[...]"It's hard to believe those statements described Mac OS X -- a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined," Rubinstein wrote, highlighting what he sees as the "potential for greatness" in webOS.[...]
Yes, but it took Apple a decade to get OS X to where it is now. And the personal computing landscape 11 years ago was vastly different than the post-PC era is now.
In late 2000, when the Mac OS X Public Beta was rolled out, the personal computing market was already mature. Windows ME and Windows 2000 were Microsoft's brand new OSes. Microsoft had locked in the corporate IT world and had thwarted IBM's OS/2 and Netscape.
And what has changed since then? We've seen OS X gradually increase in robustness and popularity within the Mac community. The recently added Mac App Store and the iOS-like features in Lion appear to be speeding up OS X's evolution.
And Microsoft's last real improvement in their OS line up was putting the NT kernel into their consumer OS. The result was XP, released in 2001, which is still good enough for many people. XP still has larger market share than Vista or WIndows 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_s...rating_systems).
So now Rubinstein is name-dropping "OS X" to hype webOS. Well, times have changed. It's the post-PC era and things are moving very fast. It's a vast uncharted frontier, and there's a mad land rush among hardware and software vendors. All trying to stake a claim.
Apple has a huge advantage. They are able to leverage the last decade of infrastructure work. They've progressed from iTunes (Rip. Mix. Burn.) to iPod to iTunes Music Store to iTunes Store (with videos, movies, and TV shows) to iPhone to App Store to iPad. And they have evolved Mac OS X into iOS. In many ways, iOS is the lean, mean next-generation of OS X. (And we'll be seeing more and more iOS features migrating into OS X in the future.)
Apple has already built their post-PC infrastructure. The railroad tracks heading into the vast new frontier. Everyone else is on foot.
HP is selling its TouchPad for $399.99 for the 16GB model, and $499.99 for the 32GB capacity. The prices, available through HP and at all major retailers, are with a $100 instant rebate.
I still remember this from the interview with Palm CEO (interviewed by Peter Kafka from AllThingsD):
The biggest unknown is price, which went unmentioned during the demo. My assumption is that Palm (PALM) would try to take market share by coming in significantly lower than the $200 or so Apple wants for its iPhone. But when I ran that theory by Palm CEO Ed Colligan, he looked at me liked I?d peed on his rug. ?Why would we do that when we have a significantly better product? he asked, then walked away.
I was in OfficeMax the other day, and they had a display for the HP TouchPad. I asked if they had any display models so I could try it. They didn't. They only sold them, they didn't show them. This may or may not be a good thing for them. Without an operating display model, it seems they would certainly lose sales. If they had a working display, they might at least have some people who try it and buy it. At least Costco had a display unit for the Xoom. I tried it, but the interface was a mess. It's no surprise to me that they don't sell well. But at least they took the chance.
Should have added the link, sorry. The $299 price comes from a Staples discount added to the HP discount, which I guess sounds a little iffy. Hopefully they redeem both discounts.
Yeah, but this thing is laggy? Like, why is it using old slow chips and commanding a high price point? And why is it less responsive than an ipad 1? And why is it more fickle with gestures?
Anyone else actually play with one of these? Most of the android tablets are also kinda slow with their transition animations, but some of the software is at least nice. These and the playbook just kinda seemed meh. I had high hopes for the playbook but it really underwhelmed in person. The gestures were NOT intuitive and NOT responsive.
?Why would we do that when we have a significantly better product? he asked, then walked away.
They have the copying down pat. Right down to the way Steve answers questions and the way he reacts.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work when you're WRONG.
Referencing, of course, Steve post-introduction of iTunes version 1 where, when talking to a developer of a competing (then-better) software about song ratings, Steve said something to the effect of, "Why would anyone want to rate their music? Anyway, we'll have that in the next version." and ended the conversation.
I would rather have a Touchpad to a playbook. I would rather have a playbook to an Android mongrel machine. At the end of the day, I go for an iPad over all of them - which I have.
I believe the Touchpad is like Harry Potter in the Philosopher's Stone - it's good but not quite fully developed its abilities.
The Playbook is like Dobby, it's good, dependable but I'd keep it in my house.
The mongrel android tablets - muggles.
But we all know at the end of the day what the Dumbledore machine is
I'd actually like to see this become moderately successful. I have no plans to buy one, but it would be good for the people who "hate Apple" to have a good tablet platform instead of the terrible Android. I say this as someone who has experienced an Android tablet. It isn't pretty. Non-Apple users deserve a quality product as well. Android isn't even close. So I wish the best to WebOS.
