Until they have people lining up each morning to buy a Dell product, they shouldn't really be trashing Apple's strategy.
Is the guy who did the Godfathers Pizza commercials still alive? They wouldn't need to change their copy even?That scowling face and: "You're gettin' a Dell!" (Or Else!)
Notice that while the execs made some comments -- which we may not agree with -- what I find amusing that the Appleinsider folks characterize it as 'lashing out'. The execs didn't 'lash out'. They did make critical remarks about their competitor, but heck...Steve Jobs does that all the time, too. He claimed that the 7" tablets like the Galaxy Tab needed to come with sandpaper to sand your fingers down.
It's all the same. It's business. Of course HP and Dell execs can't praise Apple. Neither can Apple praise their competition.
There's definitely some truth in that, but you have to admit that you wont hear Steve Jobs make comments that are *this* absurd and obviously untrue. Sure enough Steve likes to spin his competitors faults where possible and make a caricature out of them (such as "7 inch is DOA" and "you'll have to offer sanding paper with them so people can sand down their fingertips to use them"), but at least he's not pulling made-up prices out of thin air, mentioning accessory devices that are completely opposite to the idea of a touchscreen tablet, talk about 'open platforms' and 'offering Windows tablets' at the same time, and, last but not least: predicting the failure of a device that sells faster than they can get built, is cheaper than anything that tries to compete with it, while at the same time, not having *any* product whatsoever for sale.
Apple is smug too, but at least they are only smug when they have an actual product to be smug about, and they don't make PR blunders this big by making random stuff up along the way.
These exec comments, if they are actually quoted correctly and not pulled out of context (which I can hadly believe), are an instant classic.
Notice that while the execs made some comments -- which we may not agree with -- what I find amusing that the Appleinsider folks characterize it as 'lashing out'. The execs didn't 'lash out'. They did make critical remarks about their competitor, but heck...Steve Jobs does that all the time, too. He claimed that the 7" tablets like the Galaxy Tab needed to come with sandpaper to sand your fingers down.
It's all the same. It's business. Of course HP and Dell execs can't praise Apple. Neither can Apple praise their competition.
Jobs's comments were smart and had some truth to them. These comments are absurd. More importantly, Jobs waits until he has a shipping product before declaring victory. Doing so before you've shipped anything does, indeed, look like reactionary 'lashing out.' And neither of these companies have an iPad competitor on the market.
The usual saying is something like "don't attribute to malice what is simply ignorance," but in this case most of the commenters here have it backwards: Dell and HP do not believe what they are saying, they are consciously sowing the seeds of "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" (FUD). Enterprise buyers (executives who make purchasing decisions for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of employees) tend to be very risk-averse and very susceptible to arguments like these. Dell, HP, and Microsoft have a long history of pitching their products to these decision makers. They know this "closed system" argument is BS, but they also know that it's the kind of thing that makes corporate buyers very nervous. The old saying was "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" then it changed to Microsoft being the safe choice. These guys are just doing what they can to increase the chance that businesses will think that outfitting their staff with Apple stuff is a risky decision.
I will not be at all surprised to witness the following exchange at my company: CEO: "Hey IT what would it take to give everyone an iPad? Do you think that would make them more productive?" IT: "I understand where you coming from, but it's not clear that the iPad is the right solution. It's a closed platform and doesn't have enterprise support. Dell will be coming out with the product for us shortly." In the meantime, an increasing number of executives (and managers, etc.) are going around IT and buying their own iPhones and iPads.
Well that made sense until I found out your argument more or less hinges on the idea that businesses want to have 'open systems' and telling them the iPad is a 'closed system' will rather make them buy a (currently non-existant) Dell tablet.
Businesses are not interested in open systems at all, except when they really have no choice, such as for specialist technical jobs that need Unix software or services that have Linux implementations. In fact the bigger the business, the more likely it will want to standardize on something that's as closed, proprietary and expensive as possible, as long they can get long-term support contracts on them, and get as much stuff they can get from a single vendor. This has actually been one of the pillars of Dells strategy for years: sell the same laptops you sell to consumers, but in a different case, and with a different (enterprisey) name, for double the money. Slap a 'Pro'-version of Windows on it instead of the 'Home' version you sell to consumers, sign a 5-year contract that makes it attractive for businesses to upgrade from Dell to Dell all the time, then sit back and rake in the money. My company is the perfect example for this, they pay (this is not a joke) $2500 for 'fully decked' Dell Precision laptops, that have the same specs and build quality of their equivalent consumer laptops, which sell for $800.
