January 27th 2010. Steve Jobs announced the iPad in San Francisco. Whichever side of the Apple camp you sit (or if like me you choose not to engage in the forever on going battle between Apple supporters and their detractors) no-one can deny that, like he said, it “changed everything”.
In just 18 months the mobile industry has gone tablet mad, obsessed even – almost every major manufacturer (Sony are currently taking their usual time to make something slightly different and undoubtedly very expensive) has got a tablet to market, with wildly varying success (remember the Toshiba Folio?), and the majority of the iPad competition is running all sorts of flavours of Android.
Now Apple didn’t create the tablet. Tablet computers have existed in various forms in business and design capacities for decades, mostly running optimised versions of Windows, Apple OS and proprietary systems and were designed to fulfil a particular purpose in a particular environment. So what did Apple do last year to change the game and where is it going now?
The answer is nothing. We have changed. The modern consumer is a different beast to that which existed not just in the 90’s but as little as 4 or 5 years ago. Computers are cheap. Technology is mainstream. My Grandma has Skype. Geeks are cool. Films about Batman win Oscars. All Apple did was realise this shift and sell us something before anyone else – now everyone else is playing catch-up.
Some reviewers will have you believe that Android tablets are never going to beat or take share from Apple in the same way as the smartphone market. “The system is too fragmented”, “there’s no direction”, “Apple cater for the consumer better”. These snap-judgement arguments and more you will hear on many forums and sites. Of course there are counters too from the Google fans. The hammer will ultimately fall with the consumer and the people that sell to us both online and in the shops. If the right people are made aware of alternatives to Apple’s media machine then they will have the choice.
The question that bugs me though is “why tablets”? Personally I haven’t bought in to the idea of a tablet yet and I don’t think I need one (although I thought that of a smartphone before I got my first pushed email). I can see their practicality, however what I think it ultimately boils down to is that now it’s cool to have a tablet. I saw a man walking down the street browsing on an iPad this morning – I though that was awesome and apparently so do many other people.
So what’s the future of these computing slabs then? At the moment everything available is new, expensive and frankly still a little buggy round the edges although it’s pretty safe to say the market has gobbled up the idea of tablet computing quicker than other emerging tech in recent years. Personally I think that the next generation will be the tipping point with the introduction of iPad 3 and the unveiling of Android’s convergent Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 release. Let us not forget Microsoft’s big play with Windows 8 as well – if everything goes to plan the current 3rd wheel in this relationship could start to get some attention.
A current gen iPad or top end Android tablet will always be an expensive investment but the beauty of the little green robot is that manufacturers can still use older versions to run on older hardware. 6 months down the line what is out-dated to the most tech-savvy of us is still a fresh and incredible experience to the average consumer. Cheap Android tabs are available now and will only continue to be produced in ever higher quantities and more importantly quality with time. I can see the tablet becoming a staple in many households very soon but what badge will be on the back of most of them only time will tell.
About Josh
Well I have been using Tablets and Slates for quite a few years and in all that time their progression and change can only be surmised as slow to adopt and cumbersome to use .
Early Windows Tablets/Slates at best were (and still are) irritating pen devices.
They had both positives and negatives but due to their extortionate costs, heavy weight, limited software support and difficulty to operate it was a market mostly seen for the business end user. As such what positives they had/have were and still are severely let down.
Even though they opened up the hardware to new and interesting uses (pressure sensitive hardware with wacom drivers for Art software… ahh, remember and love it so) they never caught on… Well, not until the world went mobile mad and the Fruit manufacturer jumped in with the first iPad with what has been one heck of a roller coaster period, everyone leaping on for their share of the entertainment ride.
And that is the answer why the new Tablets have gained so much popularity…. Entertainment.
Entertainment is the main and principle recipe.
Well, that with low weight & costs have helped push developers to produce software at a phenomenal rate and as we all know, software sells hardware.
Yes, this in turn only accelerates the desire for the new breed of fruit & green robotic devices.
…. and it’s future….. I dare not predict… but boy it is gripping stuff.
Mike
I have always thought that tablets were a fad and in many ways still believe that to be the case.
However, the HTC Flyer and iPad 2 have shown me that there is a place for them. That place is not as big as the market is now because I am sure than many people buy tablets and only use them for a few weeks, but they could stay for some time to come.
There are some good non-iPads out there; the HTC Flyer, the HP TouchPad are good examples, but the flood of ultra-budget Android tabs doesn’t help the image of Android- some of them are shockingly bad.
Android will grow in this market and will probably overtake Apple withing 18 months. One comment though-
“At the moment everything available is new, expensive and frankly still a little buggy round the edges”
The iPad is not buggy at all and is expensive until you compare it to lesser tablets which are often more expensive. As much as I have a general negative view of Apple, the Android manufacturers have some catching up to do in tablet world. Samsung did it with the Galaxy S 2 over the iPhone, so it is completely possible.
Good point about the iPad Shaun – you’re right it is far from buggy and does everything it’s supposed to just the way it was designed. Of course the trade off which has been around for years rears it’s head – stability over the freedom to customise. As for price, well that’s subjective I suppose, something’s only expensive if it costs more than you value it. So when I look at an iPad or the equally priced Galaxy Tab 10.1 I view them as expensive
Interesting you said 18 months, this was about the figure I was thinking and in my opinion the time Android will need to do two things 1 – produce a highly competitive world class tablet and 2 – for the “shockingly bad” cheap tablets to up in quality and availability
“As for price, well that’s subjective I suppose, something’s only expensive if it costs more than you value it. So when I look at an iPad or the equally priced Galaxy Tab 10.1 I view them as expensive.”
It is of course subjective, but when I was comparing the major tablets a few weeks ago in a store, it’s hard to miss the difference in build quality between the iPad and the others. Appe has produced a product that looks and feels so different, I can see most average consumers going for it on that basis alone. It just feels like a better product in the first 5 minutes, a much better product.
However, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer stood out for me after a few minutes use. Beautifully built, a great screen and of course the keyboard attachment. I was very close to buying one, but needed the iPad for specific freelance projects.
“stability over the freedom to customise.”
That is a big topic and one that never reaches a conclusion. I hate the Apple lock-down in so many areas, but why do I need a tablet or smartphone? To get things done. Sometimes I can live without widgets for the sake of reliability and this is where Android needs to get to. Ultra stability, freedom of expression and a more refined and consistent interface.
I am certain it will happen.
I have the Transformer & Keyboard dock. It’s certainly changed how I use Android.
The iPad may have all the glory but I prefer the freedom Android gives me.
It’s a platform that should only get better over time and it would be negative to dismiss it based on it’s present form.
Mike
“It’s a platform that should only get better over time and it would be negative to dismiss it based on it’s present form.”
I would never dismiss a platform that has Google and a whole host of other big names behind it. However, Android on tablets is a bit of a mess when looked at in its entirety. The quicker the budget models go away the better because they give the whole platform, and the really good Android tablets, a bad name.
Another high quality Android build is the Acer ICONIA A501, had a little play in the office and its a solid unit at a decent price. Not sure how Acer’s support and upgrades are compared to Asus though, they seem to be pretty hot on getting upgrades out for the Transformer