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Analyst: Honeycomb is “for the Geeks”, Doomed Against the iPad 2

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If you take the word of Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry’s word for it, Google’s Honeycomb update of their Android OS is one “by the geeks, for the geeks, and of the geeks.” For this reason, it won’t hold a chance against the iPad 2 when Apple’s new tablet hits shelves this Friday. His complaints seem to rest more on the only Honeycomb tablet currently available, saying the Motorola XOOM is plagued by freezes and crashes and suffers from inconsistent battery life that is far shorter than that of the iPad. His biggest issue with Honeycomb itself? The auto-wrap text doesn’t display properly in some cases on the tablets screen.

There is some good news in his advice for investors: Google won’t feel the hurt of Honeycomb’s shortcomings. While he thinks their web-based services like Gmail and Talk aren’t worth investing in an Android tablet, the companies that will really suffer are Motorola and NVIDIA, the manufacturer and processor provider of the XOOM.

[Forbes via AndroidPolice]

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102 Comments

  1. What a dumb reject!

  2. As much of a fan I am of android phones and I do prefer them over the iphone, the ipad is a great device. I dont own one myself but I can certainly recognize its advantages as a tablet. This is possibly because I have been and always will be a mac user for my computer needs. This doesn’t mean I couldn’t be convinced to buy a honeycomb tablet but I can’t tolerate bugs, crashes, etc. That’s why I ditched the Windows platform in favor of macs a long time ago.

  3. Yawn!! Apple shills come dime a dozen. In a year when the iPad is getting its ass handed to it from every direction, they’ll come up with some other lame prediction. Supposedly Android phones were only for geeks too and had no chance against the iPhone. How did that pan out?

  4. I LOL’d at the title.

  5. I would pick XOOM WiFi for $50 and no contract

  6. He’s right and he’s completely wrong.

    It IS by the geeks, for the geeks, and he’s right that it isn’t going to unseat the iPad any time soon. There’s millions of people who don’t want to worry about flashing new ROMs, the hackability, and worrying about support down the line.

    He’s wrong because there always has been a market for the geekier devices, which keeps it from being doomed. In fact, more and more people are seeking out the geekier devices. More and more people are becoming more aware of the possibilities of customization allowed by Android.

    I don’t know why people (from both sides) can’t accept that there’s a market and room for both. WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!???!?

  7. Yea sure..hmm..beats me why all those “nongeeks” want a blownup ipod touch with a limited os, smaller screen res, less connectivity, two jokes as cameras etc. Seems like little Stevie Jobs is so affraid of Android he needs obscure analysts boosting his ego. Hey Stevie have you heard the one about Android tabs outselling blown up Ipods by 2014?

  8. I have a Xoom and have not experienced the freezing and crashing mentioned above. Every device whether it’s a mac, pc, android will have bugs that cause freezes and crashes. To me it’s just a matter of preference.

  9. Written by an Apple butt kisser for Apple butt kissers. Bring it!
    iSlab

  10. what a lame ass…

    Mine doesn’t freeze or anything, and it gets well over 8 hours of SOLID use. mines been on for over 20 hours and I’ve played games, browsed the web and more. still going.

    great story, stupid research analyst

  11. Ironically it wasn’t that long ago when Apple and its products were seen as “by the geeks, for the geeks, of the geeks.” What constitutes geeky today is tomorrow’s fad.

  12. Got to echo what John wrote –

    Didn’t THEY say that about Android for phones also?

    But Android seems to be surpassing Iphones in recent times if i’m not mistaken.

  13. Google’s tablet OS is doomed until it gets some A+ apps that can match those of iOS’s Garage Band, iMovies and doucument editing. Android is awesome, but iPad’s 1st party media apps are stellar.

  14. so…. Honeycomb is for ME!!!!!