Businesses don't care about 'open', they care about 'long term support', 'enterprise features', 'standardization', 'single vendors', and all that kind of enterprise bullshit that sounds very important but in practice is just a red herring (try actually getting support from Microsoft if your a small shop, even if you paid good money for it, for example). If big businesses can get a rock-solid Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL server, fully configured, installed and supported by a professional supplier, for $2500, but the same machine with ISS, ASP, .Net, MSSQL for $25,000, they will actually go for the Microsoft solution, just because its from a 'real vendor' and not made by open-source hippies, it is 'enterprise class', and if it's so expensive, it must be insanely good, right?
So while you are right about Dell and HP trying to downplay iPads as 'toys' and touting their own 'enterprise' solutions, you are very wrong about the 'open' vs 'closed' thing. For large businesses, 'open' is a negative, not a positive.
It's kind of staggering to see that this Dell exec seems to have forgotten what Dell's business model is based on, by playing the 'open' vs. 'closed' card. It makes these comments even more absurd.
Sorry I'm late to the party, but it is still early out here in California.
Although Lark is completely clueless he might end up being right about one thing, but only accidentally right, not for any of the reasons he stated.
Apple may end up being just another tablet maker and not necessarily the dominate player it is today. Apple has been promoting open standards for websites and only supports those standards on their tablets. In the long run, everyone else will fall into line as well once the webM H265 issue gets sorted. It is rather like Henry Ford inventing the movable assembly line. It put Ford way out in front for many years but eventually all manufacturers adopted the model and it was no longer an advantage for Ford. It was also many years after the invention of the automobile that we finally got the steering wheel and pedal configuration that are now standard.
Apple has paved the way in tablets but eventually there will be other worthy competitors. I only hope that the standards based business model will prevail.
Well that made sense until I found out your argument more or less hinges on the idea that businesses want to have 'open systems' and telling them the iPad is a 'closed system' will rather make them buy a (currently non-existant) Dell tablet.
Businesses are not interested in open systems at all, except when they really have no choice, such as for specialist technical jobs that need Unix software or services that have Linux implementations. In fact the bigger the business, the more likely it will want to standardize on something that's as closed, proprietary and expensive as possible, as long they can get long-term support contracts on them, and get as much stuff they can get from a single vendor. This has actually been one of the pillars of Dells strategy for years: sell the same laptops you sell to consumers, but in a different case, and with a different (enterprisey) name, for double the money. Slap a 'Pro'-version of Windows on it instead of the 'Home' version you sell to consumers, sign a 5-year contract that makes it attractive for businesses to upgrade from Dell to Dell all the time, then sit back and rake in the money. My company is the perfect example for this, they pay (this is not a joke) $2500 for 'fully decked' Dell Precision laptops, that have the same specs and build quality of their equivalent consumer laptops, which sell for $800.
Businesses don't care about 'open', they care about 'long term support', 'enterprise features', 'standardization', 'single vendors', and all that kind of enterprise bullshit that sounds very important but in practice is just a red herring (try actually getting support from Microsoft if your a small shop, even if you paid good money for it, for example). If big businesses can get a rock-solid Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL server, fully configured, installed and supported by a professional supplier, for $2500, but the same machine with ISS, ASP, .Net, MSSQL for $25,000, they will actually go for the Microsoft solution, just because its from a 'real vendor' and not made by open-source hippies, it is 'enterprise class', and if it's so expensive, it must be insanely good, right?
So while you are right about Dell and HP trying to downplay iPads as 'toys' and touting their own 'enterprise' solutions, you are very wrong about the 'open' vs 'closed' thing. For large businesses, 'open' is a negative, not a positive.
It's kind of staggering to see that this Dell exec seems to have forgotten what Dell's business model is based on, by playing the 'open' vs. 'closed' card. It makes these comments even more absurd.
I guess "Enterprise" (F***ing God, how I despise that term!) is the new medicine. I remember in my early days in electronics, you could take an $89 Eico oscilloscope, put a new faceplate on it, and the medical market would pay $400 without batting an eye. Barnum's Law in action.
HP is a danger but Dell has no record of success in this area whatsoever. They are just slagging off the iPad in the hope people will buy their PCs instead.
Half the comments here make good fun of Lark's remarks, and the other half actually wastes time demonstrating why his remarks actually make no sense...
