Apps
How Android Tablets Got Eaten Alive by the iPad
Rewind, if you will, back to January at CES for a moment. Everyone knew there was an oncoming rush of Android tablets, ready to hit the market at any moment. The floodgates were about to open, and the Motorola XOOM looked to lead the charge. Android had surpassed iOS in phone market share, and its hotly-anticipated tablets would soon get their chance to do the same.
Now fast-forward to today. The iPad is more dominant than ever. The iPad 2, a mostly incremental update over the original, can hardly stay on a store shelf. Meanwhile a growing multitude of Android tablets stacks up, collecting dust and eyeing the bargain bin. What happened?
Apps happened. More specifically, 100,000 iPad apps happened (as reported by the crew at MacStories). Of course Android has apps too, but the amount of tablet-optimized Android apps is still miniscule in comparison. On last check, it was still in the low hundreds.
Android tablet makers made several mistakes, which show a fundamental lack of understanding why people want iPads:
1. An overfocus on specs
It seems that many of them looked at the original iPad’s technical details, improved on all of them a little bit, and said “there – we now have something that will compete with the iPad 2.”
This flawed thinking even seeped into their marketing as well, evidenced in the Verizon commercial where the salesperson says “Your wife will love the Tegra 2 processor – plus it’s 4G-LTE upgrade-able!” Apple, on the other hand, markets their products to human beings. “Tegra 2” and “LTE-upgrade-able” are for geeks, “intuitive,” “inspiring” and “groundbreaking” are for regular people.
https://youtu.be/8fz6Z6S3Q5M
2. If you build it they will come
It’s becoming cliche, but the iPad’s rivals made the mistake of thinking there was a tablet market, when there was really only an iPad market. Yes, Android phones have blossomed in popularity, but that has not, by default, translated into tablet sales. It turns out that most of the people who really love their EVO or Droid 2 just aren’t that interested in a XOOM or Galaxy Tab right now.
3. Rushing incomplete products to the market.
The XOOM launched without working LTE or an SD Card (months later, neither has an official fix yet). Android 3.0 ‘Honeycomb’ was released in what was essentially a beta state. It may have been ready for Android forum members to play with, but it was not ready for your average customer. Sally XOOM-user sees her browser crash twice a day, and she’s marching into Best Buy to get her money back. It was all rushed to market to compete with the iPad 2, and the manufacturers only succeeded at shooting themselves in the foot. All the reviews noted the buggy, beta nature, and customers paid attention.
4. Initially overpriced
Until recently, price was another huge misstep. The XOOM launched without a WiFi-only model, and the cheapest you could get it off-contract was $800. If I’m Joe Tablet-Buyer and I stroll into a store and see a bulky $800 XOOM sitting next to a slim, sleek iPad 2, I’m not even thinking twice. Even though the iPad 2 is probably out-of-stock, I’m putting one on back-order and waiting. Recently, prices have settled into the same range as the iPad for most slates, but the damage appears to have already been done.
5. It’s about the apps, stupid!
Perhaps the biggest drawback Android tablets have, though, wasn’t completely in the hands of the manufacturers: quality software development. Not only does the AppStore host 100,000+ iPad apps, it generally hosts many more quality apps than the Android Market does. Games are where this is the most apparent. Sure, the Tegra 2 may be able to sport console-level graphics just like the iPad 2, but if nobody is making those games it doesn’t matter. There was an assumption that Android tablet development would just happen because they were making Android tablets. By and large, it hasn’t.
So what now? Is it game-over? Is Apple’s dominance set in stone? For the near-to-mid term, yes, it most likely is. The lead is huge and isn’t showing any signs of shrinking. Perhaps more accurately, Android tablets haven’t given it much reason to shrink. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Eee Pad Transformer garnered better reviews than previous efforts, but one is still hard-pressed to give your average customer a good reason to buy them over an iPad. Android’s biggest perks – openness, customization, sideloading, etc. – mean nothing to your typical consumer. Most people would rather have Netflix and Infinity Blade than the latest Cyanogenmod nightly.
In the long-term there is still a chance for Android tablets to make a significant move. If and when this does happen, it will start with apps. The manufacturers would be wise to put their resources into encouraging successful developers to make tablet-friendly versions of their phone apps. They could help iOS devs find the easiest way to port their iPad apps over – and then reward them handsomely for it. Will any of that happen? Not a chance. None of these manufacturers are invested in the platform as a whole. They see their most immediate product and try to sell it as best they can. Apple’s closed ecosystem wins again.
