It's a competitor even if it addresses a subset of the iPad functionality. This one has e-book reading, something many people buy the iPad for. Different people weight different features differently (sory - had to do it) and this thingie may end up with a better value than an iPad for a lot of people. Me included, BTW. I could buy one of these and a Nook for less than what an iPad costs. For me, it's a winner. It's a…

Yes, it is a competitor, but is it a "real competitor"? Real is the operative word. When you suggest that this product is a "real competitor", I expect it to have real potential to sell more than a million devices.

The reason why I am dismissive of this device is that the headline of the OTA is a little bit linkbaitish considering that the device is made by a little known Asian manufacturer who is going to spend next to nothing on marketing and has a questionable pedigree when it comes to product quality.

There will be real competitors from Android and WebOS, once the big players enter the market. But this thing? No way. I would say that none of the big players with plans for an Android slate would even consider this thing competition.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#17

Post by sprout »

mattmaroon wrote: post #14
david927 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

They're really not. My dad knows what an iPad is. Unless this device lays golden eggs he'll probably never hear of it. Also, there are unmentioned features in the iPad's favor, most notably an App Store with 200k titles in it.

So your dad never browses Wal-mart, Target, Best Buy, or anywhere else?

This is in the netbook range Best buy will throw next to the check-out aisle.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#18

Post by Tichy »

mattmaroon wrote: post #14
david927 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

They're really not. My dad knows what an iPad is. Unless this device lays golden eggs he'll probably never hear of it. Also, there are unmentioned features in the iPad's favor, most notably an App Store with 200k titles in it.

Well I'll be getting a cheap Android tablet eventually for stuff that the iPad simply is too expensive for. For example to make a kind of dashboard out of it, or sticking it to the fridge.

Not every tablet needs to compete on all the same aspects as the iPad.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#19

Post by bradleyland »

Ok, so supposedly this is a "real competitor" for the iPad, but the author lists the following downsides:

1) It’s a resistive screen. 2) It’s not a very bright screen, like the iPad. 3) It’s not a blazing fast CPU. 4) It’s limited for video. 5) It will be heavier than most eInk devices. 6) There’s no 3G, it’s WiFi-only.

Here's why these matter.

1) There is a very good reason no one uses resistive touch for devices intended to be used with your finger. The experience is horrible. You're better off trying to use your fingernail than you are your finger, and that's just awkward. 2) From the photos (and they might just be bad photos) the screen looks find for black & white, but muddy and washed out in color. 3) So responsiveness will suffer when running the full version of Android 4) TILT 5) This hasn't really been a problem for the iPad, but the iPad doesn't suffer from the cumulative negative effects listed here. 6) Not a big problem, IMO. A lot of people bought the WiFi iPad, and for good reason. If you're going to have a 3G data connection, it should probably be in the form of a MiFi or something similar.

Here's the biggest problem of all, items one, two, three, four add up to a lousy experience, and experience is everything. Sure, people might buy it once, but they won't use it if the experience sucks, and they won't buy another. The shame of the matter is that they may condemn tablets in general, rather than understand the attribution as I've listed it above.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#20

Post by what »

mattmaroon wrote: post #14
david927 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

They're really not. My dad knows what an iPad is. Unless this device lays golden eggs he'll probably never hear of it. Also, there are unmentioned features in the iPad's favor, most notably an App Store with 200k titles in it.

I think that just goes to show you the power of Apple's marketing machine.

Just because your dad won't know about it, doesn't mean that features and price aren't competitive.

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