If you really think he's that stupid or incompetent, you may be wrong. He knows exactly what he's doing and saying, and regardless how outlandish/retarded his claims are, only people that KNOW a minimum about tablets will laugh at him. The fact is despite the iPad's success, and a great success it is for a product line that didn't exist a year ago, it is still a confidential market. The tablet phenom is starting to really snowball now, and the vast majority of people aren't savvy enough yet to make out facts from pure BS.
He's throwing mud at the iPad and regardless how WE laugh at him, SOME people will give credit to his nonsense..
So I for one am not amused, I infuriates me to see those shameful tactics against a close to stellar product.
Actually a few years ago HP bought Indigo from an Israeli company. They are not just a over price ink company anymore. They are an over priced designed to fail digital printer company also.
HP: The worst machines I've used. I have had two of them (one personal, one at work), and both were troublesome right from the start. It was 10 years ago, so I hope they've improved.
Dell: I have had 3 at work, and 4 in the family. All have been pretty reliable. Most problems were with Windows, not the machines.
Apple: Bliss! We have been using Apple computers consistently since 1981 in my home.
OK, admitting not perfect, but most reliable hardware of the group, and by far the best OS to deal with. After a day at work on XP, it is very pleasant to use my Mac at home.
Dell has been trying to compete with Apple's non-computer products for the past decade, and failed in every case. I doubt Steve is even paying much attention to them. For tablets, they are just another Droid. Nothing special. At least Apple doesn't have to compete with anyone else with iOS devices. Dell must not only convince people that Android is the better solution, but that Dell has something special to offer. That certainly won't be the tablets they offer, but they do have good working business channels. Selling to their business partners is likely the only path they can hope for here.
WebOS could be interesting, and I hope it gets a foothold. I highly doubt it will achieve the success of iOS, but competition is always a good thing.
Micheal Dell can never seem not to run his mouth, Maybe he needs a dog snare. Dells are garbage anyways and I would never sell one to any of my customers anyways. HP should worry about their own legal problems rather than mingle off of Apple's secessful product line rather than down play it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Executives from rival technology companies Dell and HP spoke out against Apple this week, with a Dell executive predicting that the iPad will fail, while an HP executive criticized Apple's relationships with its partners.
iPad fail?
Andy Lark, Dell's global head of marketing, told Lisa Banks of CIO Australia on Tuesday that Apple's iPad will eventually succumb to Dell's Android- and Windows-based tablets because of pressure from an open enterprise market.
Lark congratulated Apple for igniting the tablet opportunity with the iPad, while predicting that the device will ultimately fall to more "open" competitors. ?I couldn?t be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary,? Lark said. ?[Apple has] done a really nice job, they?ve got a great product, but the challenge they?ve got is that already Android is outpacing them.
"Apple is great if you?ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It?s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex,? Lark added.
According to Lark, the high cost of additional accessories for the iPad makes the tablet inaccessible. ?An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you?ll be at $1500 or $1600; that?s double of what you?re paying," he said. "That?s not feasible.?
Lark's figures, however, are confusing, as it is unlikely that a keyboard, mouse and case would cost the same as an iPad. For instance, purchasing Apple's leather Smart Cover, BlueTooth keyboard and Magic Mouse would cost just $207.
The executive went on to indicate that Dell's long-term approach to tablets relies heavily on enterprise adoption. "We?ve taken a very considered approach to tablets, given that the vast majority of our business isn?t in the consumer space,? he said.
However, Dell is hedging its bets when it comes to tablet operating systems. ??Our strategy is multi-OS," Lark said. "We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we?re really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important.?
The PC maker has struggled to gain a foothold with its 5-inch Dell Streak 'tweener' smartphone and tablet. In December, Journalist Walt Mossberg called out the device as last year's worst-reviewed product.
Dell has begun showing off a 10-inch tablet that will compete with the iPad later this year.
HP focus
Promoting the future of its webOS, Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of HP's Americas Solution Partners, criticized Apple on Monday for its poor relationship with its partners.
"Apple's relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn?t have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that's just absurd," DeWitt said in an interview with CRN's Kevin McLaughlin at HP's Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas.
McLaughlin checked with several Apple and HP channel partners to test DeWitt's claims. "Unlike Apple, HP is very channel friendly. And if you have an issue with HP you can pick up the phone and talk to someone. That's something that's impossible with Apple. As an Apple partner, I can say that it really feels like they're holding you hostage sometimes," said one source from a solution provider.
