Well I'll be getting a cheap Android tablet eventually for stuff that the iPad simply is too expensive for. For example to make a kind of dashboard out of it, or sticking it to the fridge.
Not every tablet needs to compete on all the same aspects as the iPad.
This argument is getting lost in semantics. What does "compete" mean in this instance? Does Kia compete with Lexus? They both make cars, but I doubt anyone looking at an RX350 ever ended up in a Sportage.
I'd argue "compete" should mean that someone looking for an iPad might end up buying the competing device instead.
True enough, but not everyone needs (pr wants, considering price) a Lexus, some people only need and want a Kia, as long as it meets certain requirements.
However, in the market today, for all practical purposes, almost all you can get in the tablet space is the Lexus (iPad), when a lot of people actually want a Kia (in this case the Pandigital Novel).
So as time goes on, this is definitely relevant to Apple. I wouldn't classify it as a "threat" quite yet, but over time products like this will at the very least remove a great deal of their pricing power.
And, of course, Apple relies on the image of a refined taste, so its customers will have the illusion that by having an iPad, they are on the same league as those who get driven around in Maybachs.
That's the difference between a mature and a young market.
In the earlier days of motoring, the Kia equivalent would have competed with Lexus. No one would have known, for example, whether Lexus is luxury, Kia is budget or both.
The fact that you've heard of an iPad makes it significantly more likely you would choose it over the competitors even in a Best Buy. There have been mp3 players that were better than the iPod throughout pretty much it's entire existence, and they sat right next to the iPods at Best Buy and Wal-mart. They didn't put a dent in iPod sales at all. The only one that was wildly successful was the Sandisk Sansa, and the price/feature differential was such that saying it competes with the iPod is like saying Kia competes with Ferrari.
It'll be the same with these two tablets. People may buy the $200 thing because it's cheaper. Some (maybe even myself) might buy it because it's hackable. But nobody who wants an iPad will buy this instead, therefore they don't really "compete" by any meaningful usage of the word.
The first thing my dad says when I bought an iPad into my house was "hey was that that Apple thing? Pad something?" It surprised me that he even heard of it, given we're living in Thailand.
I take it you've never worked at a major electronics retailer. People will drop several thousand dollars on impulse if a slick sales person does a catchy demo.
Why is the onus on me to prove it is one way or another?
The information is available online. Do you really think people walk into Best Buys before they do their research? Perhaps if money is no object. But for most people, it is, and therefore research is pretty imperative.
I do most of my 'research' by browsing in shops. I often go into places like Best Buys, Frys, looking for 'stuff I probably want'.
Also most people have credit cards. Most people often don't worry about money when purchasing things. They worry later when they're in debt.
The threshold is different for everyone, but I would say that $200 is below the threshold it makes sense to bother researching all that much if it looks like it might be useful. No point spending a couple of hours, extra petrol etc to "save" a few $.
Totally agreed. When I was shopping for a netbook I often saw people in stores who wanted a netbook, asked the store employee what they should buy, and then bought one. The same goes for camera's. Why should this be different for tablets?
Looking at the top free/paid apps is a pretty good strategy, search, or word of mouth. The App Store promotes exploration by having good descriptions/screenshots, categorizations, colorful icons, clean text, etc. It's almost automatic for me to pop into the App Store to see what's new almost every time I pickup my iPad.
Well, the Robin Hood stories are set about five centuries earlier, so I don't think anybody knows how things were pronounced back then. If you wanted a verbally authentic version of Robin Hood then it would be in a version of English closer to Chaucer's than Shakespeare's, and it would be almost completely incomprehensible.
less cynically ... perhaps the poster wanted the personal opinions of HN hackers, many of whom probably have first-hand experience with Python and might be able to give more personalized answers than what's on FAQ pages
so if that's the case, here's what I should do. i'll begin preparing a series of questions to post to HN in the coming weeks, to keep in the same spirit. Rough list to start with:
1. where do babies come from?
2. what is PageRank?
3. what sorts of languages can you write iPhone apps in such that they are allowed in the Apple store?
4. why might I want to write an app in C versus in BASIC?
Actually, if you went one step beyond and asked for opinions or non-obvious answers to any of those, I'd consider that perfectly suitable for the site.
For example
2. is there an open source implementation of PageRank?
3. any tips on how to fake handwritten Objective C so Apple will accept my app?
4. I wrote my app in BASIC instead of Objective C and Steve Jobs said it was okay
here's one more to add to your list: if you do an automated text meta-analysis of "Ask HN" titles and see what words/phrases are correlated with more upvotes, then post your analysis on a blog post, i'm sure people would upvote you like crazy ;)
Yes, yes it is. It is similar to Apple looking for Antennae Engineers. It must be a sign that Dropbox is having issues with their web operations, and they are about to issue an open letter to their users.
Many things here are not news, but some interesting startups things (Dropbox is an interesting startup, a YCombinator one), also, comment "This is news?" on all the "ASK YC" threads :-)
