Motorola Xoom

Omar: Whether it's justified or not is a little besides the point. I think tablets are one of those things that have a price "ceiling" where the mainstream won't buy them no matter what features they include. Fundamentally they're a media consumption device and therefore difficult for people to justify paying a very high price.

If Motorola prices this thing at $700+ then they're obviously not going after the mainstream. The evidence that they recognize that is they're expecting to sell only 800K units in the quarter. For a device that is this good, the only thing holding it back from a few million in sales is the price. Jan 11, 11

dom: I agree! Jan 13, 11

Omar: Not sure why connecting to your computer is a big deal. Everybody already has a PC or laptop, and a tablet definitely can't and isn't meant to replace a computer. Honestly, I haven't connected my iPad to my laptop in 3 months and that was just to get the latest firmware.

You have to think of it like this. PCs :: Tablets == Ovens :: Microwaves

Microwaves didn't make ovens obsolete and take over their functions, instead when you get a microwave it introduces new ways of cooking that were otherwise unavailable. The tablet doesn't replace things, it opens up new avenues of experiencing them. Mar 11, 11

dom: A tablet and a PC are fundamentally the same thing, with the difference that tablets require finger-based touch input and feature mobility like a netbook. None of the hardware is based on a different set of physical laws to make it work, in contrast to your microwave <> oven example. There is nothing in a tablet that has been reinvented, from the CPU physical process manufacturing to processor architectures, memory and interface technologies. All modem and wireless technologies are fundamentally the same. Not even the touchscreens or cases are really new, as they are simply extrapolations from the smartphone world.

One the software level there are some new aspects, yes. But in the world of software, you can pretty much do anything you want. You don't have to limit the tablet to PC tethering for s/w updates or reserve the USB for slave mode, etc. It's not like it were impossible to let the tablet break free from its chains right now, and that's annoying. It will take another few years for the tablet designers to wrap their heads around what can be done with them. Until then, I'm not interested (at the price point of $500 to $800). Mar 11, 11