RIM: Problems with 7-inch tablets only exist in Apple's 'distortion field' - Page 8

Hardly.

Jobs took some things for granted since he wasnt talking to the average consumer. Obvioulsy he knows the iPhone is smaller than the iPad

It's what many people have pointed our already. If you're going to provide a ui that is richer than what you get on a smartphone, it benefits from a bigger interface.

Think about clicking links on a website. On a smartphone, it's usually best to zoom in to make the link bigger and more sure to hit it. On the iPad, I don't have to do that...however, just barely. Sometimes I still zoom in to make sure I hit it, because I'm a stickler. If the screen were any smaller, it would be required for me to zoom in.

You need to provide a different ui in a tablet. You can't just make a bigger smartphone

Comparing consumer choice, its pretty low. Choice of hardware, choice of software, etc.

When the product uses an OS that the vast majority of software will not run on, which is different from everybody else in the entire industry, I don't see how your comparison is relevant to the discussion.

As a consumer, I don't much care about a horse race between Apple and Asus. What I care about is buying a computer that will smoothly run the latest, coolest apps, and which will easily connect to all my existing and future peripherals, and will perform well for the foreseeable future.

And I care that the price is lower than the rejected choices.

But maybe I think different.

I don't think you have the numbers to back that up.

This also hinges on the fact that you define your parameters as iPhone vs every other phone out there. If you defined it as iPhone vs blackberry storm, droid, htc evo, etc, the average consumer prefers the iPhone

Beyond that. I didn't say the average consumer chooses the iPhone. I said they prefer. Meaning that they settle for another phone due to carrier choice (few of the new smart phones are seriously undercutting iPhones price)

Apple doesn't compete based on price. Don't expect them to. They're doing just fine basing it on user experience

That thing looks very cool. My guess is that you really need to hold it in your hands and play with it before you can really appreciate it.

Unless and until someone has actually played with it in their hands, I don't see how they could judge whether or not it is magical and mystical and stuff like that.

I don't disagree with you.

No, their biggest success was their personal media player business. They are still riding that wave.

From VNC to Netflix to games to great photography, all wrapped up in the best UI in the biz. That's the iPhone 4, for example. Try actually visiting the App Store sometime.

I find that "IT guys" usually don't get it, although quite a few of them have seen the light and are closet Apple fans. Problem is, they're stuck having to maintain a perpetually broken OS for a living.

There IS NO halo effect

Cars are very nice too.
But for people who want to plough fields, tractors are a much better choice.

C.

All good examples of times when the size of the screen is important.

But I doubt that comic books are much mainstream, much less killer. And magazines are not yet at all popular on tablets.

So I think that a bigger screen is better for the stuff you mention, but I still see no killer apps for iPads at all, and certainly no mention of any killer apps that will not work well at all on a 7 incher.

Indeed, while the layout of Newspapers and documents would be different on a 7 inch tablet, portability is more important than layout with those two uses.

So again, what killer apps won't work well on a a 7 inch screen? Sure, bigger is better. Sure, pictures look great big.

But the contention was that killer iPad apps exist. And further, these apps will not work well at 7 inches.

What apps?

Look at those prices though for 7 inches...



(That's what she said!)

I don't know what they "prefer", because that usage of the word is vague, to say the least.

But it seems clear that the average consumer prefers to buy a phone that is NOT an iPhone.

deleted

Right. The average consumer usually decides against the iPhone, either consciously and explicitly, or otherwise.

Indeed, the vast majority of consumers do NOT buy an iPhone, but instead, decide on another phone.

There are many great apps... I'm not a heavy user, but there's good functionality (up to you as to what's "killer") as follows:

Videos - built in app, OplayerHD, CineXPlayer for xvids and stuff
Books - iBooks
PDF - iBooks
MSOffice - DocumentsToGo
Web - Safari, AtomicWeb
Games - Cut The Rope
Stargazing - SkySafari
Magazines - Zinio

I could go on, or I could just send you a screenshot of my home screens

Point is, all the above work nice at the current iPad size. Smaller, may not be as effective.

That is the main reason I was so disappointed with the iPad. When I saw that it used a cellphone UI, I kind of wrote it off.

But the world does not work that way!

When one chooses a new phone, one compares phones. And following such comparison, the vast majority of people reject the iPhone and buy something else.

Facts is facts.

I would argue that business documents fall into the "Killer" category. I'd say they are essential.

And yes' there are some applications that don't need 10" of screen.

But Apple already make smaller "tablets" with 3.5" screens.

C.

Mmmm...just joined, 205 posts and a troll...I wonder who you are?

But Apple is changing. There are lots of comments that the $500 iPad price is very attractive, and there are many predictions that other companies will be unable to compete on price with a 9 inch tablet.

ISTM that Apple ain't a company that is relying on huge margins and top-tier hardware. Not anymore. Steve himself said that they had left the camera off an iPod in order to hit a price point, just a year or so ago.

So back in the good old days, Apple didn't compete based on price. But now, they are no longer a high-end computer company, but instead, are a popular-priced CE company.

And competing on price is something they are doing, and IMO, will pursue to generate greater profits.

The smartphone world...by profit share.


C.

It is possible that Apple will be the low price leader among the tablets.

But I think that plenty of people will pay a little extra for a product that meets their needs. Things on the couch, like watching videos and TV, or reading columns of text, or watching live videos of their kid at the day care center. Portability needs, like a doctor making rounds. Or a guy who rides the train to work every morning and wants to bring the tablet to read his newspaper.

Sure - low price is important, and Apple is now vertically integrated and is willing to trim its margins. But there will always be a market for superior products, even at a higher price.

Yes. I understand your point.

