the tablet war is heating up

[Dannyalcatraz]

You really know people that have an iPhone with barely any Apps?

I'm close. I have few apps on my iPod Touch and iPad2- just the ones I seriously need, and most of THOSE were standard- but there are a few out there that may get me to pull the trigger a bit more often than I have in the past.

People just go to the mall and hang out at the Apple store.

The adults are there to buy something, have something explained, or get something repaired.

But I've seen mall rats hang out at Apple stores like they would have done in the arcades of my youth...because they're playing games on the MacAirs and iPads. They even have kid-height tables & seating for the grade-schoolers there with their parents so they can play around on the machines.

And that is solid marketing "strategery"- hook them young, hook their buddies and you have won their money for a decade+. I can't say the last time I saw a store giving that kind of unstructured, unsupervised access to the tech products anywhere else.

 

[Mallus]

The adults are there to buy something, have something explained, or get something repaired.

That's my experience of the Apple Store on Walnut St. here in Philadelphia.

It's not a hang-out --we have bars, restaurants, and the bottom part of South St. for that-- it's a busy shop full of people actually shopping. Honestly, I've never seen a retail store more full of engaged customers spending money. It's almost eerie. It almost has me believing in the mind-controlling powers of burnished aluminum...

But it's also true Philadelphians aren't a fashionable people. Maybe the fashionable people in other cities *do* hang out at the Apple Store.

(though I doubt it)

 

[Janx]

It's the view that *Apple's figured out the best way to do things, and if you need something else, you're not realizing the power of your device, or you're using it wrong* that I find annoying. And I get this all the time from Apple fans.

I get it when I express frustration at things going wrong with my iPhone, and I get told "well you're using it wrong". Well, "I push this button here, and look, it crashes", or "hey how come I can't search for an e-mail and find it by typing in keywords related to the content of that e-mail"? "Oh, well, you don't really need to do that" or "I never search for emails, so I can't tell you".

Casual End users are of course going to be the worst at verbalizing the benefits of the design.

Everyone in the tech industry (as in working, not consuming) knows that Apple and Microsoft spend a lot on research on user interface, fonts, and workflow experiences. Saying Apple found the "best way" is exagerating. Saying they chose one of the best ways to do it in the scope of the design paradigm is a bit more precise.


What Apple does is simply the User Interface down to the commonly desired set of features. A shorter feature list is easier to encompass in a simple user interface design. Complex features require more interface and thus makes the system harder to use.

Basically, it's not rocket science. I can make something easy to use by getting rid of all the advanced stuff that only 2% of the user base wants.

Which is why you get puzzled looks when you talk about search email by content. Most people seldom need that. heck, my Outlook still does a piss poor job at searching by content, so why should my Smart Phone be any better at it?

This is why Apple stuff is lighter on features. All that control other systems have means more menu items, buttons, sub-menus that have to be incorporated into the user interface.

 

[Alan Shutko]

You really know people that have an iPhone with barely any Apps?

My wife is one of those people. But hers is a hand-me-down and she's gradually accumulating apps. But she never goes out looking for them. A small set of apps suit most of her needs.

One problem many companies have on the advertising front is that they simply make too many devices. Since Apple only makes one tablet a year (in different sizes) all their ad spend can support it. Samsung, for instance, make so many different devices their budgets are spread much more thin. I've read that manufacturers are beginning to realize that they're fragmenting their own markets and are working on putting more focus on fewer devices.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But it's also true Philadelphians aren't a fashionable people. Maybe the fashionable people in other cities *do* hang out at the Apple Store.

Well, I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, and our Apple stores are located in some of the highest income suburbs in the area- Southlake and Frisco. Driving around those towns, you'll see hot stores, big houses, and people in cars that cost $300k+. And this area is definitely fashion & money conscious. There's a reason why the seats closest to the action in our sports venues are often the last to fill.