Another source, however, was skeptical of HP's ability to compete against Apple and Google with webOS. "I don't hear much about webOS in the marketplace, and it's going to be tough to build a mobility practice around it," said one HP partner. "Apple and Android are the two established marketplaces out there. On the tablet side, why wouldn't you just get an iPad?"
HP has committed to an effectively all-in bet with webOS, a "prized asset" which the company acquired when it purchased Palm last year. Executives at HP, including former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, have indicated their plans to "double down" on the operating system.
Last month, HP unveiled a TouchPad tablet and a Pre 3 smartphone in an effort to catch up to Apple in the mobile space.
What does one mean when stating that Android is "open"? Seriously, to the end user, why should I care that something is "open"? What will that mean to me? I am never going to make changes to the source, recompile and reinstall my OS. What else does it mean? Are they simply talking about the marketplace? That apps can be sold without any level of validation or testing?
But seriously. I'm not joking. When the Android fans boast about their "open" system, what are they actually boasting about? I'm really not sure.
What does one mean when stating that Android is "open"? Seriously, to the end user, why should I care that something is "open"? What will that mean to me? I am never going to make changes to the source, recompile and reinstall my OS. What else does it mean? Are they simply talking about the marketplace? That apps can be sold without any level of validation or testing?
But seriously. I'm not joking. When the Android fans boast about their "open" system, what are they actually boasting about? I'm really not sure.
Emphasis added.
That's exactly what the loudest Fandroids who want to piss in everybody else's cornflakes want to do, or fantasize about doing. It's just like in the days when Apple computers "didn't have enough expansion slots" even though every study showed that a totally negligible percentage of people ever expanded their computer before replacing it. It's all about fantasy. In their minds, since Stallman's Freerunner never transpired, this is the next best thing?you could rewrite and reinstall the OS, even though less than .001% of people ever would.
Both HP & Dell are copy cat companies whose efforts in the mobile space are nothing short of attempting to copy the path Apple is blazing and has left all competitors in it's dusty smoke screen!
WHAAAAAAaaaaa... WWWWHHAAAAAAaaaaaa... WWWHHHAAAaaaaaaa... Please call a whambulance..1!!
Talk about spitting up in your spilt milk..JJeeezzzz.. Kinda sounds like Craig Mundie over at Nokiasoft saying he thinks tablets are a passing fancy and will pass just like any other 'fad'.... Humm.. as they ALL watch TRILLIONS of dollars in sales steam by their windows...
Apple has worked very hard on this niche of technology and now that they're gaining ground and making boat loads of money for their investors, the rest of the tech mainstream is whining in their collective beers... TOUGH. How does it feel to be an almost me-too??
Comments
This tool is Dell's global head of marketing?
Until they have people lining up each morning to buy a Dell product, they shouldn't really be trashing Apple's strategy.
Is the guy who did the Godfathers Pizza commercials still alive? They wouldn't need to change their copy even?That scowling face and: "You're gettin' a Dell!" (Or Else!)
Notice that while the execs made some comments -- which we may not agree with -- what I find amusing that the Appleinsider folks characterize it as 'lashing out'. The execs didn't 'lash out'. They did make critical remarks about their competitor, but heck...Steve Jobs does that all the time, too. He claimed that the 7" tablets like the Galaxy Tab needed to come with sandpaper to sand your fingers down.
It's all the same. It's business. Of course HP and Dell execs can't praise Apple. Neither can Apple praise their competition.
There's definitely some truth in that, but you have to admit that you wont hear Steve Jobs make comments that are *this* absurd and obviously untrue. Sure enough Steve likes to spin his competitors faults where possible and make a caricature out of them (such as "7 inch is DOA" and "you'll have to offer sanding paper with them so people can sand down their fingertips to use them"), but at least he's not pulling made-up prices out of thin air, mentioning accessory devices that are completely opposite to the idea of a touchscreen tablet, talk about 'open platforms' and 'offering Windows tablets' at the same time, and, last but not least: predicting the failure of a device that sells faster than they can get built, is cheaper than anything that tries to compete with it, while at the same time, not having *any* product whatsoever for sale.
Apple is smug too, but at least they are only smug when they have an actual product to be smug about, and they don't make PR blunders this big by making random stuff up along the way.
These exec comments, if they are actually quoted correctly and not pulled out of context (which I can hadly believe), are an instant classic.
