I'm not so interested in hardware; I wonder what will Apple add to new version of iOS. There were couple of features missing that are must for serious tablet OS.
It is really convenient to have tablet at home. Instead of going to another room with PC or holding hot and bulky laptop in my lap, I can enjoy surfing in a more civilized way. We can all share it as needed. We could share it if had some notion of users, but it doesn't. I spoke with one friend who is a big Apple fan, and he thinks that tablets are personal and user switching is not needed. On a big $500+ device? Oh, it is. It is not smartphone so usage patterns are different.
I prefer Samsung's approach: they advertise 7" model for portable and 10" model for home use, which makes more sense - but again only if user switching is supported, and it isn't. To be honest, I don't know how will Google retrofit this. Android is based on Linux, which had users, but Android uses them to isolate applications - one user per application, so it is not possible to use users for users. Guys at Google are smarter than me, they'll probably figure it out. Some independent developers did.
Next feature that I would really like to see is split screen interface where I can run two applications side-by-side. Imagine chatting while browsing or dragging and dropping pictures in your blog. There is one tablet operating system that supports both users and split screen, but it is not yet seen on the wild: Windows 8. I really believe that it could be serious contender if some more cool company made it. Microsoft is sooo '90s.
Other Apple's product that will be announced today is new Apple TV. As such services usually don't work in Croatia, I'll just skip it.
I managed to write somewhat lengthy post without even seeing the damn thing; I have good feeling about my blogging career.
Sidenote: Android Market just become Google Play. Great discounts for games, no music/books/movies in Croatia. It moved from Android top domain (market.android.com) to Google's (play.google.com). Hmmm...
As a fan of well thought-out products (just saw reports of new iPad - HW is astonishing), whoever sells them, I would say that idea of multi user tablet needs a bit more deliberation.
ReplyDeleteWould apps be separate for each user? So you would have duplicates, or you would share some apps? How would you set it up? During app installation? You need superuser? Some admin console? How is tablet user linked to the user paying for content? Each tablet user will have separate account on iTunes/Play? Or you have to specify which user can buy which content? So you need user management? Complexity, complexity, complexity. There is already a name for all that. It's called PC. Tablet is much more personal. It is real personal computer. So I would say you want a really thin PC.
You see, problem is not technical. This is design problem. The idea is great, but I have a nasty habit when I encounter a good idea - I imagine how it would work in real life. That's why I laugh at "concepts" that MS likes to brag about. They are just wishful thinking. They never have to solve any problem that would come up in realization of the idea. Perhaps some smart people will solve the user problems on tablets, but I do not know how to do it. And I don't care, because of three things.
Tablets are personal. And if someone just has to have his/her porn collection on a tablet, they should be willing to pay for another tablet. Yeah, I know about mailboxes, and so on, but it's my tablet, not my daughters for their mail-chats. If they wants one, they should earn one themselves.
Tablets are instant-on. Imagine having to enter password every time you pick up the tablet. That is the anti-experience of tablet.
Tablets are cheap. iPad is CHEAPER than any smartphone worth buying. True, good (and even bad) Android tablets are more expensive, but that's just testament to Cook's operational genius.
As for @TV, you just have to see one working. Apple is not selling devices to sell content, but vice-versa. That means that there are numerous features that could sell the device on it's own merits, regardless of Movie sales/rentals. For example, it was great watching how you can play you photos from a Mac to TV via @TV - with remote (or iPhone) you select photos or album and they are shown in great presentation on TV. Or how you stream video, screen, music, etc from iPhone (or Mac, or PC) to TV just by pushing a button. That is what @TV is about. Buying movies... nice, but not a killer feature, at least not for me.
I will split answer according to topic. First, multiuser and applications. I don't really see issue here, except for paid applications, and no need for superuser. Free applications could be simply available to all user, but they'll work with different data. This could be resolved on OS level.
DeleteFor paid applications, you will either see just those that you bought for your user and others should buy their copy or everybody can use all applications or some kind of familliy account could be introduced, as Amazon already did for Kindles.
Switching users can be as simple as face unlock, which already exists on Android, or biometric touch of a finger. With reasonable lock period this shouldn't be issue.
DeleteiPad is definitely NOT cheaper than phone, because most of the people buy phone on contract. I can't imagine paying $2000 IN ADDITION to smartphone price. Also there are questions of free space on coffee table and do we really need four tablets in parallel.
DeleteIdea that Apple is selling other stuff to sell devices is popular misconception spread by Walter Isaacson in Steve Jobs biography - but it's not true: http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/walter_isaacson_steve_jobs
DeleteIf you really watch pictures solely from your mobile for two hours every day, than it makes sense to buy it outside US, otherwise I would expect at least browser.
Eh. Four topics.
DeleteUser management: all I hear is manage me, manage me, manage me. I want to use the tablet, not manage it. I have PC for that. E.g. even free apps can be unwanted on some accounts. You're sacrificing ease of use in order to provide superficial and half-baked solution to a problem affecting 1% of users.
Price: that's the point. Phone is ultimately more expensive. You can hide it behind a contract, but it still is more expensive.
Content: I think you're confusing content with software. Read the article you linked carefully. Also, check Apple's financial statement. How much profit does iTunes bring?
@TV: I expect real arguments from you, not trolling.
Oh, I forgot. The idea that content sells devices does not come from Isaacson. It's way older.
DeleteRegarding the bio, the poor man was over his head with the writing it. He wrote about Jobs' personal life (and rushed it to keep the deadline) but nothing about his professional life. There is no insight about how and why decisions are made, no understanding of the business environment and process. The book is great for celebrity fans, but lacking for students of business and technology industry.
Also, why I have to enter captcha for every post? I just did, 30 seconds ago! The edit window is small, and when I press publish, I get even smaller window which I have to scroll (two frames with scrollbars one inside other!) to enter captcha, then scroll some more to press a button! This is getting tiresome.
I forgot about split screen. (^_^) It's a great thing, and should be implemented, in some way. I don't know if MS way is applicable to iOS and Android, but they should find a nice usable solution for it.
ReplyDeleteOh, btw, Win8 is still a phantom product. Until it ships, who knows what Google and Apple will do. And, it's u-g-l-y. Big time. Perhaps colour-blind people with fetish for misaligned screens, eclectic (not to use a pejorative word) use of typeface sizes and weights and hate for anything non-square can use it, but I can't.
Android developers already have to live with the fact that they must develop for different screen sizes (and they are mocked because of that). Soon we could see such requirement on other platforms, too.
DeleteI wan't speaking about development for multiple sizes. And certainly not about flexible sizing.
DeleteI don't care how bad poor developers have it. I care how easy I can use it. And that was my point - the implementation of the concept in Win8 is not directly applicable to iOS and Android. It would not feel in line with the paradigm.