  15. I think the biggest problem is price. Android, in the cell phone sector, has had a huge boom largely because of more affordable handsets. Right now, the only tablets that are made to compete with the iPad 2 are more expensive. The next biggest problem is lack of netflix and hulu content. These devices are 90% used for consumption. This fact simply isn’t arguable. If I was in the market RIGHT NOW for such a product, I would pick an iPad or iPad 2 just for those reasons. Who wants to be limited only to the media they can store on their flash memory?

  16. The whole point of Android phones is they are cheaper or free, have more features and power than iCrap. The same needs to happen in the tablet world.
    I think B&N Nook is the geekiest device ever :) Geeks can’t afford the high dollar items, they want decent, affordable and hackable stuff. Motorola has decided they don’t want to target the geekes but locking locking their stuff and high pricing it. FINE! let them suffer.
    Others will fill in: Toshiba? LG? Asus? Viewsonic? :)

  17. As long as apple provide an idiot-proof solution for the masses (with the associated $$$ premium or idiot-tax that goes with it) they will always have a customer base willing to be led through their tech experience.

    In that respect, yes then trip is correct.
    However, there is a large (and growing) user base that doesn’t want to be told how to use their devices, and this is where android is gaining ground in tablet sales.

  18. Part of the cost of producing a device is the R&D that goes into development of the OS. If Google is doing the R&D on the software and providing that free to manufacturers then why aren’t the Android tablets cheaper? Apple has to spend money on software development and hardware development but their product is approximately the same price or less than a comparable Android device. This makes no sense to me.

  19. Crazy!!! My xoom is awesome! I’ve had it for a week and have charged it 3 times with hours, and hours of use. Also, it takes about an hour to fully charge. Not one crash, or freeze up. That’s a bad report. I believe people are partial to what they like, and thats it!

  20. i love my xoom :)

  21. There are a LOT more tech savvy people now than there were even 10 years ago. The iPad is great for grandmothers, but young people understand tech and are willing to dive in, they are not “ignorant masses”.

    -Brad

  22. there is a reason why analysts contains the word anal.
    they always seem to pull these forecasts out of their asses.

  23. They said the same thing about the Droid. And Android-powered phones are doing quite well. I’d bet the same thing is going to happen to tablets.

  24. Just waiting for one of the geeks to rip iOS and post it to my Nook since they use the same CPU.

  25. Ipad is just a glorified app launcher.

  26. This is the same argument that “doomed” Android to failure not so long ago. Whether or not the XOOM becomes a runaway success is yet to be seen, but condemning Honeycomb (and thereby Android tablets) to failure is a serious knock against this “analyst’s” credibility.

  27. GPL- you’re a fool. If anything, you need to rip apple for using the same processor that’s used in the lowly $200 nook.

  28. Im a mac guy and no iPad for me I cant stand the thing,so steve jobs can keep it.

    lol I guess i am a geek I so want the xoom or any other android tablet. I love the freedom and customization.

  29. my 2cent on android’s situation:

    I) analyze your competitor — things apple does really well:

    1) marketing that reaches out to the average-joes — “look! our overly-priced $39 custom-made ipad case has SMART magnets and comes in pink; you buy it, attach it, kiss it, sleep on it, worship steve job with it — no brain needed!”. for android, it’s pretty much muted from a marketing standpoint – but look what the original droid marketing campaign did to android’s growth.

    2) user-interface that’s made for the average-joes — again, aim for the mass-market consumers, not the tech geeks. iOS’s app icons are uniform in size, all apps must adopt the gradient texture, and no over-complicated menu system. too much open-ness and customization will scare people off.

    3) industrial-design — now this is what really makes you want to buy apple products. think about the new ipad2 — you really think 90% of the early adopters don’t already own the ipad 1? “but it now comes in WHITE!!!” see? it’s all psychological, because function-wise, it hasn’t improved much.

    II) my advice to google:

    1) start adopting more control in your app development tools. try to reinforce the basic parameters – style, size, animation, maybe a warmer color tone — just give users that uniformity feel. (you really think Trip Chowdhry would be b*tching this hard about the xoom if the UI made him feel “elegant” and in “control” at all time?