And I wouldn't say I see the local fashionistas and trendsetters in the Apple stores. You're going to see them, yes- they are freakin' everywhere- but not there.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Samsung, for instance, make so many different devices their budgets are spread much more thin. I've read that manufacturers are beginning to realize that they're fragmenting their own markets and are working on putting more focus on fewer devices.

Apple did that back in the late 1980s and early 1990s- while Jobs was at NEXT- and it nearly killed them. There was a big backlash over the product lines and scheduled releases. Too many products, and your would-be customers hold fire, waiting for the next new thing to appear. This slows your income flow in a very noticeable way.

In fact, that lesson is one of the reasons Apple is consolidating their laptop lines a bit.

 

[Felon]

Really?

People just go to the mall and hang out at the Apple store. So they can be seen, hanging out at the Apple store?

Well, people just go to the mall and hang out, period. And the Apple store is a hip place to do it. Much hipper than the Microsoft store, if our Apple commercials are any indicator (those guys are such nerds!). Of course, an Apple store need not be in a mall. The one in New York is also crowded with the tragically hip, even at 2:00 in the morning when I once visited while on vacation last year. Maybe in the Big Apple a lotta folks have a burning desire to buy an iPod Nano in the middle of the night?

By the way, although you rarely see them in media, there are some rather belligerent gentlmen topside guarding the glass building. Do not make plans to ever have your photo taken next to this particular landmark.

 

[Fast Learner]

Your statement regarding advantages can be correct *from your viewpoint* and *according to your needs*.

From my perspective, there are few iPad apps that I *need* that don't have a counterpart on Android....either an Android version of the exact same thing, or a competitor with similar feature set. What I miss out on are things that *to me* are fluff. Doesn't mean they're not useful for someone else....just no real benefit for me.

Whereas those hardware features that you list as of trivial importance have actually been very important for how I use my tablet.

It's the view that *Apple's figured out the best way to do things, and if you need something else, you're not realizing the power of your device, or you're using it wrong* that I find annoying. And I get this all the time from Apple fans.

For what it's worth, that's certainly not my viewpoint. Android phones and tablets are certainly better for some people, even much better for certain people.

My opinion is, though, that for the vast majority of people the iPad is the best option. If ICS had come out two years ago and, as a result, app developers started building for both platforms more frequently (or Android first), and Google closed the many security loopholes and runaway app issues that make task manager and anti-virus apps so popular on the platform, Android might well be the dominant tablet OS today.

That didn't happen, though, so, again, I believe iPad is best for the vast majority of people for these reasons:

• Incredible selection of apps
• No need to give the slightest thought to viruses and similar intrusions
• Very solid, high-quality hardware (not saying some Android tablets don't have this, just that all iPads do)
• Help with any issues and, if needed, immediate repair or replacement at one of the very many Apple stores
• The newest OS features are available the day they're released to the public, for at least two years after you buy
• "Dumbed down" OS makes it much less likely a non-techie user will get "stuck" or screw something up

There's no USB port, and if you want to use a memory card directly with the device (to retrieve photos, say) then you have to buy a $40 adapter dongle that is ungainly compared to something built-in, and it doesn't have an additional-battery-and-features hardware dock. If those things -- or some other OS features that Apple prevents access to -- are super important to you, then indeed the iPad might not be your best choice. I just don't think those are important for that many people, at least not in comparison to the iPad's advantages.

Lastly, to be super clear, I'm not at all saying the iPad is best for you, or that you or anyone is wrong or uncool or anything else for intelligently choosing a tablet that works better for them. Just that the iPad is currently best for most people.

 

[Rhyssa]

One problem many companies have on the advertising front is that they simply make too many devices. Since Apple only makes one tablet a year (in different sizes) all their ad spend can support it. Samsung, for instance, make so many different devices their budgets are spread much more thin. I've read that manufacturers are beginning to realize that they're fragmenting their own markets and are working on putting more focus on fewer devices.

Exactly. If you want an iOS tablet, you have... the iPad.

