Piles of unshiftable HP fondle-slabs choke Best Buy Crates of HP fondleslabs are mounting up stateside at Best Buy as it emerged the retailer has shifted less than one-tenth of its 270,000 strong unit order. Evidence is mounting that HP's shiny slate, dubbed the OuchPad in the US, is failing to capture the attention of shoppers on both sides of the Atlantic, as indicated by …
It's hard to believe that with the enormous pay packets HP's exec's undoubtedly enjoy that they could get the basics of supply and demand so monumentally wrong.
When they announced the touchpad at the same price as the ipad it should have been obvious to even the most dimmest ivy league business graduate that there would be little demand for the product.
But no, they go and build millions of the things (to get cheaper unit costs obviously) only to be left with a mountain of unsold touchpads that are no doubt bound for the discount bins real soon now.
Epic FAIL
All tablets right now are a game for suckers. On all my computers, I can install any OS I want. Dual boot, triple boot, whatever I want, I can do, I OWN the device.
With tablets, the jerks that made them, seem to continue to own them after you pay for them.
So no, I don't want an iCrap, or any other overpriced, unproductive jail cell.
Gadgets are becoming increasingly totalitarian, which leaves you wondering that our governments must be close behind. These are scary times.
I picked one up in Car phone Warehouse the other day and I have to say it seemed like a nice tablet, on a par with iPad 1.
However it just didn't really work properly. Applications took an age to load and the thing would grind to a halt once a few apps were open. To boot, a few web pages I tried just gave the 'your browser is not supported' error...
"...on a par with iPad 1.
However it just didn't really work properly. Applications took an age to load and the thing would grind to a halt once a few apps were open. To boot, a few web pages I tried just gave the 'your browser is not supported' error..."
All of which puts it on a par with the iPad 1 how, exactly?
The Gospel according to St Steve of the Jobsian Cult explicitly teaches its sheeple in the First Commandment that thou shalt not purchase from the unclean, clovenhooved, non-Apple vendors, lest ye be cast into purgatory and end up with something that does not integrate with other Apple devices. And lo, it is also written that only Apple devices shall interface and 'know' each other through non-standard connectors and modified protocols sanctified by the holiest in Cupertino, lest the devices be tainted by the technologies of the heathens and ye be cast into further iniquity.
If HP seriously wants to tempt sheeple from eating from the Jobsian forbidden tree, then it should drop to a £199 price point.
I think the original idea was to make some money, so selling at £300 under cost may be a bit of a poor business move. They'll get there when they are truly unshiftable though.
I think the primary problem for these vendors is that Apple now have a good reputation for producing simple to use devices. I'm not saying that other devices are hard to use, just that a user deciding between an ipad and any other tablet will know that the Apple device will work, and be easy to use, which is a boon when deciding to spend £500+ on a toy.
"will know that the Apple device will work, and be easy to use"
I think the biggest thing Apple has going for them is the iPod. A lot of people has/had one. They're used to being forced to use iTunes to manage their device. They like the idea of their iPad having the same interface, being able to use the same apps, etc. Everyone thinks "iPad" when they think of a tablet now, simply because it's "the thing to have." I've talked to a lot of people that want to use a tablet for everything an iPad CANT do (very well at least...), but they still want the iPad because they think it will do it "best." They won't even hear alternatives. It's quite sad really...like trying to give someone purified tap water as opposed to the bottled water at the store... "It's just not my <insert brand here>"
One thing I'd say about iOS is that its protocol support in some areas is great.
If you use the free zimbra server for groupware, your iPod, iPhones and iPads can sync mail using IMAP, calendars using CalDav and contacts using CardDav.
That's mobile groupware with no licensing costs. Quite a boon for small businesses and non-profits.
There is one thing you can always count on from the Apple haterz: If some product that competes with Apple fails, it's because Apple users are all mindless sheep. It's not because the competing product is poorly designed, or there are no apps for it, or it crashes frequently, or it's slower than the product it competes with; the only possible explanation is that Apple users are sheep.
I've looked at the HP tablet. It's rubbish. I wouldn't buy one if they dropped the price to $99...and I say this as a person who does *not* own an iPad, and who got rid of my iPhone in favor of an HTC Sensation Android phone.
Though I may be investing a little more hope than is realistic. It'd be interesting to read a postmortem if HP do either kill it or restrict it to being the fast boot option on laptops, a use I think they've hinted at before. I'm aware of negative stories about build quality, the iTunes syncing spat (which made both parties look bad in my opinion) and performance, but there's got to be more to the ongoing failure to find traction than those factors alone.
Why on earth would you want to install Linux on it?
When are the penguinista going to realise that regular uses don't care about OSs? And it's not because they're dumb or sheeple - it's because they just want a device that does the job. In the case of fondle-slabs that means something that can consume online media, maybe play the odd game install a few Apps etc..
I'm not saying you can't do those things with Linux - no doubt you can if you're prepared to dedicate your life to trawling forums to get just the right combination of versions you need to get the thing to work. Most people have better ways of spending their time...
WebOS is linux.
Unless they've changed it since my Pixi, proper linux too - terminal access via USB cable with novacom or directly with a small app install.
I don't think it would be too hard, by phone/tablet standards (though way above most people) to install your own distro on there. Be nice to to see it running meego...
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This is annoyng too -- no way I would have payed the asking price for this locked-down, dumbed-down phone without a phone.
The browser belongs in an iPaq, the lack of flash belongs to an old WinCE device and the complete lack of a way to transer files to and from the device belongs to a '90s mobile phone.
There are plenty of ways to transfer files to/from an iDevice - iFunbox is my personal fave at the moment. Needs a cable, not wireless, but can access the raw file space on an iPhone or iPad.
This stuff isn't hard, and believe it or not there actually are Apple hackers that can write stuff too...
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