Where's the crutch?
Even when these things are at £150 only a few can actually find enough reason to buy.
Crippled by their nature means that only fools rush to buy.
Around 3.62 million Britons are fondling slabs, 73 per cent of which are an Apple iPad, according to new research. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's survey results show the number of fondleslab owners in Great Britain is set to grow, with over half the potential tablet-purchasers longing to smear an iPad. "Apple’s achievements in …
I guess blacks, Catholics, or Brits are all also "weirdo's"?
Cause last time I checked none of those groups were more than 27% of the worlds population, so they must be weird.
What a shameful headline that makes you appear to be a Appull zealot....shame on you Brid-Aine Parnell. Are reg writers paid more when their articles get more comments? if so I guess I'm guilty for biting..enjoy your pint on me... I won't be so easy to trick next time I see you in the byline
At least the article itself was a bit more intelligent. I find the more interesting headline is that 1 out of 5 current Iphone owners don't even want an Ipad.
Touchpad is selling like hotcakes at $150, given that a kindle already costs over $100 making it a full touch pad for a bit more seems like a bright idea, and I bet they sell a lot.
(BTW The fools already bought the crappy 1st generation Ipad, market is looking a little more mature these days)
...mostly....however it's not always a case of people judging others' needs based on their own needs...there's also a strong case for opionating (yes I made up that word) 'needs' vs 'wants' and the sad truth that ALOT of people all talk about how they 'need' a tablet but can never actually answer why they 'need' it...thus they get laughed at.
> New research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s recently launched
> tablet tracking service shows that 3.62 million people in Great Britain
> now own a tablet and this is likely to grow.
So this "data" is based on this company's own "tracking" system.
Well, my tablets don't have any apps from them installed. I obfuscate the UAs. I block any tracking locations I know about in DNS.
And I'm not alone; many people do what they can to avoid being tracked.
But without knowing more about this "technology", it's impossible to say whether the survey is in any way representative of the distribution of tablets in the UK. One can only wonder why the company in question did not mention their methods - that would generally be the way to get a survey method accepted.
And what a crap website.
Vic.
Face it, given that the vast majority of users don't think once, much less twice, about such things, the chances are that you (and I) and others like us are so small of a minority that we are lost in the noise of the data set. There may be "many people" like us, but that doesn't translate into a noticeable percentage unfortunately.
This isn't a technological tracking system, it's a market research tracking system - ie. they have a panel of consumers that they ask about what devices they own, what devices they want, etc. and sell the data to market participants.
It's exactly the same sort of system that comscore and nielsen use to measure smartphone adoption in the US.
> Ahh so presumably you also think that the surveys that show Android
> is ahead in the smartphone market share are also crap?
That depends on how the survey is performed. If it's a small sample and the results are presented as a definitive statement of the population, then yes, it would be.
Vic.
...EEE Pad Transformer and keyboard for me. Great for note taking in meetings (thanks to really good keyboard and extra battery life) and also brill for music, audio books, watching tv shows, internet radio, games, social networking, reading news, podcasts, entertaining children on holiday, impulse web surfing, mailing and not being an Apple product.
Wouldn't have one instead of a proper computer but they're a great, if expensive, addition to one's gadget arsenal if you're already computered up.
.... you!
I also have a Transformer and of course it all syncs nicely with my Android phone and Gmail/Calendar et al on my laptop and desktop devices. The Transformer and keyboard are useful when I'm out on the road and certainly the bigger screen is better to use than a smartphone - from a Travelodge!
There is one iPhone 4 in our house (the missus) and I have a 1st gen iPod somewhere which is gathering dust very fast indeed. I admire Apple for their form and function, but I wouldn't buy one, prefering to be 'free'.
I find individual uses for the phone and tablet almost every day. I use the laptop for most work-related stuff and the desktop sits upstairs being used mainly in emergency - go figure the future from there!
I forgot, I''ve got a Kindle 3G, too - it would also be gathering dust if it wasn't in a particularly fine sleeve.
Although I used it a lot on holiday last year, I usually read my Kindle stuff on the tablet now, sometimes the smartphone.
It's handy abroad though, that free 3G connection is often useful, sidestepping roaming charges ....
Owner of 1 fondleslab (Advent Vega).
Paid approx 200 for it. And after the customary hack to honeycomb it's fast, functional, and replacing the laptop as my go to device.
If most of your devices including TV are dlna compatible it comes in really good as a universal remote style gadget. Vnc into PC, start to download a prog, boot bubbleupnp and stream it directly when it's ready.
