[NTLK] OT: Mossberg gives thumbs up to iPad

[Tony Kan]

In marketing, first-mover advantage is often over-rated.  There are tons of
examples where the first-mover eventually loses to the followers.  Take Lotus
1-2-3 v MS Excel; Wordperfect v MS Word; Newton v Palm.  Counter examples
include: eBay; and Amazon.


[snip]
We'll see if Apple has guessed right on this one or not.  I have to wonder if
the Microsoft Courier will benefit from the iPad going to market first and
showing what ideas do/don't work (à la the Newton and Palm) or if Apple will
dominate the market simply by being the first to make their device available.
[muses thoughtfully]
[snip]

Yes, they will but I can't imagine Apple will stay still either.  I think Apple
deserves a lot of credit for recognizing that a purpose-built UI was necessary
for touchscreen computing.

At the moment, it seems touchscreen computing has polarized into two seemingly
opposing camps: pen or finger(s).  I can't see why we can't have both at the
same time.

Cheers

Tony Kan

Christchurch
New Zealand