Perhaps the first rival that will have a chance of making some kind of dent in the iPad’s dominance will be Amazon. Why? They have an App Store. They can make deals with developers to encourage them to churn out quality tablet apps in their store. They can release their own apps that take advantage of Amazon’s cloud streaming. They may even be able to undercut Apple’s price a bit by selling content. They can have the closest thing to a closed (aka, controlled) platform that is possible on Android. If it’s a sexy piece of hardware with a great price and unique multimedia perks, they may have a fighting chance – not to actually beat Apple anytime soon, mind you, but to gain some small piece of the pie.
Anonymous
07/01/2011 at 1:46 pm
I agree with overpriced and incomplete but 100% disagree on “it’s all about the apps stupid.”
It’s actually not all about the apps. But Apple hopes you are stupid and will buy that line, and to a large degree that strategy is working for them.
With a good browser there is really very little need for apps. I’m using a PC right now that has about 3 apps that I use regularly. Word, Photoshop, and a Web Browser. That’s keeping me happy very well. Apparently it’s not all about the apps.
Apple has made a crappy browser that doesn’t support flash on IOS for the specific reason that if the browser is garbage you’ll need to buy apps to do everything.
On android the browser is likely going to be strong and support flash. Hence, what apps do i really need. On my android phone I’ve downloaded tons of apps for the hell of it. I used about 5 with regularity. I don’t really need a million apps.
In fact the android tablet already has all the apps I need. Swiftkey, a browser, notepad, camera, email, calendar, youtube, netflix. After that I’m basically done. The browser actually works and even streams video so yeah i don’t need a CNN app or an app-for-that-thing-that-IOS-browser-doesn’t-support.
It’s all about the browser. Stupid.
Anonymous
07/01/2011 at 2:35 pm
It’s all about apps.
I want to hate my iPad, but I can’t. The truth is that I use it more than my windows tablet. I feel guilty, but the new toy is too sexy, and I’m just a man.
iOS is stupid. Not totally stupid, but kind of lame. A glorified launcher, with just basic inter-app communication. But apps – and APIs – make the difference: reading and annotating PDFs is a breeze, and even taking handwritten notes is not a bad experience, compared to my tablet pc as well.
I don’t play games, but there are plenty, and afaik they’re good.
My favorite forums (fora?)? They all have apps for iOS, and the experience is so much better compared to the web version (and this will be true until proper web apps take off, along with html5).
My bank? Of course there’s an app, only for the iPad, and I can even trade.
There are tons of similar examples and no, a browser is not enough, not yet, not at all.
And then comes the hardware. The iPad is fantastic, let’s face it. The 4:3 screen ratio is brilliant, battery life is great, etc. It is far from perfect but it’s the best on the market, and I don’t really care if it has a gazillion gigahertz or not: It works, and it works wonderfully.
Now, I’m quite a geek. The average Joe might be even less concerned about specs or ports, and he probably associates flash with his pocket camera.
I really hope honeycomb tablets take off, and I’m really looking forward to windows 8. But right now, the iPad – with all its craptastic limitations and missing features – is just the best alternative out there for most people, and mostly because of its ecosystem of contents and apps,
Jim Wright
07/02/2011 at 2:52 am
Yep. Apps for two banks and an investment bank, Netflix, the WSJ, TV Guide – the basic browser experience does not even remotely compare on a tablet in many cases. In a few cases, the app experience is less complete than the complete browser experience on a PC, but the difference in having a UI customized for the device is significant and I spend 95% of the time in the iPad apps.
Of course, if I could get an OS X tablet with built in GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, and multitouch UI at this weight and size, I’d take it in a second, even at double the price, and might even try another Windows tablet, but AFAIK, no such beast exists, and Android is no substitute.
