XOOM vs. iPad vs. iPad 2...why Motorola might not win!

XOOM vs. iPad vs. iPad 2 | ZDNet

This comparison and the controversy surrounding it have made for some great Twitter battles. At this point, all the news/rumors surrounding the pricing and availability of the XOOM have left a bitter taste in my mouth. A few things are certain though.

If Motorola plans to make a progressive move in the tablet market, they have to make their product affordable. You might say that this is an obvious point. Yes. However, the tablet market is a very volatile and ripe market at the moment because no one product has really taken it yet. The ipad, regardless of what the fan boys anyone will argue, is far from a true tablet at the moment. Apple simply did with it what it does with all its new products...found an unexplored innovative niche in the market and hearts of consumers, and made something pretty to fit in it. I digress. The point is, these next gen tablets coming out from this last CES and in 2011 as a whole mark the genesis of a new gadget category. Our cell phones are getting bigger and more powerful (smartphones...Android), our laptops are getting smaller (netbooks...Chrome OS), and so where do these two gadgets, which were formally almost entirely mutually exclusive, meet? In the middle with tablet PCs.

With that said, I hope it becomes clear why the XOOM is such an important step for Motorola, Android, and mobile computing as a whole. It will be the first of its class to have the computing power and potential to stand tall and define tablet computing. However, if the only consumers capable of owning it are the ones that would've shelled out the cash for its novelty alone anyway, then its impact will be lost.

SDCC Registration Opening on February 5, 2011

Tweet from an employee of the San Diego Comic Con:

DarkStitch Dark Stitch 

Attendee Registration for Comic-Con opens at 9am PT on Saturday, 02/05/11. Good luck to everyone! #sdcc #sandiego #comiccon#passes

Life just got a whole lot easier!!!

Received the following email from Amazon.com this morning!

**********************************************************
Hello,

We have good news! One of your pre-ordered items is now eligible for release date delivery and has been upgraded at no additional charge. Your new delivery estimate is:

 Mark Hamill, et al "Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]"
   Estimated arrival date: September 27 2011

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WOOT!

Battlestar Galactica LOLMONKEY

The TV show Battlestar Galactica summed up in my own LOLMONKEY!

Compose

The iphone is officially coming to Verizon...

Gospel!

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Android > Apple

The following was my Facebook wall post in response to my Apple fanboy's claim that Apple and its iphone is and always will be superior to Google and Android (enjoy!):


Hokay! So I was going to let this go, but you obviously want to fight. I understand it's your intent to get me worked up, but I need a new blog post...so here we go!

The only reason your precious Apple doesn't partake in any sort of mixed media showcase events, such as CES, is because its leader (notice the absence of cancer and or turtleneck jokes...I fight fair and with class) doesn't believe in moving the industry forward or competing with mainstream market. Instead, his business model is to mix and pour more glasses of Kool-Aid and pass it around...oh yeahhh!

Yes, Apple has come out with some great products, but it does so by ignoring the prevailing competition and trying to "think different," which translates to, "if you can't beat the current game, start another." Google's Android OS is on multiple phones, with multiple manufacturers, on multiple networks. It's an operating system that is constantly evolving to integrate cell phones across the board...an advantageous and commendable point that your leader tries to spin as a weakness to the public. Apple develops within its own world, ignoring the daunting task of say creating a mobile app market that the developer, consumer, and distributor can all benefit from without limitations.

Apple has survived by "changing everything" because they don't compete, they innovate. On many levels, this is a great thing! However, how do they keep doing it? Well, they charge 3 arms and 4 legs for their products (and yes, those limb counts are correct because Apple doesn't give charitably to anyone and so toxic waste cleanup groups aren't funded and now women are having mutant babies with lots of extra arms and legs...but I digress!). Anytime Stevie gets close to mainstream products or something he hasn't done first or best he gets all frustrated (i.e. antennagate and i.e. "you all are just holding my phones wrong").

In the end, Google and Apple are out to leave their mark on the world in order to make some money and keep the shareholders happy. However, Google is going after the big fish (complete integration of all digital devices from mobile to home to business) while Apple keeps moving to a different lakes to find new fish and say they are always better (i.e. "this is going to change everything...again"). Didn't mean to make the fish analogy so deep!