My daughter loves streaming her music straight to the TV, especially when I'm watching something else :-)
Also 2 non-apple fondleslabs - SmartQ V5 (4.3in screen) and V7 (7in screen) - bought from eBay for around £250 for both. I don't use the big one that much...it's main purpose is stuffing films into the back of the TV (It's my second V7 - dropped the first one).
The small one I take everywhere...it has a Spanish dictionary and a shedload of books loaded. It can do internet and email, but that's a bit fiddly, so I don't tend to bother. Both machines run Android, Linux and WinCE, although I only use the Linux bit. For my purposes (portable library) the devices are superb.
It all depends what you need the device to do, really.
"With tablets and smartphones providing similar benefits to customers and increasingly becoming the same size"
Not sure this makes any sense. The largest common smartphone size is under 4.5 inches, and I believe that the smallest regular tablet size is 7 inches. Quite a difference I'd say, even putting to one side the 9-10 inch tablets.
The "research" seems to be a load of twaddle.
Small tablets have the benefit of being extremely portable. Meanwhile, the larger ones have limited ways to distinguish themselves. You are still using the same awkward interface. Sure the screen is bigger but the UI on the smaller device is specially geared to help get around that. Besides, you still need to use the same zoom-in/zoom-out stuff on the bigger tablets too.
Some big tablets could be enlarged carbon copies of their smaller counterparts.
A few aren't. They are still in the minority though. Hopefully that will change... '-)
@JEDIDIAH: "Some big tablets could be enlarged carbon copies of their smaller counterparts"
I have little need for a tablet, given that I'm practically joined at the hip with a laptop, but I got one for the family and sometimes use it myself. I found it to be better than the laptop if you want to relax, e.g. watch a film, but otherwise I'm not really that bothered about it.
However, it struck me that although the tablet could be called a scaled up phone, they are poles apart in use. Many of the apps have been radically reworked to take advantage of the space, to the extent that have become a different application. I've even been a few conferences lately where speakers drove their presentations through a tablet (including navigable 3D models in one case), which strikes me as well outside the domain of a phone.
Having used both a phone and tablet a bit, it strikes me that any software that looks and works the same on both is either poorly designed, or doesn't need to be on tablet. Software designed for a tablet can't be touched by a phone.
For example, take a remote control app.
With 2" wide, you can only show a few buttons sensibly as otherwise they'll be too small to use.
Double the width, double the sensible buttons.
Now you can either show exactly the same buttons, just bigger, or you can expand the functionality somehow to take advantage of that extra space.
A good app will take advantage of extra fondlage
I've put some thought into this...
1. Uses GFS (Gravel File System - it's gravelullar in structure).
2. Impervious to virus - you would notice some dude with a chisel running around the stacks changing data - consider armed guards for antivirus (log history would be heads on pikes out in firewall)
3. Trojan Horse wouldnt work, you'd see it coming miles away (use swampy ground as firewall).
4. No IP issues due to prior art - Stonehenge is actually ancient remnants of stoneware cpu.
;)
... when considering purchase, don't forget the perfectly formed Asus Transformer!
The detachable keyboard is a delight to use and also doubles the battery life of the tablet when connected (apart from adding connectivity to lots more gizmos via HDMI and USB, which of course the iPad can't do).
Rock on, Asus!
and a Kobo Touch for reading. But when my mother wanted a tablet, we got her an iPad. It's all about the right tool for the job. It would be dumb to buy a $500 hammer/screwdriver/wrench/saw too and expect it to be the only tool you need to build a shed and maintain your car. Why do people think one tablet should be "the best" at everything?
Maybe this piece of market research tells us more about the owners.
Marketing researcher to iPad owner: So do you own a tablet, such as an iPad?
iPad owner: Sure I own one :-)
Marketing researcher to Android owner: Hi I'm doing market research ...
Android owner: F*&^ off and die won't you!
Does this mean that iPad owners are stupid/square for talking to MR people whilst Android owners are clever/cool for not doing so or that iPad owners are polite whilst Android owners rude?
I think iPad owners are usually paedophiles too. And they probably steal stuff. And look 'funny' - you know, just 'funny looking'.
Did the research include eReaders? The only reason I mention it is because they are the same thing. e.g. The Sony PRS-600 runs linux, has a (monchrome) touchscreen, plays MP3's, has power, home and volume buttons and runs apps. The Kindle is a similar device and has 3G/WiFi and a web browser.
"Thing is, most if not all of the equivalent quality tablets are exactly the same price as an ipad."
They were, but not any more. You can buy an Eee Pad for £85 less than the equivalent iPad. Similar for the Iconia. I suspect the price of tablets will drop a bit more before Christmas because a new raft of models are landing.