Courtney
07/10/2011 at 2:50 am
I have a genius IQ. I am a former Naval Nuclear Electrician. I joined Mensa at a very early age. I love the undwrdog and i am a bit of a tech geek. I own a MacBook which I love dearly. I own an XBox360 which I also love dearly. I bought the G1 and have had an android phone ever since My evo puts an iPhome to shame. I dont buy brands. I buy what i feel is best and no one is going to sell me their brand and turn me into a slave. The same way people watch these crappy reality shows and listen to pop music from people with the talent of a goldfish, is exactly how Apple wins. apples have been easier to use since the Apple IIE. At the same time I won’t buy an iPod with a phone and then an oversized IPod with an a instead of an o because Apple says its cool. No kooi bought the Xoom and it has become an accesory for my hand. I never put it down. The app market is a bit frustrsting at times because i love apps like everyone else gut i can do such muchmore than someone with an iPad. I dont even use my Macbook as much and i have Splashtop HD so i can control my Macbook from distance fully on my Xoom. people in airports and on planes with iPads always ask me about my Xoom bcause they see me doing things they can not. l-aid for me. I am a bit too smart to drink it. Unfortunately not everyone has awareness. So let them buy what they buy. Google will catch up. They did before and they will again.
David Jenkins
07/01/2011 at 3:31 pm
I understand that you use Photoshop and a Web Browser, but why would you use Word? That can be done in your browser as well.
Anonymous
07/01/2011 at 3:37 pm
Whatever let’s you sleep easier at night Sproketz…
mike widrick
07/03/2011 at 4:51 pm
The apps in this case are games. Playing casual games online isn’t a good experience compared to the ipad. And there are so many things that work better on ipad than online – 10″ is small enough for a custom UI, and not big enough to do internet well.
MadMax8600
07/01/2011 at 2:47 pm
I’m not an Apple fan but when it comes to user experience and selling to the end user they dominate. Perfect example, for Christmas my wife wanted a tablet so we went to Best Buy to try them out. First one we played with was the iPad. My 3 yr old daughter loved it. The UI was so intuitive for her (mind you she had never played with an iPad or iPhone). She clicked on pictures, expanded, moved, & scrolled and just “got it”. She literally spent 15 minutes with the iPad.
I then said, “Sweetie, do you want to play with this one (Xoom)”. She stepped up to the Xoom, touched it – nothing happened, tried expanding a picture – nothing happened, tried swiping a picture – you guessed it, nothing happened.
She then turned to me and said, “Daddy, I don’t like this one. I want to go play with the other one.” 8 seconds, that’s how long it took her to decide. Now granted, the XOOM may have been the display version and wasn’t working correctly (I tried it to and it took significantly more effort to use) but that’s irrelevant. We, of course, purchased the iPad.
Myspammy
07/01/2011 at 9:38 pm
You are right, iPads are for people who have the intellect of a 3 year old.
Cuhulin
07/02/2011 at 3:33 am
No, the point is that it is simple, as in KISS. There is no benefit to complex.
Jesse
07/02/2011 at 5:26 am
I think the best way to explain it to someone with your high-level intellect is to simply say most of us spend our time working to make a living- making life less complicated is the whole point. It took me very little time to figure out an Android tablet- but figuring it out isn’t the joy, using it and not feeling like I’m working- is really the point- and therein lies the joy…Einstein
Anders-rosborough
07/02/2011 at 4:02 am
Bingo
Tim
07/01/2011 at 3:06 pm
How the iPhone Got Whipped by Android. Rewind, if you will, back to 2007… More price point, phone factor and carrier choices with Android… iPhone still has more apps available to it, but more Androids are being sold… iPad is useless for most people, it’s a luxury in-home media consumption accessory for the few rich people and its sales are below expectations. Most people on the go with a bag, would rather have a laptop with useful its physical keyboard and ports, in it, and a phone in their pocket…
Jesse
07/02/2011 at 5:17 am
You make some valid points- but Apple iPad sales are over 25 million, I’d hardly say that’s below expectations. And even if they expected to sell more, 25 million units amounts to over $16 billion dollars in sales- based on an average price per iPad- without accessories. That seems significant to me…maybe I’m wrong from a business perspective. This is a good article about he future of the ipad though written by a business publication: https://www.businessinsider.com/tablets-2011-3
David Jenkins
07/01/2011 at 3:37 pm
I think Honeycomb is the key here. Developers are slow on apps for Android because they are awaiting the Honeycomb developer kit so they can write the app once for both phones and tablets.
And where’s the Nexus Tablet already?
