HP Drops Price Again For Its WebOS-Based iPad Challenger 296
oxide7 writes with this selection from IBT: "Hewlett Packard reduced the price of its TouchPad tablet computer again, highlighting the uphill battle manufacturers will need to overcome as they go head-to-head against the dominant Apple iPad line of tablets. Much of a tablet's success is based on the ecosystem of apps that is available to the end-user. HP is far behind Apple or even the No.2 tablet platform, Google's Android."
Re:Finally, a cluestick (Score:2, Interesting)
My mum techie mum just ditched her iMac for an iPad. I'd say she cares about thinness. Last night a friend of mine got an iPad for her birthday, she loves how thin it is! Two examples though anecdotal.
Re:What good is a phone if you can't speak? (Score:4, Interesting)
It depends on what you do. I'll admit I got my iPad (v1, after the 2 came out so I could save ~$300) because I knew it had certain apps in the store that would be good (I have an iPhone, which won out over the Nexus 1 about 20 months ago).
There are some apps that work regardless - web surfing, netflix, local streaming, email, text input. Then there are productivity apps, like the software for the remote storage service (aka cloud) I use, PDF reading and annotation, calendaring/journaling, structural steel design and property apps (I'm a struct engr) etc. And, of course, stuff that's just fun - like a good piano app, games that my 9 yo likes, flipboard, and a host of others.
I actually use it for a pretty wide variety of tasks. It's the cheapest way (at $15/mo) to get cellular data so I can pull up calculations, cut sheets, specs, and drawings from my office server when I'm in the field or in a project meeting. I can also store and synchronize my entire sheet music library for my chorus, quartet, and special event groups on it so I can review/practice music wherever I am. When my daughter went on a vacation this summer with my wife and in-laws, we loaded up a couple of books and about 2 dozen movies for the trip. She watched about 4-5 movies and read something close to 1000 pages, while my wife got directions and planned side trips on it, all in a form factor that fit easily into her mini-backpack.
Mine is actually quite useful, and I prefer the form factor for reading, sharing, and consuming information. It sucks rocks at creating, and I still have a small notebook for when I'm going to go somewhere and have to do work (reports, drawings). It fills a niche, and does it very well - but it would be useless, or at least cumbersome, without a wide variety of purpose-built software.
Re:Finally, a cluestick (Score:3, Interesting)
"How many people really care about how thin their tablets are?"
Anecdote time. When I got my first notebook I thought "Cool, I can take this with me anywhere!" before I tried taking it everywhere. It didn't take too long before it just sat on my desk with the occasional weekend trip.
Then each successive notebook got smaller and lighter and a repeat performance of the above happened. Even including my 2006 MBP, the thinnest and lightest notebook I've had. (Yes, I have a netbook. It was cool for a bit and then the itty bitty screen and cramped keyboard over took its size. It is small, but it weighs a ton and is rather thick (Acer Aspire One), though it feels sturdy enough to just be chucked into a bag without much care.)
Then, after having really enjoyed my iPod touch, I bought a gen 1 iPad a month or so after they came out. Guess what? It gets thrown in a bag and hauled everywhere. Plus, I don't need a table to use it or an outlet near by. (It's even taken places without a bag.)
So for me, the iPad was the first truly portable computer because of its size and weight and sturdiness.
Re:momentum (Score:4, Interesting)
My dad recently got an ASUS TF101. The things are dirt cheep and first class Android tablets (Nvidia Tegra 2, 10" screen, latest Android, micro SD, HDMI out). All the apps are there, and the games are amazing. I'm still curious about the Touchpad, but it kind of seems pointless now.