Not sure what you saw on that link about the iPad being a "bad web browsing experience". Certainly, that issue has been argued ad-nauseum within my industry. At the end of the day, the numbers don't lie. Do you realize how SIGNIFICANT that in less than a year, iPads account for 1% of the
total GLOBAL web experience? Jesus freakin' Christ!
Again, I don't care for Jobs' tactics sometimes, but he's a brilliant visionary and a great mind, and he produces great products (swallows pride).
If you want to buy another manufacturer's device in protest against Jobs and his company and tactics, then by all means, knock yourself out. I don't want to rain on your parade but you're not the first. As a matter of fact, I personally believe the TEMPORARY up-shot in sales of competitive products actually is a lot of consumers
slapping Apple.
Sometimes, it's not the best product that wins. It's the best marketing strategy, best word-of-mouth advertisement, and many times in this industry, it's the ship that can lay legitimate claim to first out of port to the largest fanfare. Doesn't mean it was the best ship. Just that it got out first.
The classic example in my industry (and I was somewhat of a big-wig in my industry when all of this was going down) I always use is the OS/2 v. Windows war that ensued in the late 80's when Microsoft and IBM's code-sharing agreement expired. By 1988 to late '89, OS/2 was a VASTLY superior operating system to Windows (at that time, the top of the Windows world was a product called Windows 386) and many in the position I was in would argue that it was better that Windows is
even now. Doesn't matter. Market saturation and penetration won because people were already familiar with the Windows modus operandi because of early bundlings of Windows runtimes with products like Aldus Pagemaker. Instead of IBM doing the smart thing and working with Microsoft as the original agreement intended, they decided they swung a bigger ____ , so they went to war with Microsoft on the OS front. In what would be considered ironic today, IBM
did swing the bigger stick back then. Microsoft couldn't hold a candle size-wise and in terms of capitilization to Big Blue. But guess what? IBM lost (and so did consumers but that's another story). HUGE. They were sent back to Armonk and Boca with their tails between their legs and I don't mean proverbially either really.
I've fought in this industry for a long time. I've even been somewhat of a player in it at times. I don't care for Apple and I don't care for Jobs, but I have the utmost respect for both of them. I'll probably have 10 other tablets in the next 90 days. It's what I do, but I can tell you this with absolute certainty, the Apple iPad will be my personal
go to tablet certainly for the forseeable future (which in my industry is about 6-18 months). I learned a long time ago in my industry to never bet on anything outside 12-18 months (try to explain that to the accounting and fixed asset people! LOL) but if a tablet comes along (same generation at the same time) that beats the iPad, I can assure you this; I won't be able to get my hands on one fast enough.
I'm not holding out hope, though. Innovation drives my industry and income, and is good for everybody. Actually, I hope I'm wrong about the iPad remaining on its throne for a long time to come, but I sincerely doubt I will be. With all the modesty in the world, I haven't been wrong about many predictions in the tech industry over the years and I've made a lot of predictions, many of them under a professional alias and VERY much in the public eye.
-bob