Jesse
07/01/2011 at 3:46 pm
I am going to say this: I wanted to hate the ipad also- so much so, that I already have an ipad1 I got as a gift last year, and this year I looked for a new android tablet to replace it to use for work. I researched, and finally settled on an Acer Iconia for all its ports, usb, hdmi, micro sim, ect. I upgraded the memory to 64gb, purchased the fancy micro hdmi cable, a case, and every useful app I could find. In my opinion, I liked the Google interface, and I liked the browser better than the ipad- I downloaded the Honeycomb 3.01 version, and it seemed to work pretty great- for the first few days. After using the tablet for about a week, I discovered several things: it was a nice brick for browsing the web, reading email, moving files around. For anything else, it was about useless. Games, special productivity apps, GPS, movies, music, they all suck on the android- even reading books just wasn’t as slick as it is on the iPad. The worst part is I didn’t think I would miss any of this stuff- wrong! The whole reason the iPad has such a mass appeal is because its fun, its not just for work. Consumers don’t mind spending lots of money on things they use for fun, if its just for work, we tend to be as cheap as possible. I figured out 2 things, I like the iPad so much because of all the time I spend having fun on it. Yes, it has issues that I cannot stand, and I hate Apple and Steve Job’s for: no Flash, no ports, no widgets, very limited multitasking, and often I would have problems with Safari freezing on my iPad 1. Plus if you want to plug anything into it, you have to buy an adaptor- yuk. I have two words: SO WHAT. The iPad 2 which I recently picked up is so much better, its hard to believe the android tablets even get compared to the iPad2- its like they shouldn’t even be in the same catagory. My Acer would very often just quit in the middle of using the browser while looking at the internet. Often times apps would just quit in the middle of being used. Honestly, I went and looked at the Galaxy 10.1 at Best Buy the day it was released. Yes it had a better screen than anything I’ve seen except the iPad 2, but other than that, its an iPad wanna be- it does not have any ports, its all plastic, and once again- your stuck with the android market for tablet apps., which is non-existent. The final straw was when I went to plug the Acer into my LCD TV with the micro-hdmi cable to watch a movie or play a game- it was like looking at the tablet on a large screen in slow motion. The video did not format right on the screen, and did not have an “HD” look about it at all. The resolution was off, & I tried several different movies. I know I’m going to get 20 guys who reply to this who love android- and will tell me how ignorant I am for liking iOS. I was in their camp, for about 2 weeks- its like being lied to thinking your moving into a somehow better and different neighborhood- its just that, its a lie. I’m a tech-savy guy, who prides himself on being able to figure things out- and I spent a lot of time on the Acer and had it all figured out- its BORING, and frankly, the neighborhood sucks. I will say this with confidence: until the android camp figures out how to get a decent number of good apps produced for android tablets, they will never be successful. The guy above is living proof of how people rationalize and lie to themselves to have an excuse either not to like Apple, or to somehow say: “I’m not an Apple follower, so I’m different, and smarter because I don’t buy into the hype”. I told my wife for days how much better I thought the Android tablet was going to be- and she has laughed at me everyday since I bought the iPad 2 to replace it. I still don’t like Apple- as a company who wants to somehow “control” its customers, and force everyone who likes their products to do things their way- but you cannot deny the fact that partly because of this closed platform, it works- and it works amazingly well. I have an HTC Thunderbolt phone, I tether it with my iPad 2 using 4G LTE, and its like 2 ultra-portable cool devices on steroids. Do I like my android phone better than an iphone? Yes, but only because its 4G, the screen is bigger, and I like the way android does its notifications, much better than Apple. Everyone who gets this far into my post needs to do one thing: go to the Apple website and watch the video on iOS5. Everything I like about the android system is now being incorporated into iOS5. The cool pull down notifications, video mirroring on your flat screen TV(no cables needed, who needs ports?), and many other features. OK, so Apple stole some of this stuff from Android- good for them. The whole revival of the tablet is being stolen and copied from Apple. Do I like the fact that Apple took Samsung to court for supposedly copying them? No, I think its petty, and if Apple believes in its product- as it should, they should just release the iPad 3, and let the device speak for itself. I’m not even sure why they are worried, or why they bothered going after Samsung, the Galaxy 10.1 is great, but only from a hardware point of view, and unless Honeycomb 3.1 is a good fix for the miserable versions before it- it will also be useless. I’ll finish with this: If you think you can get a tablet that competes with the iPad 2 for less money, with more flexibility (ie: ports, battery, screen) your dead wrong. Just make sure the store you buy the Android tablet from has a good return policy- or better yet- they also carry the iPad 2 so you can just exchange it.
