Acer Rethinks the "Tablet Bubble," Launching $99 Tablet 243
retroworks writes "In August 2011, Acer Chairman JT Wang declared that the consumer affection for tablets had already begun to cool, basically labeling it a fad. What a difference a year (and a half) makes. Acer now plans to introduce a 'category killer' $99 tablet. 'In the past few months, we've made project roadmap changes in response to big changes in the tablet market,' according to a source at the Wall Street Journal. 'The launch of the Nexus 10 has changed the outlook for what makes competitive pricing.' Acer is aiming the new tablet at emerging markets, competing with Chinese 'white box' tablets (already available in Shenzhen at $45 each)."
Summary implies that tablets are not a fad (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Summary implies that tablets are not a fad (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't see how tablets are any different from netbooks.
Netbooks, at least with a proper OS, were actually useful. Like an inexpensive and somewhat tiny version of the computer you had a couple years ago. They were great until they started to dramatically increase in both price and size.
Tablets are toys. Okay for playing games and light web browsing, but useless for doing much else.
Cue the guy who thinks his tablet has greatly improved his life/productivity/etc. and actually thinks you can use a tablet efficiently for meaningful work.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Summary implies that tablets are not a fad (Score:1, Insightful)
Not quite. Smartphones killed a precursor - PDAs, but some tablets (and bigger smartphones) are bringing them back (Yeay Galaxy Note).
You don't do the same work with PDA as you do with a PC (Laptop or desktop), but you do do productive, efficient work with one.
As somebody who works in support (Score:5, Insightful)
I can say with certainty that the tablet revolution is just beginning. The simple truth is that a huge amount of home users don't REALLY want a PC. They think they want a PC, but they really don't. They want a machine that is cheap, gets them on Facebook, has a video/audio player, a web browser, email and Skype and is as low maintainance as possible. It's true that tablets are spectacularly bad productivity devices, they are mostly consumption devices. The thing is, the vast majority of home users are pure consumers and couldn't give 2 shits about productivity applications.
Re:A tablet is (Score:4, Insightful)
Most tablets lack what an analog of a clipboard needs - a good digitizer instead of finger-oriented touchscreen. If I'm going to take notes in a meeting, I'd much prefer a keyboard, tyvm.
I can see tablets as useful in the workspace when they're in hands of a warehouse worker or automechanic or a doctor (given, again, a good digitizer or voice recognition) or a lot of other jobs with lots of walking and/or only needing a reference, but meeting or any other office job? That'd be just fashion statement.
In a meeting, a tablet is an opportunity to have all your important documents at your fingertips, plus a place to take quick notes. Done well, it can be tidy, convenient, and less distracting than folders and notebooks and stuff. Done poorly, of course, it's like anything else done poorly.
Re:Ya no kidding (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, if it's a toy, it has to be just about my favorite toy. I'd rather have a tablet than a laptop myself
Then quite clearly you do not really belong on slashdot. Don't take this as an insult, but you are not a normal slashdot user if a tablet can replace a laptop in your universe. Its my grandmothers universe where a tablet can replace a laptop, because she isnt a nerd. She is just a technology consumer, and apparently you are just a technology consumer too.
Really?
Every Slashdot user uses his computers data-entry capabilities 24/7?
He does not spend much of his free time watching random episodes of long-dead Sci-Fi series, reading Slashdot, browsing Wikipedia, etc. At all hours of the entire day a Slashdotter is actually entering data.
Because a tablet's only real drawback as a main machine is you can't enter data on them very well. They can't do Photoshop, Word, coding, or long emails. They do games, content consumption, and short creation tasks just fine.
Apple need to innovate. Apple so last year. (Score:3, Insightful)
Android is for second-rate iPad and iPhone knockoffs.
Except any bullshit or distortion field Apple once had...isn't working. Apple need to break into a new market or re-reinvent its current market. Its 30% decline is shares reflect its failure to innovate. Its literation is actually damaging its brand and people are starting to question its value. Its market share for phones has dropped 23% down to 14.9% and its market-share in tablet dropped again hitting 50% both with downward trends; Fresh of the largest product refresh in its history.
The bottom line is Anonymous Coward throwing mud at the more successful platform makes Apple continue to look weak and vulnerable; Apple are innovating less than the nimbler than Google [...and Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Acer, Asus, LG, Sony....]. IMHO their whole business strategy of putting profits before everything else is suddenly not working out :)...but on topic the Apple mini retails for $329 and already looks overpriced compared to the better specced, and arguably better software of the Nexus 7 that launched 6 months ago at $156; how is it going to look against $99. In context of this thread...Apples best years are behind it :p.
Re:Ya no kidding (Score:4, Insightful)
This personal computer thing is just a fad. You can't do real work on them. People aren't throwing out their mainframes at work.
Portable computers are dumb. They're too expensive and heavy. If you want real computing resources you won't be able to carry it with you.
This PDA thing is just a fad. A computer in your pocket is just a toy.
eBooks are just a fad. People still want their paper books. This will pass.
DMP's are just toys. Who wants to listen to highly compressed digital music when you've got portable cd players?
Tablets are just toys. Nobody is going to buy them in place of laptops and netbooks.
They are a fad (Score:0, Insightful)
When the price of something (in this case, a top-of-the-line tablet) goes from $700-$800 down to $99, that means it was a fad.