Another Xoom'ers reason to bite the appple

[tzimisce]

Because I believe in two years the inertia of so many versions of Android being introduced every couple of months will produce market share. With market share comes better apps and features.

First, the hardware manufacturers have to come up with a viable device. One year on, and so far the closest competitors to the iPad have been pretty much non-starters; the rest are still vapourware. (And Apple already has the velocity of having put two versions of its tablet on the market.) I honestly have no idea how all the other vendors are going to catch up with Apple on that one.

Having many choices doesn't necessarily correlate to larger market share, either. (Conversely, Apple captured most of the tablet market with just one flagship product, now in its second generation.) One of Apple's strategic advantages is that its product is tightly vertically integrated, and with that kind of head start... well, I don't think even their competition knows what to do next.

 

[Davebarrie]

For me it was only ever about sex appeal, and the iPad's got it. What can I say I'm a technophile

 

[jtrosky]

Selling power attracts developers, makes apps, increases selling power. Android is not going to win this one. Btw how many tablet apps they got now?

As I said, the Android tablet platform needs time to mature, the tablet-specific apps will come.

The iPad didn't have a ton of tablet-specific apps at first either - it takes time.

Don't get me wrong - I own an iPad - not an Android device. And I will continue to use apple tablets until Android is better, but in my opinion, that time will come.

 

[Davebarrie]

I think I'll wait and see how the iPad 2 launch plays out before speculating on that, the day is young

 

[madsquabbles]

I think I'll wait and see how the iPad 2 launch plays out before speculating on that, the day is young

according to analysts you'll be looking further beyond ipad 2 before android take a share that will equal apple's. and, by your statement, that selling power will attract developers.

 

[Davebarrie]

; ) we can hope

 

[zipur]

Thanks for the slow burn vs a flame for me saying anything positive about the Androids. The more I think about it Apple probably has five more update ready to release but decided that this was enough to keep the Ipad relevant and the competition struggling. We it matters not to me as I will be enjoying the Pad in a couple of days. Thanks all

 

[Trav29]

I was trying to decide which tablet to go for. I was looking at the Xoom more but after seeing some of the issues it has I decided to go with the iPad 2. But I have no doubt the next generation Xoom tablet will be amazing.

 

[CJL]

I have both the Ipad and Xoom and love both. Flash will be released 3\18. Guess I'll find out then if battery life concerns are correct.

 

[Demandarin]

Great thread! Lol

 

[SporkLover]

I've been on the fence about Android Tablets for a while myself. In September I was waiting around for the Archos 101 release, but it kept getting pushed, and in the end it didn't look like it would outclass the iPad in any specification, so I went with the iPad. (Flash is not an advantage in my book, I just don't use it). Plus there were Rumors of dual core Tegra Tablets on the Horizon so I said I would wait for the next gen Android Tablets. That brings us to the Mobile World Congress, where there were quite a few promising looking Android contenders, and the Xoom was at the head of the pack. I waited patiently for the xoom release, and found all of the reviews to be quite disappointing. Everyone agrees it's the best android Tab out there, but there were also so many issues.

In the end I stuck with Apple. I have an iPad 2 and a iPad now

 

[tzimisce]

Thanks for the slow burn vs a flame for me saying anything positive about the Androids. The more I think about it Apple probably has five more update ready to release but decided that this was enough to keep the Ipad relevant and the competition struggling. We it matters not to me as I will be enjoying the Pad in a couple of days. Thanks all

Having worked in and seen how far ahead technology companies work on their products - I remember being shown a Nokia prototype two years before the commercial version hit the market - I'm quite sure Apple already have the next few versions of iPad in the development pipeline at various intervals, e.g. iPad 3 is 60% ready, iPad 4 is 25%, iPad 5 and 6 are still swimming around inside Mr Jobs's head, something like that, for example.

Based on the slow response of the other technology companies, I do think the success of the iPad caught everyone by surprise (even Apple themselves.) While all Apple had to do was ramp up production volumes to meet market demand without sacrificing quality, the other vendors were floundering because they didn't have that level of vertical integration (like Apple does) which would have allowed them to respond much faster. They can design and build the hardware, for instance, but the operating system is still Google's. If they want Flash, then they have to wait for Adobe.

Their products have dependencies on other vendors (which puts it out of their control); anyone who has even been in project management will know what a delivery nightmare that can become. Whereas everything in an Apple product, from the design to hardware to operating system and native software, all belongs to and thus can be managed by Apple firsthand.