If you want an Android tablet, you have - so many different manufacturers and versions and sizes (physical and hardware) and price points that it's hard to pick between them. Sometimes having too many choices is worse than not having enough.

The arguments about the size of the app stores I honestly don't understand, mostly because I don't see the appeal in having a HUGE amount of apps on either of my Android devices. I have the apps that came with my phone plus a few I've added, and most of the pre-installed ones I don't really use. Same for my NOOK, but that's a more limited app store to choose from. People say the fact that the Apple app store has X more apps available than the Android store doesn't make sense unless an app is platform specific and you want and/or need that particular app rather than one just like it. Because let's be honest, there is a vast majority of apps which all do the same thing or are similar enough to not matter, and that's probably what makes up what's in the stores now.

 

[Banshee16]

For what it's worth, that's certainly not my viewpoint. Android phones and tablets are certainly better for some people, even much better for certain people.

My opinion is, though, that for the vast majority of people the iPad is the best option. If ICS had come out two years ago and, as a result, app developers started building for both platforms more frequently (or Android first), and Google closed the many security loopholes and runaway app issues that make task manager and anti-virus apps so popular on the platform, Android might well be the dominant tablet OS today.

That didn't happen, though, so, again, I believe iPad is best for the vast majority of people for these reasons:

• Incredible selection of apps
• No need to give the slightest thought to viruses and similar intrusions
• Very solid, high-quality hardware (not saying some Android tablets don't have this, just that all iPads do)
• Help with any issues and, if needed, immediate repair or replacement at one of the very many Apple stores
• The newest OS features are available the day they're released to the public, for at least two years after you buy
• "Dumbed down" OS makes it much less likely a non-techie user will get "stuck" or screw something up

There's no USB port, and if you want to use a memory card directly with the device (to retrieve photos, say) then you have to buy a $40 adapter dongle that is ungainly compared to something built-in, and it doesn't have an additional-battery-and-features hardware dock. If those things -- or some other OS features that Apple prevents access to -- are super important to you, then indeed the iPad might not be your best choice. I just don't think those are important for that many people, at least not in comparison to the iPad's advantages.

Lastly, to be super clear, I'm not at all saying the iPad is best for you, or that you or anyone is wrong or uncool or anything else for intelligently choosing a tablet that works better for them. Just that the iPad is currently best for most people.

Ok, that's fair. I do think marketing has a big part of it....but....the iPad is still a well built device. It's got a great app store. And Apple has better customer support post sale. As much as I love my ASUS, the service level isn't the same as for my iPhone.

And for many customers, that makes a difference for their purchase decisions.

That having been said, I've read several articles pointing out Android tablets are catching up quickly. They jumped to something like 46% of new sales....internationally, in Q4 last year. That's a fairly significant gain. Some analysts are projecting them to pass iOS in the next 3 years in the tablet market. Of course, that's predicting the future. I don't know whether it'll come to pass.

I *can* say that the Android tablets are getting better and better. Some manufacturers such as ASUS are really refining things quickly. The TF101 was pretty good on its own, and the Prime is even better....and the upcoming Infinity (I wish they just fixed the back on the prime instead of launching a new model) will have everything the Prime has, 1080p resolution, and better WiFi/GPS reception.

I agree the manufacturers are hurting themselves by putting out so many models. And as a result, getting updates is more tricky. Given what I've seen, I don't think I'd consider an Android tablet from a company other than ASUS. They've very actively supported this tablet since I bought it, issuing updates, fixes, and new features pretty much every month that I've had it. And they updated the OS to ICS pretty quickly. I personally wouldn't go Samsung as I don't trust them the same way.