Anonymous
07/01/2011 at 9:53 pm
You should really write a book.. Damnnn… I read the first few lines and then expanded it… immediately gave up when I realized your post is longer than the article haha :)
Ronny Let
11/11/2011 at 2:43 am
ha ha ha
NotStupud
07/03/2011 at 5:26 pm
Nuff said your reply is more golden then the original post. I despise the pretentious apple cultism but the products deliver. Written on my nexus s – lol
Mike
07/01/2011 at 4:00 pm
Here’s an alternative theory: The iPad is killing Android tablets because the only people buying tablets at all are iPhone users. I know about 5 people with iPads. All of them have iPhones as well. I know no one that has an Android tablet. I am a geek myself and am intrigued by the idea of a tablet, but I can’t bring myself to buy one because I can’t get beyond the idea that they’re a watered down laptop. People that have iPads have purchased keyboards and holders and all sorts of accessories which have converted them into laptops (!).
So that is my theory on why the iPad is doing better than Android: The tablet concept is served well by the smart phone form factor. The larger “tablet’ is an oddity that is only appealing to people who are Apple fans and want to have one to go along with their iPhone. How many iPad owners do you know who don’t already have an iPhone?
Arun
07/01/2011 at 5:24 pm
I AM ONE.I can’t afford one…and I got this pad even if I cudnt afford it.Just love the apps(free ones only mind you cuz I cudnt afford the paid ones,but there’s thousands of them)
Frank Robert Coleman III
07/01/2011 at 7:52 pm
Actually less than 30% of iPad owners have an iPhone…I would have thought the percentages were higher as well. Here’s the link: https://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/04/apple-ipad-owners-necessarily-iphone-owners-report
Mike
07/08/2011 at 1:53 pm
Guess that kills my theory. But in looking at the WSJ article attached to your like (and the comments) what does make sense is that the first Android tablet only came out in November and it was priced higher than the iPad. So it makes sense that with a bigger lead time (7 months) and a lower price tag ipad would have a larger market share. I just wish there was a really cheap android tablet so I could buy one to see if I’d use it…but at $300, I’d rather just buy a netbook.
Cuhulin
07/02/2011 at 3:38 am
Well, I have an Iphone and an android tablet. The phone is old (early 3gs) and needs replacement because I’ve banged it up a lot. So I could go to either system. Frankly, I’m not sure whether to get a WM Phone or another Iphone, but I know I will be getting an Ipad (and keeping the 7″ android tablet as an ereader). It’s not just the iphone — the Ipad is a better tablet right now.
Jesse
07/02/2011 at 5:00 am
I think your like many owners of earlier iPhones, we all got educated on apps, loved the iPod, and liked the quality of the devices. But I have to admit, I put off buying an iPhone, and I’m glad I did for now, because many of the Android phones are simply awesome. They took everything Apple did, and made the phone & everything else better- and they have almost caught up, or in some instances probably surpassed Apple with Android App’s., and the form factor of the notifications, camera quality, larger screen, & widgets- man I love the widgets! (battery life stinks though-) But back to the iPad, it seems to me that because Apple is in control of everything, from the hardware to the OS, the iPad just works better in every way- much the same way I feel about the Macbook Pro I just bought my wife. I have been a PC guy forever, but Macbook Pro is soooo fast, smooth, and trouble free. If you look at reviews on the lap-tops, the Macbook’s always come out on top- much like the iPad, and I feel for many of the same reasons. I suppose it is possible as some others have posted here, that Android tablets may catch up, as they did with phones, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem likely. If the iPad can keep improving the screen (as they did with the iPhone 4) & incorporate more sophisticated chip-sets, along with their high-level of build quality & features- they will be hard to catch for a long time.
Garysturn
07/03/2011 at 3:49 pm
You are kidding yourself, the iPhone is also superior. Geeks always compare specs, specs don’t make the device, they are only one small part of the experience. Android only succeeded because the copied enough of the iPhone experience and made it available everywhere before iPhone was available.
Jesse
07/02/2011 at 5:00 am
I think your like many owners of earlier iPhones, we all got educated on apps, loved the iPod, and liked the quality of the devices. But I have to admit, I put off buying an iPhone, and I’m glad I did for now, because many of the Android phones are simply awesome. They took everything Apple did, and made the phone & everything else better- and they have almost caught up, or in some instances probably surpassed Apple with Android App’s., and the form factor of the notifications, camera quality, larger screen, & widgets- man I love the widgets! (battery life stinks though-) But back to the iPad, it seems to me that because Apple is in control of everything, from the hardware to the OS, the iPad just works better in every way- much the same way I feel about the Macbook Pro I just bought my wife. I have been a PC guy forever, but Macbook Pro is soooo fast, smooth, and trouble free. If you look at reviews on the lap-tops, the Macbook’s always come out on top- much like the iPad, and I feel for many of the same reasons. I suppose it is possible as some others have posted here, that Android tablets may catch up, as they did with phones, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem likely. If the iPad can keep improving the screen (as they did with the iPhone 4) & incorporate more sophisticated chip-sets, along with their high-level of build quality & features- they will be hard to catch for a long time.
