Wednesday, August 22, 2012

New pills for your technology ills

While its utility is still questionable, Apple’s iPad has unleashed a new, internecine battle on the tablet front, which will involve both device manufacturers and OS providers

Back in January 2010, when Steve Jobs had showcased the iPad for the first time and dubbed it to be a magical device, his critics had scoffed and mocked him. “After all, it’s just a giant iPhone,” was what most analysts had said. But now that the iPad has been around for about two months and managed to sell more than two million devices already (and that too mostly in the US as it was not available in other parts of the world before May 28, 2010), they could well consider enrolling for Jobs’ marketing lessons.

Some other technology giants could also add their names to the list. For the first time in the history of technology, we have a device that has become a runaway hit and yet the purpose of its existence is still unknown! Most people would agree that an Apple iPad will not replace their existing desktop or notebook or even probably a net book in terms of usability. No matter how much one may claim to love this device, typing on it is not as breezy as doing it with a physical keyboard. So, does that mean that the only usability it has is in consuming media? Even in that case, the absence of Flash (refer to the heated debate between Adobe and Apple) would hurt the web browsing as well as media consumption experience for many. However, unfettered by all these ‘minor details’, Apple lovers were ready to queue up several hours in advance to order this gadget without physically holding it. Well, in that sense, we agree with Jobs that iPad is magical, even if it is owing largely to the Apple aura. And now this magic has made people sit up and take notice of the emerging demand for a product like tablet computers.

Already basking in the success of Apple iPad and the third generation iPhone, Apple has become the most notable technology company overtaking Microsoft in market valuation. On May 26, on NASDAQ Stock Market trading, Apple’s market value stood at an astounding $222.1 billion, which was a notch higher than Microsoft’s $219.2 billion. This is said to be just a build up to a new crescendo that will be visible post the launch of the new iPhone, which has just been launched on June 7, 2010. The company will start preorders for the same from June 15. The competitors of Apple may have been feeling left out for now, but they are not in any way looking at making things easy for the Apple iPad. As already discussed, this gadget’s utility is still not known clearly but it has already forced some big names (and some not so big names) in the industry to go back to their drawing boards and attempt to bring out similar devices to offer in the market. And it looks like those will be the not-so-notable names that will be the first to jump into this market. The two Taiwanese majors – MSI and Asus have both showcased their Windows-based tablet computers and are expected to launch the same in the market shortly. However, it’s the entry of names like Sony, HP, Microsoft and not to forget Google that will add the spark in this tablet market.


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