I can also agree that the features I care about in my Android tablet don't appeal to everyone....just as not everything in an iOS device appeals to me. I'll point out that things like security concerns are overblown. You have to keep in mind that many of those reports come from companies like Norton and McAfee who have an interest in convincing people to buy antivirus software. At its heart,, Android is still Linux, which is traditionally a stable, pretty safe OS. I've never run into a virus. But I don't download porn or "get free music here!" apps on my tablet so maybe there's a connection Of course, given how virus prone Windows is supposed to be, I've only picked them up a handful of times in almost 20 years. And, outside of one time where I was researching a client's website that was infected, the few times I picked something up, it was because I got careless and ignored my own rules.

In any case, your post here does make sense. And I don't disagree. I'm thankful if you're not one of the ones insisting "you must be using it wrong". My business partner pulls that all the time......"those features only matter to you because you're following an outdated method of computing that is no longer relevant in the modern age". To me, a statement like that is just ignorant.

I happen to like having physical, removable memory, as I can easily move things around between devices. I *hate* putting stuff in the cloud. My personal theory is "don't put anything in the cloud if you don't want some guy in a data center looking through your files". We put alot of trust on the honesty of the people hosting these cloud services.

Some other features like Bluetooth are instances where yeah, Apple has it as does Android....but because of Apple's arrangements with content owners for the iTunes store, much of what you can do with Bluetooth is locked down. You can't stream music to a Bluetooth headset for instance. And you can't transfer any file you want from one device to another. You can move *some* file types, plus contacts...and that's about it. With Android and Blackberry, I can move *anything* between devices. It also means that my Android and Blackberry devices connect to 3rd party services like Ford Sync much better than my iPhone does.

And searchable e-mail. I had it on my BB, and used it alot. Losing that with my iPhone was something I was VERY unhappy about BECAUSE I used it. When I was doing my prepurchase research, the people I listened to insisted the e-mail was just as good. Now that I've used it for a year, I can say it is not......not if I want to use it for work, and have search, and the ability to individually delete e-mails off my server, device,, or both, etc.

For those casual users, idevices are great ideas. I tend to be a power user, so I run into limitations very quickly, because I'm always pushing the limits of what I can do, whereas other people I know seem to not run into limitations, because they're not trying to do anything fancy.

And that's fine. Each person has different requirements.

As to those who asked if I know people who have few apps, yes, I do. But I tend to be an app fiend. I had about 150 on my Transformer before the update to ICS. I've removed a bunch, as not all have been updated to ICS yet. On my iPhone I have a similarly high number of apps, movies, music, files etc. On a 32 GB device I've used up about 31 GB of space. Many people I know don't use their devices to nearly the same degree. Similar to annecdotes posted by others here, my wife also has an iPhone 4, and she has very few apps. In fact, probably half of the few that she DOES have are ones I put on it for her. She just doesn't use it for that. At the end of the day, she uses it for phone calls, to respond to e-mail, surf the web, and that's about it. And, for those purposes, it doesn't serve as well as some other devices like her old BB, which was a more reliable phone, and easier for her to type on. Several of my family members also have iPhones. But the only other family member with a smartphone who actually uses it with all the apps is my brother who's an engineer. Like me, he likes to tinker. He got a Samsung Galaxy S II though.

I'm referring to a limited sample though.....maybe 10 people I know who have them? I know some power users like me, who get lots of apps...but I'd still say they're outnumbered by those who barely use their phone.

I have observed that there are many apps on Android that do very similar things as ones I have on iPhone. If I switch phones out, I think I'll lose SOME things, which will suck...but, by and large, there are alternatives available for most of what I use. Where I'll lose is on games, and on some iOS exclusives.....but if I assemble a list of the apps I have on iPhone, *most* have a version on Android as well.

They're interesting times we're in. I don't know whether PCs will ultimately die, or be relegated to the dustbin for 90% of users for whom a smartphone or tablet will be sufficient. I guess we'll see. But when I see that in the next version of Android, the phone will carry a full version of Ubuntu, and be able to serve as your desktop computer when you plug it into a monitor and bluetooth keyboard, I just think back to my original PC Junior, and shake my head about how much things have changed

Banshee