Jesse
07/02/2011 at 4:45 am
If you read all the way through my post, I have an HTC Thunderbolt, and love it. Android on this phone (& I assume many others) is nothing less than awesome. The 4G LTE is incredible, and no, I have no desire to buy an iPhone. A phone for me is used for email, tethering to my laptop or iPad, text between co-workers, & it works good as a GPS, oh, & phone calls- a lot of phone calls (which apparently the iPhone 4 sucks- due to the bad antenna for calls). I am on the internet a lot, as big as the screen is on my phone, I still don’t like it for web-browsing & other tasks. And honestly, I do have a keyboard, not because I am replacing my laptop, but I often have to type over 50 emails per day, with long technical information. The beauty of the iPad is you don’t have to turn it on, its always on, and I can get 2 days of battery life on a single charge. Please give me the make and model of the laptop I can leave on for 2 days without a charge. It’s the convenience factor, and even with the portable keyboard, I can put them in a 10.5″ sleeve that is used for a netbook- which I have also by the way. The netbook was great, but it still requires you to turn it on- the upside is the top model Asus I have can last over 8 hours on a charge. It is the best of all words right now, but you can bet that once the chip-sets improve in tablets and they get faster with more memory, the netbook will disappear. I have access to hundreds of large Microsoft Office files on Google doc’s that I can access at any time on- just with an Wi-Fi or cell connection. I can edit these files, and create new ones at anytime, without saving them to my iPad with Documents To Go. The latest version of this app is nothing but incredible, and with more apps like this related to business applications, you will see tablets of all kinds, including the iPad, grow with popularity in many business environments- Apple knows this, that’s why they have created their version of “The Cloud” (besides the extra money they can make…). Your point on the tablet being an “oddity” isn’t entirely correct- because it is useful as a serious computing device in the medical field, and in many situations where carrying around a full laptop is difficult or unnecessary. Lastly, there may be some truth to your comment about many people being Apple addicts or kool-aid drinkers- so they buy an iPad just to have it, but the evolution of tablets is simple: they will replace the lap-top once they can make the components small enough to give them the power to be hand-held, who doesn’t want to hold a high-powered computing device in their hand that is always on?
Dale Strauss
07/01/2011 at 6:34 pm
We are about 9 months from the repeat of iPod II. Unless one of the competing OS’s (Android, WebOS, or QNX) breaks out with an iPad 2 size/weight/speed/battery-life device with a compelling catalog of apps focused at specific needs FOR LESS THAN THE iPAD 2, Apple will run away with the tablet market the same way they stole the MP3 player market. By next March, iPad 3 will be in play, and the others are all still trying to make generation 1 workable, much less stellar.
The naysayers can rant all they want about brainless Apple fanboys; superior specs; crappy Safari browser; closed environment; TabletPC superiority (Wacom); WHATEVER – Apple has truly stolen this market because precise, specific purpose applications abound. For lawyers, there are hundreds of speciality apps for research, handling depositions, calendaring, you name it. Medical professionals- recordkeeping, xray and imaging, medical reference books. Education – unlimited resources from textbooks to lecture notes, to test-taking and prep. I could go on for pages. You name a vertical market, and there are already a wealth of useful apps and more coming daily. Music and literature covered in spade. GAMES. Media and streaming audio/video.
Just like the maufacturers, the naysayers are whistling past the graveyard in the dark . This is not iPhone vs Android II (in the closed cell phone market) but iPod v. MP3 Player II.
ani
07/01/2011 at 7:32 pm
wow that was an excellent article. I love android but I have to agree. You’re the first person that writes something against android and actually know what they’re talking about. Keep up the good work.
justanormalUser
07/01/2011 at 10:51 pm
Wake up, android is windows vista, it will take time until becomes windows 7, don’t waste your money.
