Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 70 posts

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#41

Post by SwellJoe »

I played with a Nook Color at B&N a couple of days ago. If I were to buy a tablet, that's the one I'd buy. It's dirt cheap ($249), seems reasonably fast, and can be hacked into a real Android tablet (not a reasonable thing for a normal consumer to do, but it wouldn't be a problem for me). But, the things I could think of to use it for, I already have a Kindle and a Nexus One and a netbook for...so, I opted not to add more electronics crap to my very small house. Maybe the next generation Nook Color will convince me that a tablet is something I need/want.

My point is that the price of the HP was obviously wrong. It's not an Apple product...people don't expect to pay Apple prices. There's an assumption (right or wrong) that Apple imposes a stiff Apple tax on every product they sell, so I expect any non-Apple product to be much cheaper and have better specs. When that expectation is not met, I feel like the non-Apple product is over-priced. Apparently the TouchPad also sucks, while the iPad is apparently awesome, which makes the TouchPad an even harder sell.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#42

Post by mgkimsal »

iaskwhy wrote: post #40
Osiris wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it amazing that people haven't learned the Apple lesson yet. Apple is doing well specifically because it doesn't release a product until it's perfect. They put a lot of thought and effort into every aspect of every device. Why is it that companies like HP think that getting it out the door is more important that putting out a polished product? Just look at the white iPhone 4. Apple wouldn't release it until it…

Maybe they are reading too much Hacker News and the "ship ship ship" we preach over here. I know I have heard some companies thinking like that without realising it's not the best strategy for every company.

It's a good observation. So many web startups think "ship early!" works for everything, and it doesn't. Certainly not hardware. Yes, for a website, where you can change the system in 5 minutes if you find a small mistake, or you can reindex a db and fix perf issues - yes, get it out there and validate and iterate. Hardware is a totally different beast.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#43

Post by mortenjorck »

Shipping too soon and getting lukewarm reviews for it may have been a factor here, but I think the biggest one is in marketing: HP has never had a convincing story for the TouchPad.

The TouchPad campaign still has yet to make a solid case for choosing WebOS over iOS (or even Android). WebOS is a more flexible environment than iOS, and it's more consistent and seamless than Android; why can't HP marketing figure out how to vocalize that?

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#44

Post by iaskwhy »

mgkimsal wrote: post #42
iaskwhy wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they are reading too much Hacker News and the "ship ship ship" we preach over here. I know I have heard some companies thinking like that without realising it's not the best strategy for every company.

It's a good observation. So many web startups think "ship early!" works for everything, and it doesn't. Certainly not hardware. Yes, for a website, where you can change the system in 5 minutes if you find a small mistake, or you can reindex a db and fix perf issues - yes, get it out there and validate and iterate. Hardware is a totally different beast.

There are many reasons why you shouldn't just ship and with tablets like the TouchPad there are at least two good reasons: the hardware (for the reasons you said) and the price (which is expensive for something that is not unique or particular innovative).

You can keep the features to a low though, just make sure they are tight. Like the Kindle.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#45

Post by yequalsx »

The TouchPad didn't pass my two usability tests for tablets. I opened a book and tried to lookup the definition of a word. I think it was the TouchPad that opened a browser window and sent me to a Google search for the word's definition. I also opened two tabs for the browser. I couldn't figure out how to close a tab. If it doesn't pass these two simple tests then it's not worth buying.

The iPad is the only tablet that passes both tests in terms of performing the tasks easily.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#47

Post by orky56 »

SwellJoe wrote: post #41

I played with a Nook Color at B&N a couple of days ago. If I were to buy a tablet, that's the one I'd buy. It's dirt cheap ($249), seems reasonably fast, and can be hacked into a real Android tablet (not a reasonable thing for a normal consumer to do, but it wouldn't be a problem for me). But, the things I could think of to use it for, I already have a Kindle and a Nexus One and a netbook for...so, I opted not to add…

That's a really good case for the mindset of a hacker. Buy a cheaper product that is hackable and customize the experience. With the current tablet wars, iPad is winning since it doesn't require hacking to achieve a high standard of features, performance, and user experience. This aligns with mainstream customers which is the giant demographic every company is trying to obtain.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#48

Post by AlexMuir »

mgkimsal wrote: post #39
Osiris wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it amazing that people haven't learned the Apple lesson yet. Apple is doing well specifically because it doesn't release a product until it's perfect. They put a lot of thought and effort into every aspect of every device. Why is it that companies like HP think that getting it out the door is more important that putting out a polished product? Just look at the white iPhone 4. Apple wouldn't release it until it…

I'd say Apple don't entirely - ipad 1 vs ipad 2. They could've waited another 6-9 months for a camera (and the ipad2 camera really isn't all that hot anyway). Apple doesn't put out gold 100% of the time. A lot of people waited on ipad 1 for v2 because of the things it didn't have (camera, etc) But... perhaps closer to your point, what the ipad v1 did, it did very well. Better to leave a feature out altogether than do…

My view is entirely the opposite - I'm amazed at how well Apple nailed the first iPad. Aside from processing power (which is really just a factor of time), the only improvement on the iPad 2 was a camera.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#49

Post by joshu »

thought_alarm wrote: post #46

I think ten years from now we will look back at this time period and be baffled by the incredible amount and variety of complete junk that was dumped on the market to try and capitalize on the "tablet craze". Sent from my iPad

Cambrian explosion.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#50

Post by Jabbles »

dmix wrote: post #19
acabal wrote: post #8

I think the problem is that people still don't care about or want tablet computers; they care about and want iPads. All the companies jumping on the tablet bandwagon forgot what happened to 95% of the mp3 players that sprang up to compete with the iPod.

> people still don't care about or want tablet computers; they care about and want iPads I've seen this many times when I try to explain to normal people what I do for a living. When I explain we create tablet apps, I get blank stares. If I say we create iPad apps, they reply "oh I saw the commercial for those". iPads are mainstream. Tablets in general, not so much.

Couldn't that be a symptom of other tablets not being competitive, rather than the cause?
Post reply on HN