I've always thought pricing Android tablets the same as the iPad was insane. People prepared to pay a stupid premium on a tablet will buy an iPad. People not prepared to pay a stupid premium are going to wait until the prices are more reasonable and reflective of production costs.
Android has a 27% share of the tablet market. (Assuming Windows is negiligible, which can't be far off the truth.)
That's actually pretty good IMO. Indeed, it's rather better than I'd thought it might be. My family has one of each (iPad for the wife, Asus Transformer for me) and each has its merits. And a decent fight between platforms can only be good for consumers - as long as they compete on features and price rather than patents...
Know someone who purchased one, big mistake, the only reason he purchased it was so he could take it away with him (he is an away worker, 2weeks on, 1 week off) so he could watch movies in the comfort of his tiny sleeping cubicle withut having to cart a bulky laptop, charger etc etc. Imagine his chargrin when he found out that he couldn't, A) plug his 1Tb drive into it so he could actually watch his videos and, B) watch any sort of movie site that uses flash, so it got put down and never picked up again, still counts a sale though I guess. He is now looking for an alternative pad, pity apple are pretty intent on blocking any other decent pad's.
Maybe Samsung should have included a usb port on their tab 10.1, would that have made it different enough to the ipad to make it win the court case. I mean, a tablet computer that is actually usable and functional as opposed to looking pretty pretty!
> Or maybe convert his torrents to .m4v and put them on the ipad before he goes away?
What part of 1TB being much bigger than 16G or even 64G did you miss exactly?
I have a 500G Archos for just this very sort of situation. It is capable of playing stuff that I have compressed for HTPC use. So I don't have to specially re-encode anything for it.
I just attach it to my desktop machine, open up the video folder, and drag+drop stuff.
Beats the h*ll out of messing with Handbrake and iTunes and whatever else I would need to bother with for an Apple branded device that doesn't even have any capacity to speak of anyways.
He might not have access to Netflix. It might not have what he wants to watch. He might not have any network access at all (or it may be prohibitively expensive).
It's funny how fanboys declare a story is fake when it shows the obvious limitation of their pet brand.
Why is it deemed acceptable that to access your own content, you have to jump through hoops, and convert to stuff into formats Apple deem to be acceptable (and use their tools to boot). Why isn't there more outrage at Apple telling people how they will format their content as they say so???
My DVD/BlueRay ripped collection and TiVo archived recordings, are many TB, and are in formats where quality is great on the "primary" playback device, a large HD panel. But, because it is in a *standard* format (H264/MKV), it can be played on all my devices (none of which are Apple), with no conversion. This is very convenient, especially when travelling.
Why would someone want to cede this control and convenience to someone else? I just don't get it!
(the guy should have done his research before buying the thing though!)
@Steve Brooks. I take it your friend is a little special if he specifically bought something to do only two things that a 5 second search would have told him he couldn't do.
I have an iPad, an HP touchpad and an archos android tablet, and am not particularly bothered if someone wants to know what I am using to browse the web, it doesn't detract from me at all.
Never understood why people got so personally upset about other peoples choice of gadget not being the same as theirs.
I don't use the android much (there for testing) but the other two I use all the time.
I may get a tablet - my wife fancies a Kindle. I have a work Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook Windows tablet but I am not sure how much longer I can keep it working.
There is no way that I will buy an iPad. I may like my gadgets. I have even been called a geek by my teenage daughter, but I will not buy the limited functionality fashion accessory called iPad. That is called having some self respect. Buying from Apple funds their patent trolling and their protection racket.
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but to hell with it...
Flash video? Nope
USB Devices? Only a select few and only if you buy a special adaptor
HDMI Output? Only if you buy a special cable
OS Customisation/tweaking? Nope
Custom ROMs? Nope
Wide range of video codec support? Nope
Expandable storage? Nope
Any app you damn well please (instead of just ones that the platform owner approves)? Nope
Change the browser's user agent string (without buying/installing a separate app) to stop retarded webservers directing you to the mobile version? Nope
All of the above work perfectly in my Android tablet as well as other Android tablets. Some might take a little more tweaking than others, but it's not exactly insurmountable. Lots of apps does not equal lots of functionality.
Well, no one's ever called me normal.
I just bought a Pandigital Novel White last week for $80US. Pandigital now upgrades these e-book readers to touch tablets for free if you already have one.
No camera, no mike, no flash, wifi and usb only, but otherwise it's a handy little toy to surf the web from the couch, or lounging outside, instead of using the DSi.
I'm posting this from it, as a matter of fact.