Having HP drive WebOS successfully in the tablet segment does more to slow the advances of Android tablet than it hurts Apple's iPad share. Until the whole segment can be seen, we still don't know how big the tablet market really is, unless you see Apple iPad as the full extent of the segment, which it isn't. What there is of the "tablet" market is really only the iPad segment (which is why some pundits are claiming its only an iPad market). A small percentage of buyers will be either passively or actively "anti-Apple" and they will add either Android, WebOS Win7/8 or QNX to the mix. Apple coming first to market with this form factor and ecosystem provides the benchmarks that become the consumer expectations for the device, no matter who makes it.
The consumer market breaks down roughly into these segments: innovators (always first to own any given new device) - 2.5%, early adopters (rely on initial impressions of the innovators to decide) - 13.5%, early majority (rely on the innovators and early adopters to lead the way) - 34%, late majority (wait until many others are buying them) - 34%, laggards (luddites, etc) - 16%, mass market success relies on 15-18% of market penetration, which is why Apple so successfully drove iPods, iPhones and now iPads. The rest have to differentiate and prove themselves against the early iPad benchmarks to drive market acceptance.
When it debuted last month, the TouchPad was met with mediocre reviews that praised the device for its hardware design, but felt the webOS software powering it was lacking. While reviewers were impressed with the TouchPad's looks, they took issue with the tablet's weight, bugs and lack of applications.
Apparently, it's still a mediocre product but now avaiable at a lower price...
We're beyond merely competing on the tablet level with specs. Come Sept/Oct it's going to be about how many supporting services are coming in the deal.
Not only will every tablet have to offer close enough performance/quality to the iPad but they will have to match the services as well.
The battle lines are drawn. As a consumer will you move to the bland and ubiquitous web based functionality that Google and others provide or do you want better crafted native applications that offer unparalleled sync and backup offerings?
iThink *hehe* that failing to look at the entire picture and relishing in saving a few bucks is pennywise pound foolish.
Comments
[...]"It's hard to believe those statements described Mac OS X -- a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined," Rubinstein wrote, highlighting what he sees as the "potential for greatness" in webOS.[...]
Yes, but it took Apple a decade to get OS X to where it is now. And the personal computing landscape 11 years ago was vastly different than the post-PC era is now.
In late 2000, when the Mac OS X Public Beta was rolled out, the personal computing market was already mature. Windows ME and Windows 2000 were Microsoft's brand new OSes. Microsoft had locked in the corporate IT world and had thwarted IBM's OS/2 and Netscape.
And what has changed since then? We've seen OS X gradually increase in robustness and popularity within the Mac community. The recently added Mac App Store and the iOS-like features in Lion appear to be speeding up OS X's evolution.
And Microsoft's last real improvement in their OS line up was putting the NT kernel into their consumer OS. The result was XP, released in 2001, which is still good enough for many people. XP still has larger market share than Vista or WIndows 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_s...rating_systems).
So now Rubinstein is name-dropping "OS X" to hype webOS. Well, times have changed. It's the post-PC era and things are moving very fast. It's a vast uncharted frontier, and there's a mad land rush among hardware and software vendors. All trying to stake a claim.
Apple has a huge advantage. They are able to leverage the last decade of infrastructure work. They've progressed from iTunes (Rip. Mix. Burn.) to iPod to iTunes Music Store to iTunes Store (with videos, movies, and TV shows) to iPhone to App Store to iPad. And they have evolved Mac OS X into iOS. In many ways, iOS is the lean, mean next-generation of OS X. (And we'll be seeing more and more iOS features migrating into OS X in the future.)
Apple has already built their post-PC infrastructure. The railroad tracks heading into the vast new frontier. Everyone else is on foot.
HP is selling its TouchPad for $399.99 for the 16GB model, and $499.99 for the 32GB capacity. The prices, available through HP and at all major retailers, are with a $100 instant rebate.
I still remember this from the interview with Palm CEO (interviewed by Peter Kafka from AllThingsD):
The biggest unknown is price, which went unmentioned during the demo. My assumption is that Palm (PALM) would try to take market share by coming in significantly lower than the $200 or so Apple wants for its iPhone. But when I ran that theory by Palm CEO Ed Colligan, he looked at me liked I?d peed on his rug. ?Why would we do that when we have a significantly better product? he asked, then walked away.
