back to article Got a non-iPad tablet? Weirdo

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 …

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  1. Alan Denman

    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.

    1. Rob Dobs
      Facepalm

      being in 27% of market makes you a "weirdo"?

      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)

    2. mraak
      Holmes

      Why are some people always, always, ALWAYS judging the needs of other people based on what they need for themselves. For example, I have no need to judge other's needs. Nor I find it reasonable, but I am accepting the fact that some people might want to do that. Why exactly?

      1. Atonnis

        Low self-esteem...

        ...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.

  2. Vic

    What a load of crap

    > 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.

    1. Zaphod.Beeblebrox
      Big Brother

      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.

    2. cloudgazer
      Thumb Down

      you misunderstand completely

      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.

      1. Vic

        Probably...

        > they have a panel of consumers that they ask about what devices they own

        So it's an extrapolation from a small sample.

        Like I said - what a load of crap.

        Vic.

        1. cloudgazer

          >So it's an extrapolation from a small sample.

          >Like I said - what a load of crap.

          Ahh so presumably you also think that the surveys that show Android is ahead in the smartphone market share are also crap?

          1. Vic

            @cloudgazer

            > 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.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          >it's an extrapolation from a small sample.

          You do understand how statistics work right? That right there is basically the point of it all. Hoping ffs that they cleared everything to allow the central limit theorem, the statistic holds.

      2. DrXym

        Probably

        They ring up x thousand people, ask them "do you own a tablet", "do you intend to buy a tablet" etc. and extrapolate a figure for the entire population.

  3. SnowCrash
    WTF?

    proud to own 2 fondleslabs, neither of which are apple devices

    1. JasonW
      Go

      2 slabbettes de fondlage and 3 smartphones here - none of them fruit-based and never even considered it. So that must make me about the oddest person in the country (which the missus would wholeheartedly endorse)

      1. Paul Naylor
        Coffee/keyboard

        Well done sir!

        Fondleslab is a great term for tablets, but your French translation "slabettes de fondlage" had me soiling my keyboard. Kudos!

    2. The Brave Sir Robin
      Go

      Its the...

      ...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.

      1. tonyoung

        I'm with ...

        .... 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!

        1. tonyoung

          Forgot!

          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 ....

    3. Anon the mouse
      Thumb Up

      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 :-)

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      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.

  4. Captain Scarlet

    I am a Weirdo

    Good means I keep more money for myself, although now means those who purchase Mac computers have just been made to look uncool!

    1. HipposRule

      So am I

      No Fondleslab and no Smartphone.

  5. Andy Barker

    Sizes?

    "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.

    1. JEDIDIAH
      Linux

      Size matters but not how you think...

      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... '-)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Larger screen changes everything

        @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.

        1. JEDIDIAH
          Linux

          What apps?

          I am always amused about how a certain variety of tablet user like to drone on about "apps" but never actually mention any.

          I take the opposing philiosophical position. If apps can't scale up and scale down on the same basic form factor then they are fundementally broken.

          1. Richard 12 Silver badge
            WTF?

            Just scaling an app makes very little sense

            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

    2. ZankerH

      Well, there are the Dell Streak and Samsung Galaxy Note at 5 inches. It's becoming less of a divide and more of a continuity. I really see current tablets as a bridge between where netbooks are now and where smartphones will be in a couple of years.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tablets schmablets

    Some of us still like to use a keyboard where you don't have to look at your fingers to type as the buttons actually press down.

    1. Jolyon

      Keyboard schmeeboard.

      Some people write letters, I bet some still even use fountain pens.

      1. burnttoys

        I still sharpen my own quills.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        I use a fountain pen.

        1. Maty

          And I use a stylus with a triangular tip to make cuneiform characters on clay. It's easier than it used to be because now I've got an app for it ...

        2. 404
          FAIL

          Bunch of girls....

          Real Men (tm), use chisels and stone tablets.... weighs a little more but you don't lose data...

          ;D

          1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

            @404 harder to crack, too...

            1. 404

              @Mr Dawson

              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.

              ;)

            2. TheRealRoland
              Coat

              But watch out for that...

              hacking cough you develop from all the dust...

    2. Bit Brain

      Keyboard

      Like this one?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_Pad_Transformer

    3. tonyoung

      Then ..

      ... 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!

  7. Bit Brain

    I have an iPod Touch and an Asus Transformer...

    ...where does that put me on the weirdometer?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not as far along as I thought when I initially read that as Anus Transformer.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @A/c 14:12

        He still could have if he leaves his ipod on the chair and doesn't pick it up before sitting down.

      2. DryBones
        Go

        Brilliant!

        Are they available at the local Tesco? Even priced at £100 it's a steal. Hours of fun for the missus?

      3. Soruk
        Thumb Up

        Anus Transformer

        Hah! That'll be one for the scambaiters at anuslaptops.com then.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      That depends...

      Have you managed to bodge it so that it syncs with the iPod?

    3. I_am_Chris

      not very

      ...if I'm anything to go by.

      I have an HTC phone, an iPad, a Linux desktop and a mac laptop. No Windows, though, I'm not *that* weird.

    4. tonyoung

      No where!

      Just like me!

  8. AJames

    iPod Touch and bargain HP Touchpad here

    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?

