Why Is Every Non-geek In My Family in a Froth About the iPad?

**Lemur** · 01-28-2010, 14:58

Best analysis I've read this morning:

[T]his launch is closer to that of the original iPod—the idea itself isn't exactly new, competing offerings seem arguably better in some respects, and Apple will have to set itself apart from the pack by delivering a superior user and e-commerce experience. In other words, the iPad isn't going to waltz in and just change the world, the way that its smaller predecessor, the iPhone, did. It'll have to fight its way to the top, like the iPod. [...]

For instance, I can easily imagine an Android-based tablet that's designed by HTC, powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2, does 1080p video (vs. iPad's 720p maximum resolution), and has much better 3D gaming performance, but at the cost of two hours of battery life. And if someone made such a thing, I would rather buy it than an iPad. I'd even pay over $500 for it. Given the number of Android and ARM-based devices I saw at this past CES, and the amount of design talent that's going into many of them, I expect to see at least one non-embarrassing Android-based competitor to the iPad by at least the second half of the year, if not earlier.