How many of these devices will be multi-touch?
It really is a gimmick, but if the gimmick
makes it easier to use or more fun to use it
has value.
Windows7 doesn't do THAT great with touch, how
well does it do with multi-touch? I don't know,
but Windows is made to use with a mouse, they
really need a whole new UI for touch. Linux is
only on the cusp of multi-touch integration
now, though I think they will beat Microsoft in
this area for at least a few years I find most
aspects of Linux feel half-baked unless there
is a market for professional use.
Weight. I'm sorry, but as cool as a powerhouse
tablet is, weight is an issue for tablet form
and function. A tablet should be able to be
held in one hand for hours, so no heavier than
your average fiction novel.
Heat. Ever try and hold a laptop on your lap
while you were doing some serious number
crunching? It gets HOT! This can be curbed by
more expensive silicon, but more expensive is
well... more expensive.
App base. No matter which way you cut it the
app store consists 99.999% of apps that will
run natively on the iPad with form and function
being reviewed by Apple. And most of them only
cost a few dollars. Microsoft and Linux have
more CHOICE, but for many users thats not what
they want.
GPS, compass, accelerometer (it is missing a
camera, but I imagine it will come out in a
later model, though it will cost a couple
hundred more, thats how apple does its thing.)
These are things I doubt you will be able to
find in PC type tablets for some time. Its the
whole chicken and the egg issue. Who's gonna
make one when no software uses it and whos
gonna write the software when no device has
one. Apple overcame this because they control
the whole platform. Although I find it likely
that Google COULD overcome this because they
will release a bunch of free apps that use the
neato GPS, compass, accelerometer and not have
a closed system so further apps can be
developed. Because chromeOS is linux based it
will not be difficult to port software to other
tablets running linux. In fact, maybe all you
would have to do is put the right library set
on your "computer" to run them. Which leaves
Microsoft out in the cold... but somehow I
think they will manage.
Further more the compass accelerometer GPS
combination makes for some crazy awesome new
game possibilities (and apps like augmented
reality... how long has it been that thats been
promised?) In fact the ONLY reason I would buy
an iPad is for the games... though I'm sure I
would end up using it for other things.
All that being said, as cool as some Apple
products are, and as much as I like Steve Jobs
(I have a soft spot for garage made
billionaires) I feel the difference between
Apple products and most others is like the
difference between a pimped out golf cart and a
bugatti veyron. Sure the golf cart might look
nice and "it just works" it costs more than it
should and doesn't always do what you want as
fast as you want. But for some that isn't an
issue... they just own both
