iOverrated?

BASF's commercials went something to the tune of "We didn't make X; we made X better."   Apple seems to be borrowing that advertising pitch, much as they've "borrowed" nearly everything they've repackaged with the preceding lower-case i.   For all of the iFanboys out there, this is not a "Trash Apple" piece.  

The first iPod was released November 10, 2001.   At this point in time I was using a RCA Lyra II mp3 player, which I had purchased on 9/10/2001 for a trip that wouldn't happen.   The Lyra replaced a Diamond Rio purchased in December of 2000, and would be succeeded by a Rio Sport 550 in 2003.  Both Rio's are in a bin, but still function if given a AAA battery and a pair of headphones. 

PDA's have been around in some form for decades.   In the 1990's, I had a Sharp "digital phone book", as well as an inherited device that not only held phone numbers, but had a speaker that would "dial" the tones into a touch-tone phone.   Later on, such devices as the Palm Pilot, and Toshiba Pocket PC would come about, incorporating calendars, light office software, a few games, etc.   Palm, Handspring, and RIM would incorporate these devices into early "smartphones", which would eventually evolve into the Palm Centro, Palm Pre, Hansdspring Treo, Blackberry Curve, Motorola Admiral, etc.  In 2007, Apple entered the market with the iPhone.

The tablet PC has been in existence over a decade prior to the first release of the iPad 1 in 2010.   While some of the early readers were strictly that - like the NewsPad or WebPad.  Later on, companies like Toshiba, would release notebooks with touch screen "tablets" to allow for more specialized user interaction, generally through the use of the stylus.   Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and Sony's eReader were more predecessors of the iPad1, these ones could use a wifi signal to communicate with stores to acquire user accessible or subscription content.

Clearly, Apple did not create any of these products.  Did they "make them better"? The lineups for presales of the latest iGizmo may lead one to believe so.    On release day, there won't be an iProduct N on the shelves, and pre-orders will be weeks out.   But is it worth it?    Some would argue that the market share Apple holds in gizmo sales is an indication of their product superiority.   Appearance-wise, they do have a slick, streamlined appearance, and they do have the sales.

But what lies within, and how do they stack up to competitors?   Apple has a very limited number of compatible components, due to their licensing agreements.   For some devices, this will severely limit the potential to improve or personalize one's computer.   Further, with the limited and proprietary nature,  Apple has topped Dell in driving up the cost of upgrade, repair or replacement of parts.   In fact, in an effort to prevent users from opening their devices themselves, Apple changed the standard case screws to a proprietary five-sided pentalobe screw.   In some cases, RAM is soldered to the motherboard, and is not upgradable for Macbooks.

When it comes to the portable devices, customers must also plan for their anticipated needs during the expected life of their device.   Unlike many of the Android-based tablets, the iPad family come in one of three storage capacities, at three non-flexible price points.   Owners cannot upgrade the storage without being handy with a soldering iron, having the right components, and seriously voiding the warranty. 

Aren't the components superior for that price?   Not really.   In fact, with the recent release of the iPad Mini,  a comparison to the closest competitor (Google Nexus 7) shows that while it has the advantage in thinness and lower weight, it loses in screen resolution, screen type, RAM, camera resolution, CPU and price.  In fact, for less than the price of the 16GB iPad Mini, one could get a 32GB Nexus 7.   To be fair, the iPad 4, also currently out, has the Retinal Display, quad core CPU (Mini has only a dual core), and better resolution, though it still comes in light in some areas, and is not expandable.

Yet, Apple continues to have a very strong presence.  With the dawn of the new Microsoft Surface, it should be interesting to see how the balance tilts.   Surface comes in with double iPad's capacity, double the RAM, and is the only tablet line to offer a suite of productivity software.   Neither the iPad or Android line has that available presently.   However, I can easily see the potential for Android to get an adaptation of either Open Office or Libre Office (both open-source) to work with their device. 

It does seem clear that there are plenty of folks who will look to the slick packaging as their guide.  Some will want the integration that iProducts offer, if they currently use iTunes and some other iProducts.   Some really don't know or care about the difference in the components.    Apple does make a product that, out-of-the-box may be all that is needed for some users. 

My intent here was to look critically at a few product lines that have adapted existing technology.   Personally, I find them overrated and technically underperforming vs their competitors.   Often, I believe you can find more for less.   But they do make a fairly reliable product for its price and limitations.