the tablet war is heating up

[catsclaw227]

Well, no offense to your mom, but I wouldn't pay $4-5 to rent a digitally delivered movie at the same price you could have rented physical media on better terms.

Let alone, if your mom can afford 1st class, she can afford her own doo-hickey. Or if you were a better offspring, you'd buy her one so she doesn't have to touch the germ ridden slab they're going to hand her.

I am talking about when they bleed down to coach. I wasn't talking about currently when they are offered in first class.

And... if i was "a better offspring"? I'm a damn good son. Your implied insult was out of line.

It sounds more to me like you have some serious germ concerns, you've mentioned it twice. I am sorry this is something that bothers you so much.

[edit: not worth it...]

I'm not impressed by any of the things the airlines do to wallet rape you in the guise of convenience.

I don't think tablets are devices people should be or will be sharing, especially as everyone* will have one.
*everyone who matters, that is

Everyone that matters? A bushman of the kalahari doesn't matter in your grand design?

Or what about a lower-class urban family or even a middle-class family who's parent has lost a job recently and don't think a tablet is as important as paying the cable bill. These people sometimes fly because they have to for some reason or another. Elderly people, or even people in their 50s-60s-70s, might not have tablets, and they fly fairly regularly. In your eyes, do their children suck because they didn't buy them a new tablet?

And when is it that you think tablets will have 100% saturation to the people you believe "matter"?

I simply look at the practical fact that in the last flight I took, everybody in view of me had a device to watch videos, listen to music or fiddle with. The demand for such devices is there, but the fact is the number of people who DON'T have their own doohickey is shrinking, such that the airlines spending energy on in-flight entertainment is going to increasingly wasteful.

In the past three weeks I have taken 2 round trip flights, one from home to Philadelphia on a short 1.5hr flight and getting up to walk to the restroom I saw that about 15% had something they were watching. Of those, most were phone sized and insufficient (for most) to watch a movie on. The rest were split into laptops and tablets. Have you ever used a laptop and had to get up to let someone out of the row for the restroom? Laptops aren't ideal either.

The other flight was cross country to Los Angeles and the ratios were the same, except people were getting up and down a lot more often, and with a laptop, you would be inconvenienced even more. And your battery would likely be dead too.

Even today, a friend came into town, he who had mocked such smart phones and "all I need is something to make phone calls with" and he's sporting an Android and shooting videos and sending them back and forth, facebooking, etc. It's like he can't live without the thing now.

And he watches full length movies on his android phone? I have a Droid X, one of the largest smartphone screens and it sucks to watch movies on. I would rather wait to get home. For a long flight, if I could rent a tablet with a nice menu of movies to watch or wireless movie access for $4-$5 I would.

It's kind of like computers were. in the 1980's your parents had no clue about computers, let alone your grandparents. 30 years later, probably 25-50% of all grandparents are online. Because in the 80's computers were just showing up at the office when they were fixing to retire. The folks who weren't retiring spent 30 years with them, and now they KNOW about computers.

While the have nots won't go away, they don't tend to have money and thus aren't a target demographic.

The grandparents may have internet at home, but they likely do not have tablets.

 

[Janx]

And... if i was "a better offspring"? I'm a damn good son. Your implied insult was out of line.

Obviously, I've offended you. I'm sorry.

I am not literally talking about you or your mom.

I am talking about rich people fly first class and they OWN smart devices right NOW.

I am not specifically a germ-ophobe. I simply recognize that children are plague rats and airlines are the primary vector for germs to cross continents.

The spread of technology increases because the demographic ages. Tomorow, as a grandparent you WILL own a tablet and use facebook. You will refuse to use the new fangled injection chip that all the kids are doing these days.

As to the usability of smartphones to watch movies? That depends on the user. I watched Flight 666 on my iPhone. The guy next to me watched someting with gangsters and naked women on his phone. College kids too cheap to pay for cable have been pirating bad copies of shows and movies to watch in a tiny window on their PC for years.

As to who matters and who doesn't? Bushmen don't buy BMW's, so they don't matter to a BMW salesman. That doesn't mean they don't matter as human beings. But they don't matter in the context of the topic. And the topic is flying on airplanes and having the extra money to spend on renting a tablet to watch a movie.

Are there people interested in such? Sure. Are they a large enough market to justify putting tablets on planes? I think that demographic will continue to shrink because the probability of them OWNING a tablet will increase.

