Sad Tablet Displays At Staples, Best Buy Could Be Why Only iPads Selling Well - Oh, iOS App Dominance Helps Too

I had to go to a few Office Depots and Staples today because I needed to print out a few post sized prints, four feet by seven feet.  Each store had almost different printers.  While there, I had a chance to look at the tablets that each are selling.

Let me just stick with Staples.  I saw posters for the Xoom and Playbook.  So I got distracted and decided to find the tablets first.  I had never seen a Playbook before and I was looking forward to it.  Well, I saw it after having to walk through half the store to find it.  It was virtually like that in most stores.  And worse than that, no tablets were working!  

Three of the Staples stores had both models.  But in two of the three stores, neither the Xoom or Playbook could be turned on.  I glanced around for help but there was no one interested in helping me.  Typically, at an Apple store, you get one or more of the retail people ask if you need any more within thirty seconds of being in the store.  Then at the 3rd Staples store, the Xoom was on but had apparently suffered some kind of kernel problem or something because it was frozen.  No buttons work.  The Playbook turned on and then decided to turn itself off.  

Now, I know that there are a lot of complaints about lack of native Honeycomb apps for Android tablets.  The Playbook suffered similar complaints but more.  However, if Google and its camp is going to trying to sell tablets and compete with the iPad in these kind of retail environment, they can forget about it.  The same goes for the Playbook  I have no doubt that RIM had seen initial success with the Playbook sales but it is hard to see a sustained effort.  

Apple needs competition and the presence of Android tablets and Playbooks, soon to be joined by HP's Web OS Touchpad, might be enough to make every major tablet platform innovate but if Apple's competitors want to take sales away from the iPad, they're gonna need to do a better job of it  Don't be surprise if someone decides to open up an Android store to compete and better compliment Android sales effort.  

Back On iPhone To Lock Unlimited Data Plan

I am back on the iPhone to lock up wireless data plans for which ever carriers I decide to go with.

I don't think I'll be going with an Android device ad my next phone anymore. It had become way too complicated a platform to use.

And with most carriers grandfathering plans these days, I think it's a good idea for me to lock things in while I can.

I am on T-Mobile's 3G plan now. We also have Verizon's unlimited plan. So I guess I am set. Not way I am going with AT&T and Sprint isn't going to alter it's plans any time soon.

Should the iPhone come to all the carriers this summer/fall, I would be good to go.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Would Apple Invite International Coverage for the WWDC Keynote Just For Demos And Previews?

Apple is inviting a lot for foreign journalists to the WWDC in San Francisco beginning on June 7th.  What's interesting is that we've known for months that there will be no new hardware introduction as it has been in previous years.  After all, the World Wide Developer Conference is about developers and software.  So why the hoopla over OS X and preview of the next iOS?

Well, it's hard to say.  It is not inconceivable for Apple to trying sneaking an iPhone in there.  But I highly doubt that.  Having just made that point, if Apple is trying to drum up world-wide coverage of the keynote speech (no one knows who's giving it so far), it better be much more than just about the next Mac OS Lion and what's going to be in iOS 5.  

And it definitely better not be just an intro with a bunch of demos.  That is not worth a trip across the pond or across the Pacific from Australia.  After all, it's not like they'll be going to LA or NY. This is San Francisco after all.  Right, not much going on there.

However, if Apple is to sneak in the next iPhone, that definitely would be something.  That's my pony wish with Santa and Easter Bunny all roll into one.  

New Windows Phone 7 Update "Mango" Has What It Takes To Go Against iPhone And Android

This is a very interesting day indeed as Microsoft outed the next Windows Phone 7 update.  Multi-tasking and more social friendly features are coming our way. 

 

What's also interesting is that Microsoft confirmed Nokia mobile devices running Mango is in the works.

 

What this means for the mobile landscape is anyone's guess right now.  It really depends on when Nokia gets their WP7 phones out on the market.  I'm gonna go ahead and say that they will be rushed out on a limited release in Nokia's backyard where home field advantage might still mean something.  If it does come out around the Holidays, it may have to contend with a newly released iPhone (4GS or 5) and whatever else Google has coming with an Android update that features Honeycomb UI.

 

What I'm interested in seeing if this will reverse Nokia's fortunes and, if so, at Apple or Google's expense.

Now, we'll have to see if Microsoft can actually deliver the update on time. That itself is the trickiest part of all.