Matthew Jacobs
07/02/2011 at 3:12 am
Good points, but I’m not positive this story is over and done with. Android phones had a pretty slow start, for some of the same reasons (in particular, incomplete product and lack of apps). The difference is, now that Android has been proven to do well on the phone market, there’s name recognition, and expectations are in place.
I’m not going to make a prediction as to whether Android tablets will catch up or not. They might, or might be permanently left behind. I don’t think it’s over yet, but without something like the iPhone/AT&T deal that gave Android such an opportunity, it’s going to be harder for the tablets to gain traction against the iPad.
Johan
07/02/2011 at 10:25 pm
I have an Android Honeycomb tablet and to be honest disappointed. Its slow and the app store is a joke. Too bad as I wanted tablet which wasn’t an iPad. Now I’m thinking of selling it and buying an iPad. To be honest, the only real competition to the iPad will be Windows 8 and it looks might promising.
ssadiputs
07/03/2011 at 10:04 am
get a life, or a girlfriend u losers. “ipad this, android that” “I’m a geek, I’m a geek” ” lots of apps, not enough apps”.. really??? it’s either,or. It’s doesn’t really matter what the features are. you have chosen which side you are on already.. You chose long ago, before smart phones and tablets and what not… Mac or PC..
TheSmartestGenius
07/03/2011 at 10:34 pm
Get a brain you loser, welcome to 2011, I want a good value for my dollar.
Anonymous
07/06/2011 at 8:21 am
You can’t just call the race over while your horse is in the lead.
Life doesn’t work that way.
It’s a long haul and early days.
I realize it gives tech journalists something to type about but all these articles decrying the failure of android tablets are ludicrous.
Have they even been out a year?
It would not be hard to look around and find many examples of early strong front runners who lost their markets greatly or completely.
Have you seen the state of RIM lately?
Or better yet – the PC … or, as it came to be named that… the IBM PC.
How many of those did IBM sell last year?
I don’t know why you all want android dead anyway. The competition is good for everyone. I bet future ipad upgrades will not be so incremental as they might have been – even if apple is successful at suing competition such as samsung out of the market for reaching the same inevitable design decisions.
Courtney
07/10/2011 at 2:52 am
Pardon the typos…
Az I Seeit
07/11/2011 at 4:41 am
I’d like to see the demographics or those who buy iPads and the types of apps that demographic acquires for their iPads. I would venture a guess that most buyers are under 30, and most apps are games. This speaks volumes about our culture, and not in a good way.
I wonder what percent of apps can be considered “productivity” software vs. “entertainment” software. Again, I would venture a guess that a large majority is “entertainment” software.
I am looking for a small form factor device for web browsing, streaming HD video to the TV, emailing, and photographic post processing. Preparing and printing formetted text documents, spreadsheets and occasional presentations need to be a part of the hardware/software capability.
Both the iPad and tablet interfaces are compelling, cutting edge, and fun. But they aren’t equipped to be highly functional and seriously productive. For $500, a well equipeed netbook running Windows 7, with 4 gigs of RAM, a gig of video processing, HDMI output, wi-fi/bluetooth, a few usb ports, and a 500 gig hard drive runs rings around any $500 to $700 tablet, iPad included. While such netbook may only be an inch thicker than most tablets and its height and width within an inch or two of most tablets, it is as popular as a pocket protector-laden geek at a prom. It just isn’t “cool.” The child side of me is “almost” willing to sacrifice functionality for cool. IPads and several tablets are pretty neat things. If I had lots of spendable cash, I would probably own an iPad, an Asus Transformer, and a well equiped Netbook. It is hard to resist “cool” but my budget and common sense is screaming at me to resist.
Scott Anthony
07/16/2011 at 2:35 am
THis article is not only outdated, but missed the newer tablets and scalability of them.
Android tables feature faster core designs, better GPU’s for gaming, larger storage options and support, newer units have brighter screens with better contrast ratio, lower price tags, better windows compatibility (even tho MS made windows 7 pretty darn compatible with the Ipad- but that could change). The latest tablets offer superior multitasking and as far as apps, there are more on the variosu market places over Ipad by a large margin. Android MArket place, CArrier market places, and device maker market places offer alot more, as well as home made apps that out number the Ipads available 125,000 apps by a large margin.
Queentorrent
11/07/2011 at 3:34 pm
Android has started off on the right foot with Honeycomb. Being an Apple
User definitely can see that Google could have surpassed IOS with
Honeycomb. Cant wait to see what Apple does next.