    2) start thinking about a new uniformed software update system. on this, i rather adore what apple does with the itune — if you can give people the ability to adopt new versions of OS immediately, i don’t think they would mind a tethered method; just look at the galaxy s debacle for AT&T and T-Mobile, both decided to fore-go OTA and chose Kies instead, and users still jumped all over it.

    3) consider issuing a complete nexus-series of phones and tablets, maybe introduce a new model each year, ya know, give consumers something to expect that will surely drive up the demand. currently there’s nexus one and nexus s — but all with different manufacturing partners, totally different industrial design. and the xoom just has too much motorola written all over it — 3 different products, 3 different user-experience, conclusion? fragmentation, and mass market is going to shy away from that and go for something much more predictable (steve, you smiling now?)

    4) stop giving away your competitive advantages — i know google is a software company, and profits off the spread of its services; but in order to attract more users, start making services/apps like google voice exclusive to android. google maps/navigation sets an excellent sample of how much more attractive android can be when exclusivity is in play — you think anyone would jump on the WP7 bandwagon if MS gives away the xbox360 integration function for free on iOS?

  30. While the xoom may be doomed, I wouldn’t say that Honeycomb is. If the ipad2 is as thin and light as it sounds, it will be much more enjoyable to use than the xoom. Even though I’m committed to Android, I have to admit that Apple is a step ahead in the hardware department at the moment.

  31. The following headline is why Android will do just fine in competition withe the iPad:

    “TetherGPS Turns Your NOOKcolor Into a GPS Device”

    With anything Apple, you get only what Steve Jobs thinks you should have. With Android, anything is possible.

    (And you don’t have to be particularly geeky)

  32. Geeks are probably the best source of free marketing. If something is geeky, and good, geeks will tell absolutely everyone that will listen that it is infinitely superior. People listen to geeks, its like we know what we’re talking about or something. I can think of no more perfect example than the Lord of the Rings movies, or Dr Horrible. If the wifi xoom ever comes to canada, if I hear “I’m goign to go get an iPad!” all I’ll need to say is “Check out the xoom, legit device, yo” theres about a 75% chance that they’ll call me a half-hour later asking for help setting up their sexy new xoom

  33. Other analysts said Android Tablets will outsell the iPad buy 2014…. 3Years. They said the same thing about the the iPhone and Android, guess what the iPhone lost. How can one company like Apple with their close door policy compete in the long term with a dozen manufacturers and dozens of tablets?

  34. In other words: Analyst says exactly what analysts said about why there was no way Android would even have a chance in hell of competing against the iPhone. We all know how that has turned out so far :)

  35. I’m a geek….. :o)

  36. As a huge Android fan I say this with much love (albeit tough love), from the hip, and not being overly doped up on the Google Kool-Aid.

    While Honeycomb is great and so are most of the Android phones, my biggest problem is that even after two+ years in the market every Android device I pick up feels like it’s still in beta. And release after release I keep hearing from the heavy Kool-Aiders “hang in there, it will get better just give it time”. But it hasn’t really gotten all that much better. I do like what I’m seeing in Honeycomb and when I make the tablet leap I’m pretty confident it will be an Android tablet. But not yet and definitely not Xoom – for me, it’s just not there yet. Still too klunky, too rough around the edges, and too buggy for my tastes at this point.

    However all that aside I think what’s gonna hurt Xoom sales the most is not the issues I have above but the pricing structure. There’s really no bottom level entry points for any of the real Android tablets. One model, you get what you get. Was that way with the Tab and it’s that way with the Xoom. There’s no 16gig option and there’s no upper end 64gig model. People looking to spend less money on a tablet and can’t wait are gonna end up buying a 16g iPad.

