ryan foreman wrote:
Well of course its not an either/or. In my own household smart phones and e-readers have outsold PCs. That is because I have a relatively old PC that works fine while smart phones and my Kindle are new products that have come out and are at a high growth stage.
The point is, My PC, Kindle, and I-Phone together do just about everything I want. Why the hell would I want an I-Pad? I just happen to have space for a PC so that works for me and up to now I haven't had reason for a mobile computer. I'll probably get a laptop in the near future.
I'm not anti-tablet. I'm honestly trying to find a reason to buy one. I just can't find a utilitarian purpose that justifies the price. I can see it being good for kids. Maybe for textbooks it works well. There are other various niches's it might fill.
But the I-Pad doesn't replace a PC/Laptop for most working people. It doesn't replace a smart phone. If its not a better alternative to those things. If you have to have those things anyway, it begs the question what is the marginal value the I-Pad is giving you?
IDC projects that tablets will ship in greater volume than total PCs (laptop + desktop) by 2015. Looks like you're in the minority in not seeing the marginal value.