But that is not the point I was responding to. May not be as effective is your point, for some nice apps.

The point I was responding to was different: That there are some killer apps for the iPad, and that these apps will not works at all well at 7 inches.

I am unaware of a single killer app. Accordingly, I am unaware which apps are being held up as proof that a 7 inch tablet is a mistake.

With every app you mention, a 12 inch tablet would be even better, and a 7 inch tablet would be less good. I don't disagree with your point. I was asking about a differerent point.

Of course. But that ain't the question.

The question is what phone does the average consumer prefer to buy?

Not which company has lots of profit.

The profit-level is the clearest possible indicator of which company is creating the greatest added value in the eyes of consumers.

Nokia is selling more *units*, but consumers are not prepared to pay a premium on those units. Because they don't think the value is there. This is why Nokia is perceived as failing.

C.

Any app which shows a full page business document can not function properly on a 7" screen. This is what is known as a deal breaker.

C.

Well, the Galaxy Tab is the best 7" implementation i've seen (on video).

It uses Android Froyo.

Google says that Android Froyo is not suitable for tablets,

Samsung has sidestepped this [mostly] by providing their own version of typical "system apps" -- Mail, Contacts, Notes, Calendar, etc. (Apparently they use the standard Android browser).

In demos of the Tab "system apps" they appear to have rewritten the UI and Presentation to take advantage of the larger [than a smart phone] 7" screen.

The mail app, in particular looks very similar to the mail app on the iPad.

The Calendar app is similar to the iPad, but has some unique features,

The keys in the landscape virtual keyboard have been squished vertically to allow the top half of the screen to be used for display -- the reduced key size and spacing should make it more difficult to use than the nearly full-size virtual kb on the iPad.

It is interesting that these UI changes are unique to the Samsung 7" Galaxy Tab.

They will not scale down to a smaller Galaxy phone.

Had, they taken the iPads 10" UI and scaled it down to the 7" form factor, likely, it would not have worked on the device.


Much of this illustrates what Steve Jobs said -- with our limited current touch tablets, the UI is specific to the device's screen size, and does not scale to smaller sizes (without sandpaper

It will be interesting to see how well other apps, especially 3rd-party apps written for the smaller phones, scale to the 7" size... I suspect it will not be very satisfying.

When it arrives at the friendly, local VZ store -- I'll mosey on down and have a touchy-feely experience with the device.

As I said -- its the best 7" tablet I've seen (almost).

.

And following such comparison, the vast majority of people reject every other single phone on the market and buy something else.

Some Facts is Pointless.

BACK TO MAC ANNOUNCEMENT IN 5 MINUTES!

Everyone. Let's try this again.

Open iChat
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"appleinsider" (no quotes)

So should Moto, HTC, Samsung, etc stop making phones because they can't make the same amount of money? I don't know about you but I'd rather be barely alive than totally dead. No they wont make a lot of money but they'll make enough to make it worthwhile to continue putting out devices. The beauty of Android is I could leave VZW for Sprint, T-Mobile, ATT, etc buy a phone running Android and all my apps come with me.

Well if the power consumption stats from my android phone are to be believed, the the power usage of the ipad screen would be in the region of 60-80%.
Reason is the power consumption of the phone's screen is usually around 30-40% on normal usage. Normal usage for means the screen is off most of the time and is only activated to or answer messages, receive or make calls or change tracks
Now when i put the phone under heavy usage,browsing the web, playing games, you know those activities which require the screen to be on, the power consumption usually jumps to to 70-80%.
Now normal usage of the ipad requires the screen to be on all the time so i i think the screen might be the biggest culprit for power consumption.

so Verizon will sell the Samsung Galaxy tab with built in 3G for $600 without contract, compared to a wifi iPad plus MiFi for $30 more, $630. or a 3G iPad from AT&T for the same price.

that works out to $29 per square inch of screen area for the Galaxy vs. $14 per square inch for the iPad. or a Galaxy with only 46% of the total screen area of the iPad for 95% of its price.

what a deal, eh? how many suckers going to go for this? when they are both on display side by side in the Verizon store?

yeah, the Galaxy has cameras. so if you want FaceTime - many do - you gotta wait several months for iPad 2. i know, it's tough.

All I can tell you is there was at least one disappointed female over here when I told her that Steve said no 7" iPad - especially after I suggested that there may be a possibility. I should know better than to tell a woman about an Apple rumor. On learning there was no forthcoming 7" iPad she said "Doesn't he know we want one that fits in our purse?."

When I think about it, her fingers are about a quarter the size of mine so she wouldn't need any sand paper.

It's not about market share, iGenius, however enough people like it to give Apple the overwhelming majority of profits in the sector, more than the 3 next most profitable combined.

steve jobs is smart enough to know almost all, if not all tablet users own a smartphone.
a 7" tablet wouldn't differentiate much from a 4" smartphone.
who would want to carry around a 7" device making calls and sending text anyway?
seems to me Balsillie and other 7" tablet manufacturer missed this.

That's precisely my point. Consumers can hop from maker to maker.
When you are buying your next phone, you can pick any Android handset because you perceive them all as pretty much the same thing. The brands are interchangeable. Just like Windows machine manufacturers.

This isn't bad for consumers.

But a really really bad thing for handset makers who want to be profitable.

I am not suggesting that Samsung et al should stop making handsets. I am just proposing the idea that outsourcing software development to another company, may result in reduced profitability in the long term.

C.

''Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience,"

As in waiting, loading and crashing?
This flash website is gonna be cool!!!! After 10 seconds...

that's nonsense. Without marketshare, there aren't any profits.

Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

It's probable they have the statistics to show this, given that the only tablet that has sold in any significant quantity is their own.