  37. It seems we rushed release of Xoom, without flash video, unable to use the SD card, perhaps we wanted to get in before ipad 2. Already they are saying that flash video will be available on European release, however, ours is a free operating system. With dual core tablets available for $200 in Australia, $250 in China (an 2.2,) we still have a dramatic price advantage.
    Apple is percieved to have a better user interface, simpler, more user friendly and wealthier people who want to pay for music etc. currently have an option in Apple. This is what has made them the second biggest company in the world, but android is likely to capture huge market share, in the worlds middle income markets. After all, we already outsell Apple in smartphones’ because, for instance I was able to get my sister a Huwei Ideos an 2.2 for $200. Personally, I prefer my Sammy gs an 2.1, to an iphone 4s’ proprietry land, that locks you in, I suppose I am a bit of a geek though and there will always be a market for the more expensive, intuitive device.
    Let the battle resume, it’s the consumer who benefits, quad cores come out in August, but there will still be billions, who wan’t cheap single cores.

  38. It is now official. Trip Chowdhry has confirmed: Honeycomb is dying.

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Honeycomb community when Global Equities Research confirmed that Honeycomb market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all tablets. Coming on the heels of a recent Global Equities Research survey which plainly states that Honeycomb has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we’ve known all along. Honeycomb is collapsing in complete disarray.

    You don’t need to be the Amazing Kreskin [amazingkreskin.com] to predict Honeycomb’s future. The hand writing is on the wall: Honeycomb faces a bleak future. In fact there won’t be any future at all for Honeycomb because Honeycomb is dying. Things are looking very bad for Honeycomb. As many of us are already aware, Honeycomb continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

  39. If iOS has some kind of issue that needs to be fixed, people cry about it for 8 months on an Apple forum and maybe Apple gets wind of it and fixes it 4 months later. If an Android phone or tab has a problem, you post it on XDA and have a fix by the next day. And these guys say Apple is better? Freedom of choice is always better.

  40. I own 3 Android phones and waited and waited for an Android tablet. I never would have gotten an iPad if it wasn’t for the tablet-specific apps. They make the iPad. Android will need tablet specific apps to compete. It will also need Netflix and a competitive price.

    Face it. The iPad2 is cheaper, has many more apps, has millions of people already invested in those apps, and runs everything except Flash. I even have a remote desktop client running my PC off my iPad and can also use the iPad as a 2nd monitor for my PC.

    I wish the Xoom could compete, but it can’t.

  41. Yawn. They said the same crap when android first came out.

  42. Well geeks are smarter!!

  43. I don’t see the need to post something as ‘news’ every opinion that some guy on the internet, that you never heard of before, posts about Android.

  44. People it’s so simple…

    The iPad is for the iDiots. The iDiots can only open and close apps. The iDiots can only handle one functional button.

  45. iPad is better in performance and ease of use but the XOOM is better as far as features. The iPad is by no means a worthy competitior to the iPad right now.

  46. 4) stop giving away your competitive advantages — i know google is a software company, and profits off the spread of its services; but in order to attract more users, start making services/apps like google voice exclusive to android. google maps/navigation sets an excellent sample of how much more attractive android can be when exclusivity is in play — you think anyone would jump on the WP7 bandwagon if MS gives away the xbox360 integration function for free on iOS?

    Good Point.

  47. I’ll admit, I have an iPad. BUT if the xoom was out when i was looking to buy a tablet, I would have gone there

  48. The only way for the xoom to have success over the I..TamPAD2 is to educate the consumers out there about android . Why isn’t there a infomercial on TV about android . This would help educate those people that are not phone geeks like the rest of us.

  49. Im the biggest android fan around Ive hacked the evo to sh** and back and put at least 20 friends and family on to Android. But as lame as I think the iphone is and the whole locking things down I have to agree when it comes to tablets (tablets only). There are NO APPS on android for tablet and until they receive any the tab factor is doomed (For android). Couple that with the fact that companies seem to have totally lost their mind when it comes to pricing of these devices. The day we have over 1000 quality apps for android tabs and an android tab for 499 or less than were not going to see mass adoption.

