Comments:

1. skip on January 2nd, 2010 at 6:00:

   is that bill nye “the science guy”??

2. spaceman spiff on January 2nd, 2010 at 7:15:

   Some major wishful thinking going on there, I believe. If Jobs had been at the helm during the Scully era instead of Scully, I think we’d be quite a bit closer to accomplishing this vision.

Comments:

1. Mr. N on January 2nd, 2010 at 1:12:

   I hate those apple fanboys.

   The Tablet (or iSlate, iSlab, iTablet or any other iDiocy) will be to the computing market what the iPhone was to the mobile phone market.

   An overpriced, underpowered, DRM locked, commercially fucked up piece of horse shit.

   Unfortunately, just like the iPhone, it will get record sales and fandom, mostly from people who don’t have a clue about technology, but thin to be sooooooo fashionable and alternative.

   Should we expect someone like Adobe to ask “please stop using photoshop with iTablet or our network will collapse” too?

2. John Sinteur on January 2nd, 2010 at 7:29:

   You’re already making one of Grubers predictions true:

   The same Asperger-y critics who dismissed the iPhone will focus on all that The Tablet doesn’t do and declare that this time, Apple really has fucked up but good. The rest of us will get in line to buy one.

   You:
   An overpriced, underpowered, DRM locked, commercially fucked up piece of horse shit.

   Unfortunately, just like the iPhone, it will get record sales and fandom
   

   Or, as people on Slashdot said when Apple introduced the very first iPod:

   “No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame.”

3. Roland Hesz on January 2nd, 2010 at 17:38:

   I like the iPhone John, however yes, it’s an overpriced and DRM locked thing.
   And until they lower the price under 500USD with 2 years sworn in fealty , it will be a bad choice for me.
   But if the iTable or whatever comes out, and will be priced under 2000USD – I doubt – I will try to get one if I like it.

4. John Sinteur on January 2nd, 2010 at 17:43:

   I like the iPhone John, however yes, it’s an overpriced and DRM locked thing.

   And there’s plenty of other things missing and/or wrong with it as well. It is far from perfect, but it did shake up the mobile market like nothing before. Just like the iPod did, which is far from perfect as well. I’m really curious for the tablet…

5. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 0:43:

   John, I agree with you. It will be a turning point in the sector. It will have people screaming and getting in line the week before to throw away some bucks on a piece of cheap hardware driven by a well constructed hype campaign.

   That’s why I hate apple fanboys.

   Once upon a time, most mp3 players had a radio tuner, equalizer and good audio quality. They were the first of their kind, and producers were trying hard to make them good to make them appealing.

   Then Apple came, reshaped the market making it more about fashion and brand image instead of quality and performance. Everyone started copying the iPod, and the market was all about cheaply built, featureless, low quality and high priced useless gadgets.

   Slashdot was right: the iPod was lame, it is still lame and maybe it will always be.
   Apple was right, too: people is more stupid than you can believe, and will do anything with a good marketing campaign.

   Too bad if they fuck up the whole market, but they don’t give a shit anyway.

6. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 9:11:

   Too bad if they fuck up the whole market

   If it were only that. Look at all the copy-cat iPhone look-a-likes, for example from LG. Apparently there’s zero market for non-lame mp3 players and phones or somebody would have made one that matched your requirements…

   If you think the iPhone is bad, remember that it’s the least bad on the market…

7. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 9:43:

   And if you want a more down-to-earth analysis of the tablet, read this.

8. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 16:17:

   john, about the mp3 question.
   Before the iPod, you paid a decent sum to have a player that included radio, USB storage capability and some other useful stuff.

   After the iPod, those extras were still on the market, but you had to pay a lot more for them, since they were not included in the standard model. If the market leader is not willing to pursue quality, why should copycat products?

   I had a beautiful samsung mp3 player, with video player, radio, equalizer, inbuilt speakers and so on. The exact moment the iPod Nano hit the shelves, its price went up 50 euro.

   You say iPhone is “the least bad on the market”. I won’t say so, since it is *a mobile phone*.
   A mobile phone that
   - had no MMS capability
   - can’t be used as USB storage, except with a jailbreak
   - needs a rubber case to protect its fragile mirror screen and polished thin aluminium foil
   - is prone to virus attacks
   - brings down the network in big cities
   - costs as much as a desktop or laptop computer
   - can do perfectly a lot of funny things, except calling
   - ties you to a two year contract, to a proprietary software and to a single online store

   … I wouldn’t say its “the least bad”. I’d say “scam”.

9. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:30:

   had no MMS capability

   It has. If you can’t use it, blame your provider.

   is prone to virus attacks

   Only if you 1) jailbreak, 2) install openssh and 3) leave the default password. Not a problem, I’d say.

   brings down the network in big cities

   So it’s the iPhone fault that people actually use it?

   can do perfectly a lot of funny things, except calling

   No problems here – blame your provider.

   ties you to a two year contract

   depends on your provider.

   A lot of the things you mention can be blamed on AT&T. Apple can fix this, of course, and they should.

   If the market leader is not willing to pursue quality, why should copycat products?

   Perhaps because they would like to become the market leader?

10. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:46:

    MMS capability: it has NOW. it was added later.
    Virus/Jailbreak: You have to choose: either keep your iPhone with limited capabilities and without essential services, or jailbreak and lose warranty, risk infections etc. Quite a lose-lose.
    Network: yes, since Apple chose a commercial strategy that brought to that situation
    Calling: not a provider problem, just low quality of the microphone and bad ergonomics design (for a phone, I mean)
    AT&T: figure that in the country where I live in, the country where my company’s iPhones run, AT&T does not even exist
    Copycat: no way, a copycat producer does not want to be market leader. Never. It’s expensive. Copycat producers just want to live on the market leader’s efforts, it’s cheaper and has higher revenues, does not require investments in R&D or promotion, and is much safer in terms of investment.

11. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:49:

    no way, a copycat producer does not want to be market leader

    Given the margins and profits Apple realizes, compared to the margins and profits the copy cats make, I can only assume they’re either exceptionally stupid, or exceptionally short-sighted, or alternative simply incapable of creating a better product.

12. Karl on January 6th, 2010 at 1:06:

    I think Steve Jobs stole Mr. N’s girlfriend…. that’s all I can puzzle out of the discussion above.

Comments:

1. Mudak on January 3rd, 2010 at 0:04:

   This might seem like a silly question, but when was the last time Microsoft did something right that wasn’t related to the XBox?