Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tablet Wars

Looking at the number of Tablets that are offer starting from Xoom from Motorola, Flyer from HTC, Streak from Dell, HP Slate, not to forget the quite popular Samsung Galaxy Tab and the one to beat iPad from Apple. Yes, we do have the Adam from Notion Ink but who is really winning the war here?

Rightly guessed its the customer who has so many options at the swipe of a finger if I might add to choose from any of these popular tablets. However, most of the tablets that are being released much like the smartphones are android based, so is android becoming the ubiquitous PC of the PC v Mac war. Apple seems to be engaged again in this war with another Giant this time its Google and not Android - funny to note that Microsoft and Nokia who were once in their own arena considered Goliaths have now become the Davids in the smartphone market.

Keeping all this in perspective should be the smart customer of today who has choices to be spoilt, but is he informed enough of his choices and does he know what he really wants. The answer is a pretty big NO. Yes, all the tech companies file patents for all kinds of things today and call it smart technology (there are definitely some very good R&D happening) and this makes the customer wonder if he has the best technology or is there something else that is yet to come which will be much better and much cheaper. With computers and technology its always an emphatic YES. Quite recently I read an article where the author had pretty much warned all prospective Apple customers to stay away from its products right now as they were expecting a new iPad 2, newer versions of the Macbook Pro and ofcourse the very obvious iPhone 4. What does one do at this point. Save up and wait? Wait for how long?
These are questions that will never have a right answer.
So to answer for yourself always keep it simple and answer these following questions:

1. Do I really need this. Most often the answer will be a no and its just gizmo that appeals
to you aesthetically and technologically and not functionally.

2. If I like all the features and functionality, Can I really afford it?

3. If I can indeed afford it do I get the best bang for my buck?

4. What is the life of this product if I am going to spend hundreds of dollars on these.
Most technologies become obsolete in matter of months, look at things like Dell XPS 14 discontinued, Galaxy S obsolete.

If you have satisfied yourselves with the answers and still believe you need those gizmos, then definitely go buy, but be a smart buyer and make sure you get the best offer or deals on these.

Some products that have been really doing well and have sustained the tough times:





All the best with your shopping