 

[Fast Learner]

So tell me, why isn't the fact that one company went Android rather then following the trend by going iPad a big deal? It only takes one airline to convince others to consider the options outside of Apple to cause Android's influence to grow and expand in markets that are currently dominated by iPad.

Right, sorry, didn't mean it was nothing: in that context it's noteworthy and a win for Android. I just don't see it as "a *MAJOR* game changer", even in that market.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Right, sorry, didn't mean it was nothing: in that context it's noteworthy and a win for Android. I just don't see it as "a *MAJOR* game changer", even in that market.

Major Game changers CAN be about perception.

The common perception between iPads and Android tablets have been:

iPAD = KING OF THE WORD. ONE TRUE PAD.
Android = Why bother.

Now it's not the case, which is why it's a major game changer. With all things being equal or more favorable for Apple ONE corporation said, "There are other options in existence beyond Apple that will suit our needs" rather then automatically buying and iPad to do something EVEN if they didn't require one for the task they needed to accomplish.

 

[Fast Learner]

Perhaps, it's certainly possible. I don't see it as major, but maybe it's the start of something.

 

[falcarrion]

Major Game changers CAN be about perception.

The common perception between iPads and Android tablets have been:

iPAD = KING OF THE WORD. ONE TRUE PAD.
Android = Why bother.

Now it's not the case, which is why it's a major game changer. With all things being equal or more favorable for Apple ONE corporation said, "There are other options in existence beyond Apple that will suit our needs" rather then automatically buying and iPad to do something EVEN if they didn't require one for the task they needed to accomplish.

Now it's not the case, which is why it's a major game changer. With all things being equal or more favorable for Apple ONE corporation said, "There are other options in existence beyond Apple that will suit our needs" rather then automatically buying and iPad to do something EVEN if they didn't require one for the task they needed to accomplish.[/QUOTE]

For Android this could be a major game changer for them. As it was for Apple when they first did it. Apples advantage was they came out with the first popular tablet. They where not the first tablet. But they are the ones who created a tablet that has really gone main stream. There tablet changed the computer market more than most people expected. Not to mention the number of companies that have come about because of it. If apple failed with there tablet, the odds are there wouldn't be android tablets at all. Tablets in general are the major game changer. We are seeing history in the making and us Tablet owners are part of that history. Android is as important to us as is Apple. It is the compatition between the two that will bring us greater tablets in the future.
Apple is king right now. But as history has shown us, the mighty can fall.
Those who say Apple is king and why bother with android are the blind fanboys.
The tablet you own today may not be the tablet you have tomarrow.
For the record I own an Ipad but I would never say why bother with an Android.
I say tell me about your android tablet. Show me what it can do. And I will do the same for you. By keeping an open mind I will be better informed then the blind fanboys who don't take the time to see what it out there.

 

[Felon]

Well, no offense to your mom, but I wouldn't pay $4-5 to rent a digitally delivered movie at the same price you could have rented physical media on better terms.

Why would someone rent physical media that they'd have to return when they could save themselves the trip with digital rentals?

You speak of "better terms", but the only better term you're going to get is Redbox, which offer a limited selection. Plus, it's a crap shoot if any popular titles will be available at the particular Redbox you visit. Add that into that the aforementioned travel time, and I don't see this as being a hands-down superior alternative.

 

[Felon]

Anyone seen this article? Exclusive: Dell spurns U.S. in launch of Android tablet in China | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

The article refers to the Chinese consumer tech market as being more mature and savvy. When it comes to tablets at least, they do have a point. Joe Consumer knows the iPad, and considers everything else to be a faux knock-off. That landscape changed in the smartphone category, so here's hoping there's some smartening up here as well.

I wonder if that kind of exclusion will actually help pique some interest in their tablet in the states.

 

[nedjer]

Industry numbers say tablets go mass market when they hit $250-300 for something that works about as well as an original iPad.

In terms of company support, Intel have been talking up their support for Android big time of late.

 

[IronWolf]

Industry numbers say tablets go mass market when they hit $250-300 for something that works about as well as an original iPad.

I agree. That has been the price point I have been wanting to see for awhile. Though I will say I finally broke down and bought an iPad generation 1 when Verizon Wireless was trying to clear them out and have not regretted it.