I like the idea of a tablet but can't justify spending more on a tablet than my wife's laptop cost (£350~) and for something with less functionality, that's why I plumped for a Hannspad at £150. But then I wouldn't spend £'s on a phone with less functionality than my HTC Desire HD either.
just waiting around for the samsung note (I draw stuff, people buy them), or some android tablet with serious kendo or kal-el powers or whatever.
I do like the stylus idea, a small wacom cintiq that can also do stuff on its own is fun to think about. though the new inkling thing is also intriguing, so back to basics it's obscene. ipad thing is not interesting enough. sure is shiny, but that's all.
just a geek with tiny bit of self restraint. easily overcome.
hey nielsen! count me in, too.
On the whole I'm very happy with it. To those that think it's a fad, well it may be for some, it's the most used gadget I've ever owned and the only thing my wife has said that she doesn't think was a waste of money me buying due to all the daily use I get with it.
Couldn't care less whether I have an apple, Samsung or whatever branded product, providing it's good quality and does what I want.
I have to say that more and more lately, I keep finding apps that I want and could make good use of, that are only available on Apple and it seems many of these companies have little desire to currently develop for the android.
I'm almost at the point where my next upgrade will be an ipad, just so that I can make use of the many apps I want, mainly music related apps such as interface to omnisphere, Samplewiz etc.
Which is a shame because I like competition, but currently there's a big lack of it. Most android apps are phone ones blown up, few are optimised for tablets. It is getting better, but if companies decide to do to Android what many companies choose to do to Linux (pretend it doesn't exist) then I may have no choice but get an ipad.
Bit like the betamax debate, doesn't matter which one ultimately is better, the one that has the most support is the one that most people will go for.
and nice HTC android phone
The phone does everything I need on the go and the FS does the same when I'm not - either at home trying to occupy myself with some video off the NAS drive whilst trying to avoid Eastenders/Corry/Farm thing that t'wife has on in the background or at uni when I need a light device for note taking in the cloud.
There are definitely weirdos out there that not only have use for a phone and FS but also choose not to buy fruit flavoured versions
i dont have an fondleslab of any kind, but me and the mrs both have smart phones.
i have iphone4 and she has HTC desire. i have to say hers does everything my iphone can do and isnt locked into the POS itunes.
if i didnt get the phone free i wouldnt buy an apple device. they have a nice interface but far too restrictive for anything else.
Bought my first iPhone 3 years ago, kept it nearly 2 years (far, far longer than any other phone ove owned) and upgraded to the iP4. Love it.
Bought an iPad cheap just before the 2 came out and love it too. I now use my iPhone a lot less, given the choice I would have the iPad, but I am lucky, I have both.
I could go Android but I prefer a device that just works, I've spent to many years having to fiddle with devices just to get them to do the basics.
I do a bit of jailbreaking - originally to unlock my phone but now just because I like the aditional tweaks it enables (which, I'm sure, android owners will say it should do OOB -provided you configure it right). I love the appswhich are cheep or free from the app store and just work. Well.
When the iPhone first came out I couldn't see anything it did that my WinMo phone couldn't do, on paper the spec wasn't as good. How wrong I was. Just like people who judge devices purely by their paper spec are now.
Before my iPhone I was anti Apple, now I have an iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.
I don't intend changing soon and wil see whats available when I do, but at the moment I can't see anything that will tempt me away.
The iPhone is expensive, lots of people will settle for a cheaper android phone but the iPad is better than any other tablet, anything that comes even remotly close is the same price. Until someone else can have an ongoing revenue stream as Apple does with the App store I don't see that changing any time soon.
YMMV
Started out with a Nokia N800, lovely size and screen, but it got to be too gutless to be useful. I then got an iPod Touch 3rd gen; it's OK, but screen's a bit small and low-res.
I have an iPad. It's too big and heavy to carry around, but is great for hitting IMDB from the armchair. It's gets to go on trips if I know I'm not going to need the (Windows) laptop, but it's mostly an indoor kitty now. It's SIM ended up in a MiFi mobile router.
I have a ViewSonic ViewPad 7 Android tablet. Size/weight are ideal, screen is a bit grainy and too wide for the resolution (aspect ratio is off) but fine. Android is OK, but not a patch on iOS.
My ideal tablet would be Galaxy Tab 7-inch size, plenty of RAM and CPU, running iOS.
Well done! You won't be seen as technically illiterate.
Of those I support who have an iPad, 90% shouldn't. It's like teaching your grandparents how to program the VCR.
Similarly, smartphone owners are not that smart.
There is no prestige in owning an i[insert devie name], you will only be seen and a relic, who puts more into being seen with a "flashy" device than learning how to use it.