How to Spot a Killer
The innertubes are alive with the sound of stupid.
It's true. All over the place, you can find stories calling this phone and that tablet iSomething killers. A few years ago, there were iPod killers cropping up almost weekly.
There finally is a product that is killing the iPod: the iPhone. The iPad is doing some damage, too. Nobody else has introduced anything to even compete in the marketplace with the iPod.
For four years there has been a constant and steady stream of devices billed as iPhone killers. They've been introduced by HTC, Samsung,Motorola, Nokia and others.
For the last year and a half iPad killers have been all over the place, too. Samsung, Motorola and H-P have introduced, respectively, the Galaxy Tab, the Xoom, and the TouchPad. That's a short list.
Each in its time was the darling of the tech press. iPad killers one and all.
What, you may wonder makes a device an iDevice killer?
Every device that has been granted the "killer" appellation, shares the following common attributes.
1. It has an impressive spec sheet published on the web. Usually as good as or better than the comparable Apple product. In most cases the iThingy killer has a slam-dunk set of specifications and processors: The iPhone hasn't a chance.
2. It has an equally impressive feature set – it will slice, dice, chop, mince, pureé and create a perfect soufflé, all while staying charged using only ambient air currents.
3. Finally, the most crucial characteristic: The device doesn't exist except as a jpeg image. No reviewer has touched one. No customer can buy one. The moment that changes, it is no longer an iAnything killer.
Killer status is lost when the item actually goes on sale. Once the device is actually on the market it goes from "iPad killer" to "huh?"There is not a single instance of the killer monicker surviving introduction into the marketplace.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati