Steve Jobs announced we've entered the post-pc world in the last Apple event for the unveiling of the ipad 2. Many new tablets have surfaced. The tech community is largely split. While many see value in tablets like the ipad 2 and Motorola Xoom. They aren't yet mature enough to be full computer replacements for most users. In most tech circles they are considered toys with potential. They haven't quite reached the "tool" status yet. Still millions of consumers are voting with their wallets to spend $500-$900 to join the "post-pc" era.
Pretty much everyone wants an ipad, the term is pretty much ubiquitous to describe any table computer at this point. The question is "Where should I spend my 5-9 benjamins?" Today we'll look at the top two candidates. The ipad 2 vs Motrola Xoom.
First the ipad 2. It's been speculated that the ipad is this decades ipod. In the 2000's lots of companies made digital music players. Heck, several still do, but Apple has dominated the market. A digital music player is simply referred to as an ipod for all intents and purposes. Fast forward to the ipad. It was the first tablet computer to see mass sales. The ipad 2 is pretty much the same as the original ipad, but it's much faster, it's slimmer, it has cameras (mostly for video chat), and it now comes in two colors, white or black. It wouldn't be a very impressive update, except they kept the price the same and didn't sacrifice battery life. What's not to like? The biggest complaint about the ipad 2 is that the Apple experience is what's called a closed garden. You have to play by Apple's rules and there are lots of them. It lets them create a great experience, but doesn't give you the most freedom. However, it's a very large garden with room to play. It's pretty and wonderful. It will be obsolete one day, but in the meantime it's very enjoyable. The garden is so big most average people won't ever find the walls. Techie friends will tell them stories about the walls and how terrible and high and ugly the walls are. They'll try to scare average Joe from entering the garden by staying out in the "open".
Which brings us to the Xoom. It's a great looking device and feels good in the hand. It's about as nice as the original ipad as far as looks and quality. It's nice to hold. The experience is good, unless you've used an iphone or ipad. You see the Xoom runs software made by Google. It's based on "open" standards. From a totally technical standpoint there aren't walls. The Google software is like a vast open plain. Just like a vast open plain there are times when it's beautiful and majestic like a meadow in spring. Then there are times when it's a wasteland of old dead weeds and others when there's six feet of snow and it seems impossible to maneuver. Sure there's no walls, but there's no one taking care of the place either. Apple's garden is maintained and beautiful all the time.
Some people prefer to tweak and work and toil. The open plain is great for that. For most people however the beautiful maintained walled garden is going to be a much better place to spend time. You'll enjoy the experience more and there's plenty to do and see.
THE TECH SAYS: "Buy the ipad 2. Unless you a like extra work/fiddling and spending hours working on something to save yourself 1.2 seconds. If you're into that sorta thing you're probably a techie too. In that case seriously consider the Xoom or another Android tablet. Heck if that's you buy both. The ipad to actually use and the Android to make yourself feel good about supporting openness."