    Some would say Nook Color and I have a Nook Color runinng phiredrop’s rom and as much as I love it, it will never sell in masses in its current form as a “Tablet”. Im a geek and not everyone wants to be that involved with their device. So as much as I bash apple for the Iphone when it comes to Macs and the Ipad 2 theyre running the game until these companies get APPs and >$499 tabbs. Why buy a Xoom for $599 or $799 with no apps and bye the time apps come around Quad core tabs will be available? Might as well hold off. Or if youre a geek like me buy a Nook and root it.

  50. The only thing holding back the Xoom is the price…

    I’ll wait 3-4 months until the market is saturated with 10″ android tablets and the price is $199 for a tricked out, dual-camera, Tegra 2, WiFi version.

  51. I like the idea that honeycomb/android is geeky. I rather have it that way compared to trailer park/ghetto Apple. Have you seen their users? I should start a new site similar to ‘People at WalMart.’

  52. I love my Xoom and I know for a fact that it can hold its own against an iPad2. I’m so tired of people saying Apple is so much better. Android is the future and Apple is for the pretentious who don’t understand true technology and advancement.

    Xoom > iPad 2

  53. Have a Xoom – has never crashed, movies play great, all of the apps that I use work fine, battery life is EXCELLENT (only charge it every 3 days or so with a decent amount of usage), have not had any issues since day 1 (and yes, I had it on day 1). The only MINOR gripe is that the menu/notifications take a few minutes to get familiar with (People with no tech back-ground may get annoyed by it).

  54. well i for one love both apple and android so my ipad 2 will look great next to my evo, i just don’t like the xoom it’s pretty impressive but the apps for the ipad and the new ones to come are far greater then android im sure alot of apps will come to the android tablets but apple’s headstart is a safer bet for me at the moment, plus i love the thinness of the ipad, so tablet wise im with ipad but cellphone wise im definitely android all the way

  55. honeycomb isn’t for geeks, iPad is just for derp users

  56. The Xoom is not strictly a “geek” device. If it were, its interface would not have a bunch of pretty icons and would look more like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bash_screenshot.png

  57. I love my Xoom, it’s nice to have an O/S that isn’t a phone O/S. The battery life is great that’s what gives this kook away as an Applefanboy. For my purposes the battery is stellar. Honeycomb isn’t perfect but I’m sure Google will update most flaws within 6 months and we’ll have flash before that…. need those apps to star rolling in for the tablet.

  58. Wow, “ipad will win” this guy obviously is just a fucking noob. Its not just the xoom the ipads competing with. Im typing this from my notion ink adam. And there is a hoard of other tegra based honeycomb tablet coming very soon. Well kill both ipad and ipad2 in numbers alone. Ipad2 is DOOMED. Apple creates a market and we take it over. Thanx Apple

  59. Jay, GTFO. Thug… er I mean Android till i die o_O

  60. For price comparison (XOOM vs iPad2), I have seen only one post which is actually accurate:
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-ipad-could-cost-you-more-than-the-xoom-2011-03-08
    which is amazing, considering all these info is freely available to those “analysists”.

    BTW: I am not saying Xoom is priced right — to compete, it will be better if they knock $100 off the list, IMHO.

    For performance and apps availability:
    I have not seen any direct experience reported, except hearsays. Can XOOM be made better, sure. But is it crashing? Not that I have experienced.

    Apps.. yeah, those apps… They will come faster than we expect. BTW, how many of 150K iApp people use, for that matter, how many 65K Android people use?

    I guess the real failure of the XOOM — commercial and PR… That, we have to admit, Jobs is the king

  61. iPad sux Steve Jobs American balls. He not know that Android storm coming to blow up wind in his ass. American domination of computers is at the end finally. iPad and iPad buyers are all dumb just like iPod and iPhone buyers. Quality and choice and soon price trounce the iPad in next two yerars. Go Android. screw crApple!

  62. Anyone actually been on their site?

    http://www.globalequitiesresearch.com/

    When did rubbish firm analysts get a voice? Tell me when someone from a proper company says something.

  63. “If you take the word of Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry’s word for it…”

    What?