 

iPhone 3GS Rumored Not To Run iOS 5 - Wrong!

Not going to happen.  There's a rumor that the iPhone 3GS will not run iOS 5.  I think that's false. 

 

If anything, it will not be able to take advantage of all the new features in the next iOS upgrade but it will still be able to run more than a few cool features that are coming our way 

If I had to speculate right now, I would have to say any Siri integration may not work for the 3GS because of the higher level of processing power that is required.  Of course, it really depends on Apple how they implement it.  After all, Siri works even now on just fine.

 

 

 

PC Market Is Big Oil Companies As Tablet Market is to Green Tech Revolution

Finally, I’ve found a way to merge two topics I find a lot of interests in and maybe this will be an awesome click bait. Nah, I’m kidding (but not really). So, I have been reading a lot of posts of late about how the iPad really isn’t cannibalizing PC sales but rather that consumers are holding on to their old PCs older. Hey, that could be what’s happening and it go a long way in explaining why both HP and Dell are both experiencing a slow-down in the consumer PC market. It would definitely explain why Acer’s netbook market collapsed, people simply are very very satisfied with the netbooks.

This would go contrary to the earlier reports that the iPad sales, along with other tablets, are hurting netbooks and low-end laptop sales.

Here’s where I’m gonna to go “freakanomics” on you. People are definitely holding on to their personal computers, desktop or laptop, longer. And the reason is because many folks have bought a tablet and find that they can do most of what they do on their PC and don’t see a need to upgrade just yet.

Obviously, there will be deniers. PC-birthers who USA Today said were like global warming deniers. Let’s call them “tabniers”. Well, the tabniers are out in force.

Hence the title of this post. The companies that sells PC, like HP, Dell, and Lenovo are like big oil today, BP and Exxon. It’s my opinion, that they hold onto what’s making them money, their cash cow, but have little or no plans for tomorrow. When the oil runs out for the energy companies or when demand for PC shrinks to the point it makes no sense to make them any longer.

Sure, HP has Web OS and I applaud their thinking. Dell is going with Android as is everyone else but they really have no idea why they’re doing it. There isn’t an organic feel to their gears. It’s like they’re coming out with tablets because they are afraid what not to and, yet, they don’t seem to get why people want the iPad to begin with. Don’t believe me? Just look at the promotions when the Touchpad comes out. See if HP give is equal marketing with its PC products.

And we know that Dell says almost nothing about the Streak. Look at its sales. If Dell really gets the tablet, it would use one of its existing laptop brands like Insperion instead of creating a a brand new one with arguably, a different naming scheme than they the’ve come up with in the past. The problem is no one recognizes it and if Dell thought “Streak” would be cool and “down” with the younger market, well, then they’re the only one.

All the old PC companies, HP probably has the best chance to make a splash in the tablet market. And even they are moving too slow. In about a year, we may well be talking about the Kindle and Nook tablets along with the iPad. Let me tell you this. The people buy Kindles and Nooks are from the older generation. And if you think consumers are holding off on buy or upgrade their PCs, you just wait until the boomers stop buying PCs and opt for Barnes and Noble’s offerings.

Note: For my click-bait post, I will talk about how big oil can survive the green revolution (not the one going on in Iran) and the first one to be the Apple of old energy will eventually dominate the world. See, click-bait.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

iPad Provides A More Intimate Experiences Between Computer and Owner

Intimacy.  That is the word that is put to the personal computing experience the iPad has brought to mobile computing and entertainment.  And while the iPad cannot get more intimate than the iPhone since it doesn't fit in the pocket of our jeans, the fact that it can do much more while it sits on your laps.

It's on the moment you need it and it can easily take you through a work day or on a flight.

I'm not sure that people, even iPad owners realize what's going on.  Their relationship with their iPads is vastly more different than with their laptop or smartphone.  

I thought of this while I was looking at the original MacIntosh.  The very first one. The boxy thing with the smallish screen in black and white. Yeah, that one.  It was computing on a vastly different even than the Apple II or the IBM PCs around that time.  

The new UI with the mouse as the controller gave users a level of control that was not achievable.  And through the decades after, the experience has largely been the same with Windows or Mac OS.  

That all changed with the iPad.  Apple took that intimacy shared between user and computer onto a whole new level.  And the iPad is a little more than a year old.  We are only scratching the surface of what the iPad can allow us to achieve.

If anyone wants to compete more effectively with Apple, they need to realize this first.