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A recent
report from MacUser UK indicates that some analysts believe
that Apple may have missed the Tablet PC boat. One can just hear the
vultures circling.
It seems that Apple has become such a touchstone for the entire PC
industry that the fact that Apple is not the only computer company
creating interesting products is cause for some alarm. After all,
Apple has consistently created knockout computer designs with amazing
tech specs.
Five years after the Bondi blue
iMac hit store shelves, PCs are mostly dull beige boxes. Well, to
be fair, PCs can be equipped with neato
lights.
I can see why a few people might be getting nervous about Apple
being behind the curve.
I fail to grasp why any analyst would consider the fact that Apple
is not leading the charge into a new market as a bad thing. Apple is
currently devoting its efforts to a wide variety of projects ranging
from new hardware designs to new software to new consumer products.
Apple has been very busy behind the drawing board.
Missed a potential new market? Darn it, we're so busy creating all
this new stuff that we didn't notice.
If anything, Apple should be lauded for hanging back on something
in uncertain times. While Apple is a noted risk taker, one lesson
learned from the Cube and Newton
debacles is that being too far ahead of the curve can hurt more than
help. Better to sit back and let someone else expend the energy and
dollars pursuing an iffy new technology.
Apple has no doubt been watching the Tablet PC with interest. It's
not news that Apple occasionally hangs back, gets the lay of the
land, and then smokes the competition. The iPod is an excellent
example of this. MP3 players had been out for some time before Apple
entered the game. By watching what the competition was doing wrong
and going the extra mile, Apple came up with a winner. Entering the
market late has had little impact on the final results.
While I don't put much stock in rumors, the mill seems to be
predicting a possible Tablet-like device in the future. What will
analysts say then? Too little, too late?
Perhaps part of the analysts' nervousness has something to do with
the Tablet PC requiring Apple's blessing? Maybe the Table PC won't
have truly "arrived" until Apple has designed one of its own.
The relief would be palpable: "Whew, all those Tablet PC sales had
me guessing, but I suppose that because Apple thinks it's worthwhile,
it might actually work out."
Of course, being Apple, it's difficult to garner a favorable
analysis no matter which analyst is looking at the company.
The fine analysts who present their arguments that Apple may have
missed the boat would surely be the first to dance on Apple's head if
they had come up with the Tablet PC in the first place. You can just
see the headlines "Apple takes Major Gamble on Unproven Product -
Cube Revisited?"
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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