  64. Seriously, this is not news and should not be parroted on a respectable website. He’s just a pathetic troll with money to set up his own website, and some iSheep with influence stumbled across his ramblings. He should be ignored just like the loser who would come on this blog and claim iOS is so much better than Android and sites all the limitations of iOS as if they’re strengths.

  65. The Xoom is for people that are logical and have a brain. Everything in Homeycomb is thought out and not placed in certain spots because it looks nice. Apple is for the ignorant sheep, that would stand out in a sniper zone in a war, if they were told so by Steve Jobs. Honeycomb is what makes this tablet great, but the hardware as far as performance, isn’t lacking. The form factor itself might be a bit on the large size, but that’s preference.

  66. Ios doesn’t support flash (I don’t give a damn if it drains battery. It is not the hardest task to disable to view flash content from browser options if wanted)

    Ios doesn’t have widgets or notification bar. (I am one of those people who loves to be able to turn on/off wi-fi, bluetooth or setting brightness or with one click from home screen)

    I refuse to use Ios devices. I want freaking customization, I want to be able to use flash even if it crashes time to time (which never happened to me with 2.2) or drains the damn battery. If the device is mine I should have some flexibility and freedom to use it with my limits.

    Apple will probably make the most money from mobile devices in next few years too. But Android will have the biggest market share as OS platform with combined sales of companies like Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, etc.

    In the end competition is good. I hope Nokia/Windows partnership will bring some nice devices to the market too. So Google/Apple won’t feel relaxed at the top.

  67. I have had mine since day 1 and it hasn’t crashed once and actually made it 27 hrs without charging

  68. I don´t know, but why people say the iPad has a “UI experience”?
    I have used an iPad few times and it is nothing amazing.
    Everything that I need in it is in my Galaxy S and the UI is more interesting.
    I am really confuse when say that.

  69. Crashes and freezes = Trip doesn’t know how to use it.

  70. I’m a geek and i’m proud. Got a problem with that?

  71. so did they said against original droid.. Too geeky

  72. This is one person’s opinion. People will soon realize that Honeycomb/Android devices like Xoom have more computing ability (as in edit/save files as you would with a desktop).

  73. My Droid X “freezes and crashes and suffers from inconsistent battery life”. Isn’t that what makes Motorola special?

  74. Android phones are no longer outselling iPhones… The momentum has shifted with the Verizon iPhone. When Sprint and T-Mobile finally get the iOS, it will seal the doom of Android – the new feature phone…… HHAAHAHHAHAHA

  75. Good thing I’m a geek, and like products that are optimal for geeks.

  76. android forever.and i hate making fun of people as phebeonetech did..which is why he or she is a massive scumbag,piece of shit ,that only needs to be hit by a boulder.sorry no tolerance for loser rich asswipes..in not rich and i aint poor..but get a life and worry about yourself.ive seen people on both halves using both devices.

  77. haha jason…not in you best dream…fruitboy.

  78. This is one problem with android that it ain’t for the dum I have no problem with it on galaxy s but if I was not tech wiz it would be a problem they need to make improvements to make it for tech retarded like how windows phone 7 is and ios

  79. “crashes and freezes”?? All 4 androids I have owned crashed and froze all the time, but they still have more features than iOS. That said, my i4 has never crashed, but that is the trade off, I don’t believe it is still worth putting in a news column because everyone already knows google puts out features quickly, sometimes before they are stable. Therefore, android has more features but iOS is more smooth/reliable, so buy whichever you prefer. By the way that’s not my opinion, that’s just how it is.

  80. @android fan- are you some kind of stupid? Android and iOS are both awesome, yes it’s possible for two companies to be awesome. They are different, prefering one over the other doesn’t make you stupid. Your ignorance is what’s wrong with this world, saying the one you dont like is for stupid people. Youre either 13 years old or youre retarded. Or maybe both. please die.

  81. Not the first time I have been called a geek…………lol

  82. Android is for geeks, ios is for zombies. Its that simple.

  83. I’m diehard android fan, have 2 Google TVs 2 android phones cr-48 netbook and I’m buying an ipad2. Def doomed.

  84. @scott Then you’re def not. Google TV isn’t technically Android, its… well.. Google TV. cr-48 is DEF not android, it chrome os. Oh and you lack of grammar and punctuation skillz further strengthen my hypothesis. Def.