Notice that while the execs made some comments -- which we may not agree with -- what I find amusing that the Appleinsider folks characterize it as 'lashing out'. The execs didn't 'lash out'. They did make critical remarks about their competitor, but heck...Steve Jobs does that all the time, too. He claimed that the 7" tablets like the Galaxy Tab needed to come with sandpaper to sand your fingers down.
It's all the same. It's business. Of course HP and Dell execs can't praise Apple. Neither can Apple praise their competition.
Jobs's comments were smart and had some truth to them. These comments are absurd. More importantly, Jobs waits until he has a shipping product before declaring victory. Doing so before you've shipped anything does, indeed, look like reactionary 'lashing out.' And neither of these companies have an iPad competitor on the market.
The usual saying is something like "don't attribute to malice what is simply ignorance," but in this case most of the commenters here have it backwards: Dell and HP do not believe what they are saying, they are consciously sowing the seeds of "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" (FUD). Enterprise buyers (executives who make purchasing decisions for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of employees) tend to be very risk-averse and very susceptible to arguments like these. Dell, HP, and Microsoft have a long history of pitching their products to these decision makers. They know this "closed system" argument is BS, but they also know that it's the kind of thing that makes corporate buyers very nervous. The old saying was "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" then it changed to Microsoft being the safe choice. These guys are just doing what they can to increase the chance that businesses will think that outfitting their staff with Apple stuff is a risky decision.
I will not be at all surprised to witness the following exchange at my company: CEO: "Hey IT what would it take to give everyone an iPad? Do you think that would make them more productive?" IT: "I understand where you coming from, but it's not clear that the iPad is the right solution. It's a closed platform and doesn't have enterprise support. Dell will be coming out with the product for us shortly." In the meantime, an increasing number of executives (and managers, etc.) are going around IT and buying their own iPhones and iPads.
Well that made sense until I found out your argument more or less hinges on the idea that businesses want to have 'open systems' and telling them the iPad is a 'closed system' will rather make them buy a (currently non-existant) Dell tablet.
Businesses are not interested in open systems at all, except when they really have no choice, such as for specialist technical jobs that need Unix software or services that have Linux implementations. In fact the bigger the business, the more likely it will want to standardize on something that's as closed, proprietary and expensive as possible, as long they can get long-term support contracts on them, and get as much stuff they can get from a single vendor. This has actually been one of the pillars of Dells strategy for years: sell the same laptops you sell to consumers, but in a different case, and with a different (enterprisey) name, for double the money. Slap a 'Pro'-version of Windows on it instead of the 'Home' version you sell to consumers, sign a 5-year contract that makes it attractive for businesses to upgrade from Dell to Dell all the time, then sit back and rake in the money. My company is the perfect example for this, they pay (this is not a joke) $2500 for 'fully decked' Dell Precision laptops, that have the same specs and build quality of their equivalent consumer laptops, which sell for $800.
Businesses don't care about 'open', they care about 'long term support', 'enterprise features', 'standardization', 'single vendors', and all that kind of enterprise bullshit that sounds very important but in practice is just a red herring (try actually getting support from Microsoft if your a small shop, even if you paid good money for it, for example). If big businesses can get a rock-solid Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL server, fully configured, installed and supported by a professional supplier, for $2500, but the same machine with ISS, ASP, .Net, MSSQL for $25,000, they will actually go for the Microsoft solution, just because its from a 'real vendor' and not made by open-source hippies, it is 'enterprise class', and if it's so expensive, it must be insanely good, right?
So while you are right about Dell and HP trying to downplay iPads as 'toys' and touting their own 'enterprise' solutions, you are very wrong about the 'open' vs 'closed' thing. For large businesses, 'open' is a negative, not a positive.
It's kind of staggering to see that this Dell exec seems to have forgotten what Dell's business model is based on, by playing the 'open' vs. 'closed' card. It makes these comments even more absurd.
Although Lark is completely clueless he might end up being right about one thing, but only accidentally right, not for any of the reasons he stated.
Apple may end up being just another tablet maker and not necessarily the dominate player it is today. Apple has been promoting open standards for websites and only supports those standards on their tablets. In the long run, everyone else will fall into line as well once the webM H265 issue gets sorted. It is rather like Henry Ford inventing the movable assembly line. It put Ford way out in front for many years but eventually all manufacturers adopted the model and it was no longer an advantage for Ford. It was also many years after the invention of the automobile that we finally got the steering wheel and pedal configuration that are now standard.
