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[isthisthingon]

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/02/seven-more-ipad-alternatives/

Seven in this story which references seven others in an earlier story.  I like the look of the one below, the Notion Ink Adam running Android.  May the iPad hype be tempered by open source alternatives  

[nutballs]

I think they both will have their place. Actually all three.
iPad
android tabs
windows tabs

they will serve different purposes, but have significant overlap.

the major problem from the windows side is that windows is not touch oriented. I think they could do a good and functional implementation, but they are behind the curve. Android tabs on the otherhand I think are always going to be relegated to bitter nerds.

[perkiset]

May the iPad hype be tempered by open source alternatives  

Desperation sets in. Please someone, anyone, stop the juggernaut that is Apple's success.

OK. Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, the WePad has looked interesting for a while now and would seem to fit the OpenSource and malleable desire quite nicely. The Lenovo IdeaPad Hybrid has to be one of the stupidest ideas I've ever seen: Now you have TWO devices you can break, and certainly a frighteningly delicate looking interface to watch out for... and the exoPad is just an iPad for haters, and clearly the specs show it for what it really is.

Nope, the WePad looks like the only breakout device that is following a forward-thinking path ... the "Works With All eBook Formats" as an advantage over iPad is just a titch misleading - it probably does OPFs and EPUBs (So does Apple), but doing PDFs is no biggie, neither is Kindle. Will it do eReader (Palm)? I think they overstated a bit there. Flash support may well be a differentiating factor in the future - but we'll have to see just exactly at what cost Flash and Android based multitasking comes at ... the iPad APIs are very slick in that they really tightly control use of processor (ie., battery) - we see in some of the examples either shorter battery life or none listed, because they just can't even know yet.

I'm surprised (as are many in the comments) that they omitted JooJoo ... I wonder if it's fallen to the FAIL ranks already. That'd be too bad, they seemed to work really hard to try to get to market.

[perkiset]

I think they both will have their place. Actually all three.
iPad
android tabs
windows tabs

they will serve different purposes, but have significant overlap.

the major problem from the windows side is that windows is not touch oriented. I think they could do a good and functional implementation, but they are behind the curve. Android tabs on the otherhand I think are always going to be relegated to bitter nerds.

I wonder about Windows pads ... the OS just does NOT seem ready to go that way at all ... every incarnation seems like tits on a boar. IMO Android is the only real player that can offer a real alternative at this point.

I think Windows notebooks will persist quite a while though. I just don't see them jumping into this space with their current OS offerings.

[isthisthingon]

Please someone, anyone, stop the juggernaut that is Apple's success.

As long as they remain a closed, predatory license-based profit machine they will handle this for us, like water through the Grand Canyon...

[perkiset]

As long as they remain a closed, predatory license-based profit machine they will handle this for us, like water through the Grand Canyon...

Thanks to the Dead Milkmen for their assistance here...

Run to the window, they're coming to get you
Hide in the basement, they're coming to get you
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]
Flee to the rooftop, they're coming to get you
Don't go outside, no don't[chik!]



 

[kurdt]

I think many manufacturers will get it wrong at the first round. At least based on those pics designers are still thinking in the line of laptop computer changed into tablet form. Apple tried to steer away from laptop look by imitating iPhone's look. iPad doesn't resemble Macbooks at all. That gives iPad "not a computer" look but also gives the challenge to prove itself worthy to more advanced users. Average Joe won't be getting laptops and desktops soon, they will be getting tablets after there's enough them around so people can try them out at their friend's. So looking like a laptop and not friendly easy-to-use not-a-computer might be a bad move. But as usual, this is all speculation and we don't even know yet if tablet is a success. Personally I'm really, really surprised if most of the computer type devices sold in 5 years are not tablets.

[perkiset]

Personally I'm really, really surprised if most of the computer type devices sold in 5 years are not tablets.

Same.

And probably with appliance like OSs, not desktop OSs like we see today.

[kurdt]

And probably with appliance like OSs, not desktop OSs like we see today.

Yeah, like I said in the other thread, there's really no need for OSX for anybody else than real power users. Very few users are real power users who really need all the stuff OSX packs. Many people just want to be power users to belong to the techie community but in real-life their computer usage is only a tad above average users. They might know how everything works but they don't need it. There's a difference between knowing how to use computers and actually using it all to the fullest power. I can confess right away that I desperately want to be power user but after year of research and development I have realized that there's pretty much nothing I can't transfer to web and use with iPad. All I need is a browser and I can do pretty much everything I need. To me normal computer is a dying breed and I'm eagerly waiving goodbye. It has destroyed part of my eyesight (fucking CRT monitors), my back and partly my mind by exposing me to a material I really don't need to see in my head but I just consider those as war scars that I got while taking it all in and molding it to a better for everyone else.

[perkiset]

Yeah man. We all remember the first time we got surprised with goatse. ::shudder::

[dirk]

The Viliv S10 could be an interesting alternative for a Windows based device:

http://www.crunchgear.com/tag/viliv-s10/

A bit expensive, but powerful.