Now $299 at Staples! That is an awesome deal. Considering getting one and I already have an iPad!
Wow! Maybe after the weekend the prices will drop further as sales have been slow...
I have an iPad 2, so I'm biased.
Now $299 at Staples! That is an awesome deal. Considering getting one and I already have an iPad!
Got a link?
I just checked and it was $499 less $100 discount.
Got a link?
I just checked and it was $499 less $100 discount.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/04/t...99-99-weekend/
Should have added the link, sorry. The $299 price comes from a Staples discount added to the HP discount, which I guess sounds a little iffy. Hopefully they redeem both discounts.
At these prices I'm buying 3 each for my Wife, my dog and I.
This made my Friday - ty!
Anyone else actually play with one of these? Most of the android tablets are also kinda slow with their transition animations, but some of the software is at least nice. These and the playbook just kinda seemed meh. I had high hopes for the playbook but it really underwhelmed in person. The gestures were NOT intuitive and NOT responsive.
Next step: shed tablet.
No... Next step: Wood Shed!
Touch Pad getting Spanked!...
/
/
/
?Why would we do that when we have a significantly better product? he asked, then walked away.
They have the copying down pat. Right down to the way Steve answers questions and the way he reacts.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work when you're WRONG.
Referencing, of course, Steve post-introduction of iTunes version 1 where, when talking to a developer of a competing (then-better) software about song ratings, Steve said something to the effect of, "Why would anyone want to rate their music? Anyway, we'll have that in the next version." and ended the conversation.
I would rather have a Touchpad to a playbook. I would rather have a playbook to an Android mongrel machine. At the end of the day, I go for an iPad over all of them - which I have.
I believe the Touchpad is like Harry Potter in the Philosopher's Stone - it's good but not quite fully developed its abilities.
The Playbook is like Dobby, it's good, dependable but I'd keep it in my house.
The mongrel android tablets - muggles.
But we all know at the end of the day what the Dumbledore machine is
Just teasing folks ;-)
I'd actually like to see this become moderately successful. I have no plans to buy one, but it would be good for the people who "hate Apple" to have a good tablet platform instead of the terrible Android. I say this as someone who has experienced an Android tablet. It isn't pretty. Non-Apple users deserve a quality product as well. Android isn't even close. So I wish the best to WebOS.
Having HP drive WebOS successfully in the tablet segment does more to slow the advances of Android tablet than it hurts Apple's iPad share. Until the whole segment can be seen, we still don't know how big the tablet market really is, unless you see Apple iPad as the full extent of the segment, which it isn't. What there is of the "tablet" market is really only the iPad segment (which is why some pundits are claiming its only an iPad market). A small percentage of buyers will be either passively or actively "anti-Apple" and they will add either Android, WebOS Win7/8 or QNX to the mix. Apple coming first to market with this form factor and ecosystem provides the benchmarks that become the consumer expectations for the device, no matter who makes it.
The consumer market breaks down roughly into these segments: innovators (always first to own any given new device) - 2.5%, early adopters (rely on initial impressions of the innovators to decide) - 13.5%, early majority (rely on the innovators and early adopters to lead the way) - 34%, late majority (wait until many others are buying them) - 34%, laggards (luddites, etc) - 16%, mass market success relies on 15-18% of market penetration, which is why Apple so successfully drove iPods, iPhones and now iPads. The rest have to differentiate and prove themselves against the early iPad benchmarks to drive market acceptance.
When it debuted last month, the TouchPad was met with mediocre reviews that praised the device for its hardware design, but felt the webOS software powering it was lacking. While reviewers were impressed with the TouchPad's looks, they took issue with the tablet's weight, bugs and lack of applications.
Apparently, it's still a mediocre product but now avaiable at a lower price...
Not only will every tablet have to offer close enough performance/quality to the iPad but they will have to match the services as well.
The battle lines are drawn. As a consumer will you move to the bland and ubiquitous web based functionality that Google and others provide or do you want better crafted native applications that offer unparalleled sync and backup offerings?
iThink *hehe* that failing to look at the entire picture and relishing in saving a few bucks is pennywise pound foolish.
Not good.
Has it sunk in at HP that the Palm buyout was not such a good idea?
I believe the Touchpad is like Harry Potter in the Philosopher's Stone - it's good but not quite fully developed its abilities.
Sorcerer's Stone. Yes, America is the center of the Universe