Apple has paved the way in tablets but eventually there will be other worthy competitors. I only hope that the standards based business model will prevail.
Well that made sense until I found out your argument more or less hinges on the idea that businesses want to have 'open systems' and telling them the iPad is a 'closed system' will rather make them buy a (currently non-existant) Dell tablet.
Businesses are not interested in open systems at all, except when they really have no choice, such as for specialist technical jobs that need Unix software or services that have Linux implementations. In fact the bigger the business, the more likely it will want to standardize on something that's as closed, proprietary and expensive as possible, as long they can get long-term support contracts on them, and get as much stuff they can get from a single vendor. This has actually been one of the pillars of Dells strategy for years: sell the same laptops you sell to consumers, but in a different case, and with a different (enterprisey) name, for double the money. Slap a 'Pro'-version of Windows on it instead of the 'Home' version you sell to consumers, sign a 5-year contract that makes it attractive for businesses to upgrade from Dell to Dell all the time, then sit back and rake in the money. My company is the perfect example for this, they pay (this is not a joke) $2500 for 'fully decked' Dell Precision laptops, that have the same specs and build quality of their equivalent consumer laptops, which sell for $800.
Businesses don't care about 'open', they care about 'long term support', 'enterprise features', 'standardization', 'single vendors', and all that kind of enterprise bullshit that sounds very important but in practice is just a red herring (try actually getting support from Microsoft if your a small shop, even if you paid good money for it, for example). If big businesses can get a rock-solid Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL server, fully configured, installed and supported by a professional supplier, for $2500, but the same machine with ISS, ASP, .Net, MSSQL for $25,000, they will actually go for the Microsoft solution, just because its from a 'real vendor' and not made by open-source hippies, it is 'enterprise class', and if it's so expensive, it must be insanely good, right?
So while you are right about Dell and HP trying to downplay iPads as 'toys' and touting their own 'enterprise' solutions, you are very wrong about the 'open' vs 'closed' thing. For large businesses, 'open' is a negative, not a positive.
It's kind of staggering to see that this Dell exec seems to have forgotten what Dell's business model is based on, by playing the 'open' vs. 'closed' card. It makes these comments even more absurd.
I guess "Enterprise" (F***ing God, how I despise that term!) is the new medicine. I remember in my early days in electronics, you could take an $89 Eico oscilloscope, put a new faceplate on it, and the medical market would pay $400 without batting an eye. Barnum's Law in action.
Basically, Andy Lark is a Fucktard. Even my dog knows you don't need a mouse for an iPad.
OMG! I literally LMAO....thanks Stashman! (oh...and I whole-heartedly agree!!)
If you really think he's that stupid or incompetent, you may be wrong. He knows exactly what he's doing and saying, and regardless how outlandish/retarded his claims are, only people that KNOW a minimum about tablets will laugh at him. The fact is despite the iPad's success, and a great success it is for a product line that didn't exist a year ago, it is still a confidential market. The tablet phenom is starting to really snowball now, and the vast majority of people aren't savvy enough yet to make out facts from pure BS.
He's throwing mud at the iPad and regardless how WE laugh at him, SOME people will give credit to his nonsense..
So I for one am not amused, I infuriates me to see those shameful tactics against a close to stellar product.
Check out what $500K will buy you these days!!!
HP: The worst machines I've used. I have had two of them (one personal, one at work), and both were troublesome right from the start. It was 10 years ago, so I hope they've improved.
Dell: I have had 3 at work, and 4 in the family. All have been pretty reliable. Most problems were with Windows, not the machines.
Apple: Bliss! We have been using Apple computers consistently since 1981 in my home.
OK, admitting not perfect, but most reliable hardware of the group, and by far the best OS to deal with. After a day at work on XP, it is very pleasant to use my Mac at home.
Dell has been trying to compete with Apple's non-computer products for the past decade, and failed in every case. I doubt Steve is even paying much attention to them. For tablets, they are just another Droid. Nothing special. At least Apple doesn't have to compete with anyone else with iOS devices. Dell must not only convince people that Android is the better solution, but that Dell has something special to offer. That certainly won't be the tablets they offer, but they do have good working business channels. Selling to their business partners is likely the only path they can hope for here.
WebOS could be interesting, and I hope it gets a foothold. I highly doubt it will achieve the success of iOS, but competition is always a good thing.
