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ory_zm
12 September 2011
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I believe that mostly tech advances are made in small steps (i.e. each product is only a little bit better than its predecessor) but when you look on the whole line of development you can see the improvements.
Looking back, this does not seem like a new trend, notebooks for example have looked the same pretty much from the beginning of the 90s - there isn't that much design wise that can be changed when designing a keyboard-computer attached to a screen. What mostly changes is the hardware and software.
The only difference now days I think is Apple, who managed to tap into the mass market (causing companies to follow its footsteps) as well as have a gigantic legal department that makes sure to sue (and make a lot of noise about it) anyone that is successful and looks alike to any of their products.
Comment made about the PC & Tech Authority article:
Opinion: Are tech companies getting lazy??
Gadget clones are everywhere. But is this really a new thing? Or even a bad thing? Time to stick your oar in...
What do you think? Join the discussion. |
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ory_zm
12 September 2011
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BTW - the title says "Opinion" but the writer has not disclosed his opinion even one bit. |
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amcmo
12 September 2011
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Agree to a certain extent, however every now and then an item comes along that jumps outside the current thinking.
In notebooks, I'd say the Air.
We see Intel trying to push/kick Win notebook manufacturers into that marketplace and them all scrambling to be price competitive.
Give it a couple of years and the current (heavy)notebook as we know it will be dead, and business travellers' shoulders will be all the happier for it. |
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ory_zm
12 September 2011
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amcmo wrote:Agree to a certain extent, however every now and then an item comes along that jumps outside the current thinking.
Yes fully agree that once in a while a single product would make a huge step, same is true in regards to the first (or even more so the second) iPhone.
PS actually looking back the iPod seemed to do that too.
Disclaimer: I'm very far from being an Apple fanboy. |
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rubaiyat
12 September 2011
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Apple has "managed to tap into the mass market"? What does that mean? Dell and HP and Toshiba are all bespoke I suppose.
The trouble is you don't recognise, or have such a short memory, that you seem to be unaware that the default design of current laptops was set by Apple's MacBooks and wasn't always the case.
Just as color blindness and tone deafness are a greater male trait, the perception of good design seems to be particularly moribund in PC users. Hence they stew over "lists" instead of just trying things for themselves, and play follow the leader because they never ever "get it".
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amcmo
12 September 2011
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I wasn't going to mention the PowerBooks - too likely to be called a fanboy:d
Remember way back, looking at my Toshiba and at the then new PowerBooks and wondering why mine looked so ugly in comparision.
The Fujitsu I've just retired was one of those designs - slim and for it's time not too much of a trade off in capability.
The Air is recent enough to still stand out like the proverbial from the rest of the pack. |
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ory_zm
12 September 2011
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rubaiyat wrote:Apple has "managed to tap into the mass market"? What does that mean? Dell and HP and Toshiba are all bespoke I suppose.
All I meant is that Apple have a unique ability to sell very techy stuff to ordinary (not so techy) people. I've had an MP3 player before 2001 but still no one understood what that thing was before the iPod went big.
In regards to the origins of the laptop, sorry I was 8 at 1990. |
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j876
12 September 2011
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Plaigarism! No! Does that happen? It has been happening since humans were put on this earth.
Nearly every industry not just in IT does it and do small changes to try to avoid lawsuits. The problem is unless there is more investment in research and development made and more competition we a going to see products look very similar to eachother with very small differences to try to avoid intellectual property breaches.
I am not beating Apple's drum by any stretch, but they have been having a go ever since they started making gear to try something that no one else has on the market (or released half baked attempts like the tablets before the iPad came out) and they market it well. Something that Microsoft, Nokia and other tech giants have been falling behind the 8-ball lately. If you gan get people sleeping out the front of your shops (cannot figure out why) that Apple seems to do they must be doing something right.
Instead of copying a smash hit product? How about coming up with something new? Is it to much to ask?
Edited by J876: 12/9/2011 05:25:15 PM |
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gyro666
12 September 2011
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True innovation is a rare thing, whilst immitation is far to common. Although not in a tablet, youch screens were around before the iPad, so it can not count as a true innovation, cool kit yes, but closer to re packaged old tech than true innovation. Eaven the "wearable display" is old tech. However, embedded within this matrix of cloned imitations are some stunning refinements of the origonal that only pretend to be innovative withont actualy delivering anything "new". Yes manufacturers lack desir,are to lazy, or at least to concerned with profit, to risk developing anything truly alternative to the products that are proven to sell. Perhaps the "innovation" in tech is realy in the advertising and promotion after all. |
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sjv1988
12 September 2011
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I think that the problem with today's market is perception; what some people see as "clones" others see as "choice".
I refer to my own experience right now of watching the market in the bid to one day own a tablet. Yes, there is a much larger range of tablets than there was 12 months ago, but I have yet to see a single tablet that ticks all the boxes in my list of wants and desires. I know I'm not alone in my pursuit of Flash, but there are other features (which are within Apple's capabilites) that make me hesitate to reach out for an iPad. But what other choices are there? With the myriad of "clones" to choose from, I could almost settle for models that look and act very similar to the icon of the form factor; but to gain some key features, you lose others. In my eyes, the "one-size-fits-all" tablet has still yet to be made, and while the iPad is closer than most, it's not there yet.
Naturally, then, for the competiton to get in on the action of the known champion, they have to pick a design that doesn't scream "I'm different!" and would scare away potential customers. I still believe though that if you're going to try to copy the design of another manufacturer, it's pathetic to make a cheap, worthless knockoff and pretend that it does all the things that the real-deal can do. It's one of the major causes of confusion for the non-educated (for lack of a better word) when they pick up an imitation off the shelf, think they've scored a bargain, only to be disappointed when they get home and load it up.
In short: yes, I say copy the leader's designs to an extent (clearly they work), but make your own tweaks in an effort to build something that moves forward. If we didn't have copycats and redevelopers of technology we'd all be using Bill Gate's tablet. |
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amcmo
13 September 2011
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Those wanting Flash on a mainstream tablet (read iPad at present) will be pleased with Adobe's latest release that generate's iPad compatible video. Still a way from iPad video sites There's enough good tools out there already to generate HTML5 sites that perfrom better than Flash.. |
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photohounds
15 September 2011
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Mainstream is changing and diverse devices are starting to appear and seem well received. They are all clones - screens, keyboards, wifi, USB and SD cards (if you're lucky), Web browsers and lots of apps. NO manufacturere has ever come up with original computer gear have they?
Maybe the Microbee Sinclair's efforts? The Enigma machine? The stone Tablet (there's a good name).
Why is it that TV makers don't seem to have anywhere near as many 'patent BS' issues? Maturity? Less money at stake? |
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Tysio
12 December 2011
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Companies are seemingly becoming more lazy in terms of churning out more ideas. They pretty much replicate everything Apple do, it's technically Apple's idea, but innovating it in a way..
They don't seem to be thinking of anything different from what's out there. Companies should do more R&D and just differentiate themselves more instead of copying.
http://www.ipad-ipod.com.au |
