the tablet war is heating up

[John Crichton]

In a perfect world--or, for that matter, in the Asain markets--you'd see numbers that indicate customers are promoting healthy competition between brands rather than slavish devotion to one or--what is even more prominent--blind consumption of whatever has the most buzz at the moment.

It's not the consumer's job to promote any kind of competition between brands. It's the various companies job to do that. There are very real reasons Android is still behind in the tablet world that can't be attributed to either "slavish devotion," "blind consumption" or "buzz".

 

[catsclaw227]

There are very real reasons Android is still behind in the tablet world that can't be attributed to either "slavish devotion," "blind consumption" or "buzz".

While I agree with you for the most part, one cannot discount the "slavish devotion" that mac and iGadget fans have. It's not just anecdotal, it's been well polled in the past. For the most part, Apple fans will buy everything Apple even if the technology is more expensive and the product has less features. They epitomize the "fan" in "fanatic".

Obviously, there are exceptions, and yada, yada, yada...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Many companies are debuting new tech over in other markets simply because they are losing the urge to compete when they know a superior feature set just doesn't carry weight with Americans--not compared to the power of branding, at any rate.

The American consumer is nor more or less savvy than consumers in other advanced nations, and the history of tech gadgetry is full of "better" products that simply failed...for a variety of reasons.

Sonya's Betamax format, for instance, lost out despite having branding & superior quality because it 1) wasn't first to market (being first has a correlation of 67% with success in the market- stronger than any other single factor) and 2) on introduction could only record half as long as a VHS, which 3) was cheaper.

High-quality, long duration reel-to-reel lost out to cheaper, lower cost cassettes because it was not portable.

Apple's iPads are giving people a combination of functions that the majority of people find overwhelmingly attractive. For some it's the battery life. For others, it's the size & weight. Many prefer the depth, breadth and quality of the apps.

I'm typing this from my iPad2 because the business apps I wanted to run simply did not exist on any other tablet at the time of purchase...and still do not. The closest competitors for Android do a fraction of what the Apple versions do.

 

[John Crichton]

While I agree with you for the most part, one cannot discount the "slavish devotion" that mac and iGadget fans have. It's not just anecdotal, it's been well polled in the past. For the most part, Apple fans will buy everything Apple even if the technology is more expensive and the product has less features. They epitomize the "fan" in "fanatic".

Obviously, there are exceptions, and yada, yada, yada...

Apple fans are too easy of a target in these comparisons. It would be one thing if the iPad (since we are talking tablets) sucked or didn't hold up to the feature set, app/software support and other key factors of what people are looking for in a tablet. If only the Apple fans were buying iPads then there would be something real to talk about.

 

[catsclaw227]

...lost out despite having branding & superior quality because it 1) wasn't first to market (being first has a correlation of 67% with success in the market- stronger than any other single factor)...

First to market is huge, and in the case of the iPad, (generally) first to market and a huge client base and iPhone following catapulted it into the lead.

I am guessing that if there had been an Android phone introduced at the same time as the first iPhone, and then a tablet at the same time as the iPad, the numbers would be much, much closer (and the app market would be similarly stocked).

 

[catsclaw227]

Apple fans are too easy of a target in these comparisons. It would be one thing if the iPad (since we are talking tablets) sucked or didn't hold up to the feature set, app/software support and other key factors of what people are looking for in a tablet. If only the Apple fans were buying iPads then there would be something real to talk about.

Like I said, I agreed with you for the most part, but to ignore the fact that a strong percentage of Apple's fanbase is myopic is ummmm... short-sighted(?)

Think back a few years when Mac fans continually concluded that the Mac was the best graphic design platform, when PCs ran the same versions of Photoshop/Illustrator, yet were faster, better at multitasking, had more storage, and were less expensive. A Mac user would argue 'til he was blue in the face, despite the benchmarks presented to him.

 

[Fast Learner]

Good question. The answer is skepticism. You examine their reasons for deeming something "better", and note when they are specious.

You're not examining their reasons, you're simply claiming that yours are the non-specious ones.

While I agree with you for the most part, one cannot discount the "slavish devotion" that mac and iGadget fans have. It's not just anecdotal, it's been well polled in the past. For the most part, Apple fans will buy everything Apple even if the technology is more expensive and the product has less features. They epitomize the "fan" in "fanatic".

Obviously, there are exceptions, and yada, yada, yada...

Over 315,000,000 iOS devices sold so far. What percentage of those do you believe were purchased through "slavish devotion", and what percentage are "yada, yada"?

 

[catsclaw227]

Over 315,000,000 iOS devices sold so far. What percentage of those do you believe were purchased through "slavish devotion", and what percentage are "yada, yada"?

As I said above (not sure if you read it yet before you replied), first to market was a huge deal, starting with the iPhone. For the most part, hardware quality, development barriers, cell/wifi service options are generally equal. Apple has a deeper app store due to being first to market.

It sells much better than Android phones for many reasons. But a big part of the reason is due to users buying what they already know. In addition, there are extremely devoted apple fans that don't even look at other options and will get one regardless. Why else would someone in a major metro area buy a new phone with a 2-yr plan that only has 3G service when there are less expensive, equally powerful Android phones that have 4G service? So they can play games?

Apple has a HUGE name and they had great marketing early on. Jobs made the iPhone what it is today. And now Apple has an army of apple-ites that will buy the newest one, just because, without looking at comparative options.

Do you disagree that there are a LOT more Apple fans devoted to Apple than there are Android fans dedicated to Android?

They did the same thing with Mac vs. PC.

 

[John Crichton]

Like I said, I agreed with you for the most part, but to ignore the fact that a strong percentage of Apple's fanbase is myopic is ummmm... short-sighted(?)

Think back a few years when Mac fans continually concluded that the Mac was the best graphic design platform, when PCs ran the same versions of Photoshop/Illustrator, yet were faster, better at multitasking, had more storage, and were less expensive. A Mac user would argue 'til he was blue in the face, despite the benchmarks presented to him.

Apple has their fans and they also have their haters. And everything in between. Can't bring up one without the other and those numbers are nearly impossible to nail down.

And to call that fanbase short-sighted, slavish or anything else is also too easy when talking about why the iPad is still king of the tablets. Not to mention untrue more often than not.

 

[Felon]

You're not examining their reasons, you're simply claiming that yours are the non-specious ones.

I haven't held my reasons out at all for you to inspect, so your own impartial judgment on the subject is pretty much worth nil. Let's bottom-line this: you saw me use the phrase "stupidly high", and that one utterly innocuous phrasage appeared on your HUD as some incendiary slander against that could not go unchallenged. To that end you feigned innocent curiosity about the word "stupidly" with dogmatic interest, at the same time I was trying to play it down for the sake of civility. The ultimate goal was to extrude a statement that you could openly attack, as you finally did, although you jumped the gun. All over a brand that you claim objectivity towards. Q.E.D.

Apple has their fans and they also have their haters. And everything in between. Can't bring up one without the other and those numbers are nearly impossible to nail down.

And to call that fanbase short-sighted, slavish or anything else is also too easy when talking about why the iPad is still king of the tablets. Not to mention untrue more often than not.

That's very politic. First you assert that their are fans and detractors, and that nobody can say anything about anything with utmost accuracy (which is all fundamentally hard to disagree with), yet then you speak as the authority of what is true more often than not. Play fair. You've made your own assertions about the iPad's success and its consumers. Don't dismiss others on the basis of their "unknowability".