Thread: Apple vs Nokia
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Wizard69 is offline Wizard69
2007-10-30 , 04:47
Posts: 27 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Oct 2007
#42
Originally Posted by benny1967 View Post
This is a very interesting one - it reminds me of something a Nokia representative (probably Ari Jaaksi, but I could be wrong) said when they launched the 770: that the very reason for this product line is to create a new kind of device, a whole new market. Something thats not a media player, not a PDA, not a phone, simply not something we already know but the first of its kind.
All I'm simply saying is that the single purpose Internet Tablet has a dim future because people will choose to carry a Cell Phone or a Music player around with them before they will choose a Internet Tablet. Better yet they will combine a Media player with a cell phone. Those two things right there will keep a device in somebodies pocket.

Now throw in internet access and the device becomes even more attractive. Take the same device and remove the Cell and music player and you have a mass sales problem.

Thinking of it, it makes sense that Nokia tries so hard to avoid anything that could possibly put the tablets in one of the existing categories in public perception:
Yes and I wonder why?
  • They dont want it to be a PDA, so they dont offer even basic PIM-functionality (even though Nokia has this kind of software)
  • Even Apple got this half right on their beta hardware. Beta because I don't believe that the Touch nor the iPhone are even half done at the moment. The killer here is that this product is open source, seems like they could have found something to support or port that would have done them nicely.
  • They dont want it to be a media player, so they dont offer high capacity storage (even though it would be possible with only minor changes to the design)
This is where I think they really hurt themselves with the N810. It seems like a simple concept too. Then the added GPS which takes even more of that storage space.
  • They dont want it to be a phone, so no SIM-card.
    • I can see them getting by for a while without Cell access.
    I never thought of it this way before... So they're doing something very, very risky with the tablets. You're right: people tend to buy devices for well known concepts. Media player is a well known concept. Internet tablet isnt. So what Nokia needs to do is slowly make the concept known and create the market with as little risk as possible - because it could fail miserably.
    Well I was thinking more along the line of well known or accepted uses. People have been listening to music for centuries, a MP3 player is just a better way to carry that music with you. Same thing for communications, we could still use smoke signals to contact friends and family but a cell is far more reliable. These two things people are willing to pay for, frankly through the nose, to have available constantly on their person. So the question is does the mass market see such a need for a internet only tablet. I don't think so.

    I feel they've been successful so far. They wouldnt have introduced a third tablet if the 770 and N800 wouldnt have met their expectations sales-wise. And, even more important, other manufacturers join the party now. (Think of Intel.) Still, the game is not over; we'll yet have to see if the market actually exists in 2-3 years.
    The N810 puzzles me to no end. It is almost like a response to systems that where not selling well. A shotgun approach to seeing what sticks well.
    One more reason to keep it simple and not waste precious space.

    Yep, seen the previews. Guess I'm simply not the Apple kind of guy. I remember when first working with OSX the dock made me scream and shout because I didnt find anything there. And Apple-guys say its the best since they invented chocolate. Will probably be the same for this concept...
    I've been a long time Linux user, but to be perfectly honest Apples latest effort intrigues me. Especially because they have really spent some time on the low level out of the way UNIX stuff. Combined that with a really well developed higher level user interface and you get the best of both worlds. Now if they could only go about building hardware that I'd like to run such an OS on!

    In any event i starting to think that you are missing the whole point of a high level Windows manager type interface. Gnome, KDE or Apples Mac, are the same in that the idea is to expose the common to the user in an easy graphical environment. None of these systems demand that you stay out of the entrails. That isn't their point at all.

    Dave