  85. I’m an electrical engineer and along with many of my electrical engineer coworkers and e.e. teachers who are top researchers (DARPA etc), we think apple products are better. If by geeks they mean the dorks who will buy anything star wars, even the most stupid cartoon videos and stupid light saber toys for grown children, maybe android is for those geeks. But if by geeks they mean technically apt professionals, I know a lot of top technical professionals (many Qualcomm engineers, semiconductor fabrication engineers, image processing researchers, communication, storage engineers etc) that appreciate the quality of apple products.

  86. @ Haggie:

    Exactly.

  87. something this gentlemen is not considering is that there are more and more “geeks” out there which will widen the user base. Apple is more refined in its user experience but we all know this.

    I have been attempting to integrate an ipad into my professional life and without USB to transfer some files??? Fail.

  88. He’s not an analyst, he’s just in analysis, a complete different matter…

  89. @hmm
    Being an engineer does not make you a geek.. neither does playing with light sabers.. In fact most engineers are not cut out to be geeks. An engineer examines and designs for purpose.. Geeks think outside the box, and try and find new and interesting things to do that may not be the intended purpose.. just because they can.. An engineer can open, close and use computer programs.. A geek can do that too, and write scripts to automate things, and more importantly can usually fix things that break.. An engineer who’s computer crashes, takes it to the geek., because even though they are technical.. well they are not geeks.

  90. And the iPad is for fashion followers. Part of me couldn’t help to remember the movie “Revenge of the Nerds” when I read this article though. Today’s “geek” is today’s targeted market.

    On a serious note, no single Android tablet will dethrone the iPad because they compete with each other as much as they do Apple. Collectively, they will dethrone the iPad, in about 5 years time. Add to that, the iPad does work smoothly, and with 65k apps and counting, it’s still the dominant device (note I did not say best device). Until Android has a boat load of quality tablet apps, it will continue to be viewed as second best.

  91. All you fandroids prove in blogs like this is that you are every bit the kool-aid drinkers that you despise Apple fanboys of being. At least I can admit my bias…..

  92. I own an iPad and must admit that it crashes regularly (under heavy app use). Every OS is subject to bugs and crashes – it’s practically inevitable.

    That stated, I still believe that at this time Apple’s iPad is far more suited to my needs than the current offering of Android-based tabs.

    I look forward to the day that a viable, consumer-friendly, “post PC” Honeycomb device is released. We need healthy competition in the marketplace. If left up to its own devices,Apple would surely become an absolute technocracy -this, of course, is not a good thing. Besides, there’s plenty of room in the market for several high-fidelity contenders.

  93. All Apple products are lame, weakass pieces of dogs–t made for intellectually deficient lemmings incapable of wiping their asses without worshiping Steve Jobs. If Apple had a cure for cancer, I’d rather die. Every single Apple product ever created is literally worthless and is capable of actually accomplishing nothing. Not one. Single. Thing. EVER.
    I sure wish the idiotic, Apple-worshiping Steve Jobs idolizing morons were as open-minded as myself so that they could choose the only OS the can do anything, even if the tablet version still renders web pages as a mobile phone sometimes, freezes now and then and crashes, was released before Adobe could put out flash support for Honeycomb.
    I sure am glad I have an unbiased and educated view on tablets, smartphones, OSs, and a competitive free market economy.

  94. @Fletch
    You are not unbiased at all. iOS works great, it crashes less, and it has way more apps. You can’t profile a ‘typical apple user’ because hundreds of millions of people use Apple products from the very tech-savy to newbies.