Executives from rival technology companies Dell and HP spoke out against Apple this week, with a Dell executive predicting that the iPad will fail, while an HP executive criticized Apple's relationships with its partners.
iPad fail?
Andy Lark, Dell's global head of marketing, told Lisa Banks of CIO Australia on Tuesday that Apple's iPad will eventually succumb to Dell's Android- and Windows-based tablets because of pressure from an open enterprise market.
Lark congratulated Apple for igniting the tablet opportunity with the iPad, while predicting that the device will ultimately fall to more "open" competitors. ?I couldn?t be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary,? Lark said. ?[Apple has] done a really nice job, they?ve got a great product, but the challenge they?ve got is that already Android is outpacing them.
"Apple is great if you?ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It?s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex,? Lark added.
According to Lark, the high cost of additional accessories for the iPad makes the tablet inaccessible. ?An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you?ll be at $1500 or $1600; that?s double of what you?re paying," he said. "That?s not feasible.?
Lark's figures, however, are confusing, as it is unlikely that a keyboard, mouse and case would cost the same as an iPad. For instance, purchasing Apple's leather Smart Cover, BlueTooth keyboard and Magic Mouse would cost just $207.
The executive went on to indicate that Dell's long-term approach to tablets relies heavily on enterprise adoption. "We?ve taken a very considered approach to tablets, given that the vast majority of our business isn?t in the consumer space,? he said.
However, Dell is hedging its bets when it comes to tablet operating systems. ??Our strategy is multi-OS," Lark said. "We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we?re really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important.?
The PC maker has struggled to gain a foothold with its 5-inch Dell Streak 'tweener' smartphone and tablet. In December, Journalist Walt Mossberg called out the device as last year's worst-reviewed product.
Dell has begun showing off a 10-inch tablet that will compete with the iPad later this year.
HP focus
Promoting the future of its webOS, Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of HP's Americas Solution Partners, criticized Apple on Monday for its poor relationship with its partners.
"Apple's relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn?t have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that's just absurd," DeWitt said in an interview with CRN's Kevin McLaughlin at HP's Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas.
McLaughlin checked with several Apple and HP channel partners to test DeWitt's claims. "Unlike Apple, HP is very channel friendly. And if you have an issue with HP you can pick up the phone and talk to someone. That's something that's impossible with Apple. As an Apple partner, I can say that it really feels like they're holding you hostage sometimes," said one source from a solution provider.
Another source, however, was skeptical of HP's ability to compete against Apple and Google with webOS. "I don't hear much about webOS in the marketplace, and it's going to be tough to build a mobility practice around it," said one HP partner. "Apple and Android are the two established marketplaces out there. On the tablet side, why wouldn't you just get an iPad?"
HP has committed to an effectively all-in bet with webOS, a "prized asset" which the company acquired when it purchased Palm last year. Executives at HP, including former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, have indicated their plans to "double down" on the operating system.
Last month, HP unveiled a TouchPad tablet and a Pre 3 smartphone in an effort to catch up to Apple in the mobile space.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
But seriously. I'm not joking. When the Android fans boast about their "open" system, what are they actually boasting about? I'm really not sure.
but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary
you know, just like with the iPod!
What does one mean when stating that Android is "open"? Seriously, to the end user, why should I care that something is "open"? What will that mean to me? I am never going to make changes to the source, recompile and reinstall my OS. What else does it mean? Are they simply talking about the marketplace? That apps can be sold without any level of validation or testing?
But seriously. I'm not joking. When the Android fans boast about their "open" system, what are they actually boasting about? I'm really not sure.
Emphasis added.
That's exactly what the loudest Fandroids who want to piss in everybody else's cornflakes want to do, or fantasize about doing. It's just like in the days when Apple computers "didn't have enough expansion slots" even though every study showed that a totally negligible percentage of people ever expanded their computer before replacing it. It's all about fantasy. In their minds, since Stallman's Freerunner never transpired, this is the next best thing?you could rewrite and reinstall the OS, even though less than .001% of people ever would.
Talk about spitting up in your spilt milk..JJeeezzzz.. Kinda sounds like Craig Mundie over at Nokiasoft saying he thinks tablets are a passing fancy and will pass just like any other 'fad'.... Humm.. as they ALL watch TRILLIONS of dollars in sales steam by their windows...
Apple has worked very hard on this niche of technology and now that they're gaining ground and making boat loads of money for their investors, the rest of the tech mainstream is whining in their collective beers... TOUGH. How does it feel to be an almost me-too??