    1. Conrad Longmore
      Thumb Up

      I didn't really want a fondleslab, but the HP TouchPad was too good a bargain to pass up. I find that my Android phone is fine for light surfing anyway, and anything more requires a proper computer with a real keyboard.

  9. Mark 66
    Trollface

    Re: What a load of crap Vic

    Vic, every single part of your earlier post is a load of crap. Maybe you are one of the weirdo's who go to crazy lengths to block ALL tracking, and maybe you're not alone - but you're certainly the nutter minority.

  10. Ru
    Angel

    Dumbphone and Streak 5 here

    I guess that wins me a few weirdo points, but I feel quietly smug for having a phone with a 10+ day battery life and a tablet that is (coat)pocketable. None of this 'screen too big to be convenienetly portable' or 'screen irritatingly small' for me.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I've tried others.

    I've tried others but the Apple iPad is (understandably) the best - by a good margin. It's more expensive but it's just so much better and if you measure 'value' by how much it gets used it's worth 10x my netbook.

    1. elaar

      The best at what? Surfing the web and playing basic games?

  12. Dazed and Confused

    Market research

    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!

    1. Steve Ives

      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'.

  13. sheep++;
    Facepalm

    Fondleslab / Phone

    Couldn't see me holding a fondleslab to my ear on the train to answer the phone.

    1. Disco-Legend-Zeke

      Only If You Lost...

      ...your Bluetooth headset.

  14. Jim Carter

    I have a Galaxy Tab

    And I'm very happy with it. Coding, a bit of web surfing, e-book reading, chatting, does everything my laptop does save for high-end graphic design and is so much more portable.

    Form fits function chaps.

  15. Patrick O'Reilly

    Readerslab

    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.

  16. DrXym

    Nothing weird about not buying an iPad

    There are tablets that deliver an equivalent experience as an iPad and some of them cost a lot less money too. Unless your music / video collection is tied to Apple, I can't think of many reasons to fork out extra for an iPad.

    1. Ojustaboo

      re: nothing weird about an ipad

      Thing is, most if not all of the equivalent quality tablets are exactly the same price as an ipad.

      1. DrXym

        Not any more

        "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.

  17. John 73
    Happy

    Or, to put it another way

    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...

  18. Wang N Staines

    73%

    I would expect that number to be a lot less if Apple stop obstructing other manufacturers from producing rounded corners tablets.

  19. Steve Brooks

    iPad...fail.

    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!

    1. Steve Ives
      Paris Hilton

      @Steve Brooks - so he wanted a tablet and then to dangle a 1Tb HDD from it? Well, if adding the movies to iTunes and then syncing the ones he wanted to watch over the next couple of weeks was too hard, he should have got a netbook.

      Paris - 'cos she's not the sharpest tool in the box, either.

    2. Herba
      FAIL

      Herba

      @Steve Brooks

      The poor guy cant watch is 1TB bittorrents? If he has access to internet why not just get netflix? Or maybe convert his torrents to .m4v and put them on the ipad before he goes away? The guy is either very dumb or this story is completely fake.

      1. JEDIDIAH
        Devil

        Beding over backwards to stay in the garden.

        > 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.

        1. Matthew Collier
          Stop

          @Jedidiah: Couldn't agree more

          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!)

    3. tonyoung

      Failed indeed ...

      .... he should have bought a Transformer - does all that and more.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I own an iPad

    And you're all geeks.

  21. Alienrat
    Facepalm

    @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.

  22. Spanners
    Go

    I haven't deceided yet

    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.

    1. twunt

      'Limited Functionality'

      Strange how even with that limited functionality the Apple Machine has over 1000 times more tablet apps available than the andoird store eh?

      Whatexactly is it that you are being stopped from doing on an iPad that you could do on an Android?

      1. blcollier

        @twunt

        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.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          proof, if anyone needed it

          Be seen with an iPad and be seen as a tech illiterate (that's illiterate and not illegitimate, well, erm.....)

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm a weirdo ...

    But I'm a rich weirdo.

  24. Captain DaFt
    Thumb Up

    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.

  25. JB
    Thumb Up

    Ipad

    I own an Ipad and an Android smartphone. Ipad is great for some things, smart phone for others. It's Amiga/ST all over again!

  26. alun phillips

    I don't get it

    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.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    not even a weirdo

    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.

  28. Ojustaboo

    I own a GalaxyTablet

    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.

  29. pabc

    cheap chinese android fondleslab for me

    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

    1. Citizen Kaned
      Thumb Up

      agree

      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.

  30. Confuciousmobil
    Happy

    I'm no wierdo

    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

  31. Mullerrad
    Facepalm

    Love my fondleslab

    My iPad 1 gets loads of use and once the samsung note comes out my old nexus phone can be the wife's and I'll have a new phone slab. I use my iPad more at home cause I can browse the web by the tv with instant on.

  32. twunt

    'Only a few'

    @Alan Denman -

    Given that there are around 40 million adults, or 25 million households in the UK,- 3.6 MILLION tablets is a huge number in a little over 2 years.

  33. Absent
    Big Brother

    3.62 million tablet owners?

    Given that there were 36 millions adults in the UK census estimates I seriously doubt that 1 in 10 own a tablet? I think these figures have been massaged.

  34. Alan Edwards
    Coat

    Horses for courses

    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.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Got a non-iPad tablet?

    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.

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