“The first Tablet PCs, especially those made by Toshiba (I owned two), are competent but unwieldy. All the required ingredients are present, but the sauce refuses to take,” Jean-Louis Gassée writes for Monday Note. “Skip ahead to April 2010. The iPad ships and proves Alan Kay right: The first experience with Apple’s tablet elicits, more often than not, a child-like joy in children of all ages. This time, the tablet mayonnaise took and the ‘repressed demand’ finally found an outlet. As a result, tablets grew even faster than PCs ever did.”
“Expectations ran ahead of reality. Oversold or overbought, it doesn’t matter, the iPad (and its competitors) promised more than they could deliver. Our very personal computers — our tablets and smartphones — have assumed many of the roles that previously belonged to the classical PC, but there are some things they simply can’t do,” Gassée writes. “For example, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Tim Cook confides that “he does 80% of the work of running the world’s most valuable company on an iPad.” Which is to say Tim Cook needs a Mac for the remaining 20%…but the WSJ quote doesn’t tell us how important these 20% are.”
“We now come to the downward trend in iPad’s unit sales: -2.29% for the first quarter of calendar year 2014 (compared to last year). Even more alarming, unit sales are down 9% for the quarter ending in June. Actually, this seems to be an industry-wide problem rather than an Apple-specific trend,” Gassée writes. “We’re going through an ‘expectations adjustment’ period in which we’ve come to realize that tablets are not PC replacements… The realization of these different identities manifests itself in Apple’s steadfast refusal to hybridize, to make a ‘best of both worlds’ tablet/laptop product… If we consider that Mac unit sales grew 18% last quarter (year-to-year), the company’s game becomes clear: The sweet spot on Apple’s racket is the set of customers who, like Tim Cook, use MacBooks and iPads.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
Nonsenses. I cannot do all of my work because for the 30% I need a workstation. So what?
All of my work **on a computer**
I can do almost all hat I need to on my iPad (which makes it all the more frustrating dealing with the tasks/websites that don’t work with iPad). Of course, everyone’s work mix/situation is different.
But the task list changes, too, in response to the new tools, after time. This is akin to PCs replacing typewriters: PCs were no good for filling in carbon copy forms, but over time the need for carbon copies has gone way down, replaced by activities better supported by the newly predominant tool.
“Oversold or overbought, it doesn’t matter, the iPad (and its competitors) promised more than they could deliver.”
Actually iPads delivered exactly what Steve Jobs promised. He never said they would replace PC’s. At the iPad kickoff, he presented the iPad as a device that sits between a smartphone and a PC, and performs a set of tasks better than either of those devices. It has more than fulfilled that role.
And cars have not replaced trucks. Now who was it that said tablets were cars and…? (rhetorical question)
Gassée is as off as everyone else on this one. 1. IPad sales are off because it’s that time again. We’re waiting for the new ones. 2. The iPads we have are great and don’t really warrant an upgrade yet. I’m using my mini right now. 3. I primarily go back to conventional computers when I seriously need to multitask, and Apple could fix that anytime they like.
As many people seem to realize, there is no other tablet to speak of right now.
Nothing to be alarmed about.
Not like its a Microsoft Surface or anything right?
BTW, I finally named the category for the Surface… The FlopBook.
And don’t forget the iPhone!
When the name Jean-Louis Gassée shows up, I detach from the conversation.
Face it, an iPad just can’t do everything. Guy came in to see me holding an iPad. Asked a few questions. Put it in his big lab coat pocket. Said hold still, no moving. And pulled out my chest tube. Like to see an iPad do that!
“expectations adjustment” – If Apple isn’t growing by 20% every time, their doomed.
The correct word for the sweet spot location is on your tennis RACQUET, not “racket” — sheesh, and he thinks he’s a writer!
A racket is a loud, irritating noise; or a crooked scam.
Thank you, Webster has now left the building.