Apple Selling More iPads Than Macs
digitaldaily.allthingsd.com
digitaldaily.allthingsd.com
Not only that, there isn't really a competitor to the iPad, whereas I can go out and buy 2-3 laptops for the price of a Mac.
Finally, for most situations, I can imagine the following happening:
Customer: Yes, I'm looking for a computer. Apple Store Guy: Okay great! What will you need it for? Customer: Um, checking my Facebook and Twitter, doing some email, and playing some games? Apple Store Guy: Okay, well you can get our entry-level touch-screen toy of the future, known as the iPad, for $499. Or, you can get a Mac for anywhere between $1500 and $3000. Customer: OMFG drool iPad please!
The customer just saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and now has a fun way to check email.
Case closed.
It is interesting.
It is interesting because it is a new product category and it is selling like crazy. Truly new categories of personal computing devices don't happen very often at all. Desktop, laptop, mobile phone, netbook, touch screen mobile phone . . . now this. There's the history of product categories for 30 years. Chrome OS may change that again.
It is also interesting because when a consumer has only so much budget for new computing devices. Their choices matter, not only to Apple but to competitors.
Have you ever heard of George Lucas? [1]
Do we need to send you on a remedial field trip to the local mall on the day after Thanksgiving?
---
[1] I'll bet that over the course of my lifetime my family has paid George Lucas far more than the cost of an iPad, for fewer hours of enjoyment. I've probably spent half an iPad's worth on Lucasfilm movie tickets alone.
That may be the issue. Put it on your nightstand or an end-table by a frequently-used chair or couch. Or your kitchen counter when you're cooking. Or at the kitchen table when you're having breakfast.
Or are they explaining to you that the device is for a niche you're not interested in?
I see no problem with recognizing you're less interested in an appliance and more interested in a power tool. I don't see a problem with someone wanting the reverse. Or with someone deciding they would like both. Or neither, for that matter.
It's not supposed to replace your laptop. It's meant for those times or places when the laptop is too cumbersome. Anyone who has a laptop can tell you those situations are plentiful.
You are empirically wrong: I am a counterexample. I do not have any use-cases that aren't covered by a laptop and a smartphone.
I ended up taking it back tonight after having it for less than a week -- it's a nice device, but it's just not for me. I enjoy surfing the web a lot more on my laptop and don't really play many games, so all I really used it for was reading... I can't justify the cost of the iPad just for reading when I can do that just as easily on my phone (all my books are from Project Gutenberg, the Baen Free Library, or Kindle).
Like I said, it's a nice device and I'm sure a lot of people will have a good niche for it, but I'll stick to my phone, my MacBook, and my Vaio running Win7. For me, personally, there's just no room for an in-between device.
I'm also acutely aware of the limitations of soft keyboards. I spend too much time on sites like this one, where I feel compelled to comment, but I find writing anything longer than a search term is highly painful on a soft keyboard. I touch-type about 90 wpm on Dvorak. I can eke out maybe 15 on a soft keyboard, which isn't just painful on the fingers, but on the mind that wants to write as it composes.
How do you know this? Can you point me at some hard data?
That won't matter to those of us who do like it, so long as there are enough of us to keep the market healthy. So far the outlook is pretty positive.
I thought using our own experiences to make conclusions and predictions was how our minds work.
(Those conclusions don't have to be right, however.)
To me, that's the most incredible thing about the iPad and perhaps a factor in its success: the incredible versatility and extensibility you can get from a small flat screen with one button.
Email, Web surfing, Music, Videos, Casual gaming
Seems like the iPad is a good fit for this simple usage pattern (and much cheaper than a laptop or desktop). I imagine that writing code / hacking around is pretty far low on their list of priorities.
Because the "average Joe" is actually a pretty strange beast:
* his email may be on servers that need weird configurations
* his web surfing includes powerful meme-sources such as youtube. In US, he might actually go to hulu or something similar. His bank might be very fond of some ActiveX thingy to allow online banking. He uses facebook and probably plays one of those flash games.
* his music isn't always legit or always bought via iTunes. How will he buy Amazon music and put it in his iPad without a laptop ?
* his videos might not always be h264
* his casual gaming is made by those facebook games I talked about.
Basically the fact that you still need iTunes to use (and upgrade for example) the iPad means it's not meant to be a computer replacement, but an add-on.
But my main intended use would definitely be as a portfolio of my photography. It wouldn't hold a candle to the image quality of my print portfolio, but it would be easier to update it regularly, and to have custom sets for showing different prospective clients.
So even though it's mostly a nifty toy, it does have some potential use. We'll see how well that pans out, I suppose.
I think there are already some apps floating around or in the works that enable tethered photography for studio use, which could be useful also, although I don't do much studio work.
That's why bare ideas aren't worth too much.
http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary...
That fan base has been acquired by creating products that people feel good about owning and using. I don't want to make this a fanboi/anti-MS thread, but the market perception of most Microsoft-based products seems to be that most of the users purchase them somewhat begrudgingly.
I have a 3G iPad, I am frequently picking it up to do casual computing tasks (web, email, entertainment) that I would have ordinarily sat down at my desk for, or grabbed my laptop (MBP) off the desk for.
I like the fact that I can use the iPad on and off all day. It comes alive almost instantly, yet doesn't drain its battery after a couple of hours of use and idling.
The iPad is, to me, one of the first well-executed PC alternatives to come out in about as long as I can remember. I've also had netbooks (EEE 701), various smart phones, PDAs, computers tethered to TV's and other "alternative computing" devices throughout the years. None of them have ever really felt like viable products for me.
The reason for my sarcastic, annoyed comment is the continual shock and disbelief that a low-cost product that completely freaking nails its intended target is outselling the recently-antiquated paradigm that is the personal computer.
People have been pining for this sort of device in their little black hearts for decades (if you want insight into the zeitgeist of a society, examine their art & culture for their hopes and dreams. Case in point: the Star Trek PADD, etc. Who could possibly NOT want one of those ;) ), and as such the "pent-up demand" comes to me as no surprise.
The iPad won't be the only one of its breed to surface in the near-future, but you can damn well better believe it will always be one of the best if not THE best-of-breed. In fact, I contend that these devices aren't "well-executed PC alternatives" so much as well-executed PC REPLACEMENTS. We may end up seeing the "personal computer" as we know it relegated back to the days of the concept of a "workstation", reserved only for those that need the on-site computing power, and the 'cloud' on the horizon seems make this even more certain.
Yes there have been other tablets. Yes there will be other tablets. "It's not the hardware, stupid!" (It's the interaction model that makes it so successful, and why Apple is miles ahead of everyone else in this respect, and will most likely remain so for the near term.)
Sorry for the rant, and of course nothing personal, just don't like the flavour of other people's words in my mouth and felt like my point was misinterpreted.