  95. @Dennis, good point! Im an engineer who prefers android. The only thing I can appreciate about ipad is the form factor! Apple will remain top with the masses because Jobs has it so locked down its idiotproof. He prides his products on reliability and because of that you get a vanilla one-size-fits-all ipad. Thats his business model. He markets to grandmas and teenage girls, and everyone who has no desire to understand how these devices work. These people just want their angry birds to run flawlessly. He is laughing all the way to the bank

  96. I’m a Linux geek – my desktop and laptop have been Windows-free for over ten years now – and my programming workstation at the office is opensuse with two 23″ monitors. I’ve had a Nexus One phone since January ’10. The only apple product I’ve ever owned was an 80 gig iPod.

    Last month I ran out and bought an iPad. Why? Because after extensive research, I found that it’s the best of class, best engineered, most elegant product out there, even though it lacked the expandability and openness of an equivalent Android tablet. (I just returned it for a refund and am about to get an iPad 2)

    When a decent Android tablet comes along that is ALMOST AS GOOD AS an iPad, I will gladly hand this thing over to the wife and six-year-old, and I’ll go nuts (finances permitting). Honeycomb looks great, is quite innovative, and awaits a creative touch by decent hardware makers–I’m talking HTC, Samsung, Moto–but so far, nothing compares with the Apple tablets. Nothing.

    Having said that, I do disagree with this lame, ill informed analyst. “Doomed” is a strong word. Honeycomb is a brand new product, XOOM is a brand new product, at least give them a chance to get out there and shake out the bugs.

    The first iPhone was very limited and crashy, too; now it’s in its fourth generation, and really the iPad is just a giant iPod Touch so it’s based on a very mature technology.

    Android is now the market leader and seems unlikely to slow down. In about a year, we should be seeing lots of decent $300 Android tablets that do everything the iPad 2 can do today.

  97. @dennis, this is a grey area, are you saying geeks are computer repairmen? What jobs do geeks have? Engineers though Invented dual core processing, software engineers wrote almost every program you use, software engineers made up android and ios os’s, electrical engineers thought of using silicone for chips and injected them with electrons to regulate their flow, they invented optical communication, wifi, gps, engineers came up with ways to shrink storage devices, lower power, engineers figured out image recognition, speech recognition, figured out how to have 3d displays that don’t require glasses, database mining, etc etc. Is that not thinking outside the box/creating new and interesting things to do that may not be the intended purpose?

  98. Here’s one thing I know…

    People always like to 1 up the next guy. That is one of Apple’s biggest weaknesses. They make ONE phone and ONE tablet (neither of which are customizable), which means my device will be the same as a billion other people’s. With Android though when someone pulls out their Samsung Nexus S I can be like, “Oh…that’s cool…BAM, Moto Atrix 4G overclocked with a custom kernel and CM 7!” (just an example) I have the freedom to choose with Android. When all these new devices come out the possibilities will be endless. iFans will get their iPhone 5, and it’ll be sexy. However, they’ll still have that same phone this time next year when I’m rockin’ a quad core beast.

    If people wanna live their lives two steps behind me, I’m totally cool with that.

  99. “I even have a remote desktop client running my PC off my iPad and can also use the iPad as a 2nd monitor for my PC.I wish the Xoom could compete, but it can’t.”

    You realize the Xoom can already do those things too right? Maybe you should just stop posting.

  100. It’s fandroids like Fletch that give you all a bad name….

  101. @dennis about geeks fixing computers that crash, to engineers like me it’s not more difficult just more time consuming. I’ve done that for people many times successfully but nowadays that I make a good living I don’t want to waste my day debugging, if it’s a quick fix I fix it myself, but since many fixes take a while I’d rather enjoy my free time. And your argument doesn’t seem to be logical because there are lots of people who fix apple products too. You’re saying geeks fix computers, and the articles says geeks are likely to prefer android, but there are a ton of apple computer repairmen in every city too.
    And I wasn’t saying that engineers prefer apple either, I just said that as engineers we evaluate tech devices at least 40 hours a week and will get fired if we make mistakes, and some of the best engineers I have come across are big apple fans because of their quality.

  102. Also, I bought Xoom for $799. So everyone talking bad about Apple should put their money where there mouth is at or stop complaining.

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