SYNAPSE CIRCUIT EXPLAINS THE DECLINE IN TABLETS

The rare sighting of an iPad in the wild as it were.
It's an iPad mini by the looks of it. 

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
EXPLAINS THE DECLINE IN TABLETS
ANDROID iOS WINDOWS

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It’s so wonderful to see you as always! I hope that all is well with you! I also hope that you are taking on some tech projects and challenging yourselves! Don’t worry... ...the iClone 6 Pro review is coming very soon... Oooh, yeah!

You may or may not have heard or read that tablet sales are sliding across the board iOS, Android and Windows. Here’s an insight into why this is happening...

#Tablets #AndroidTablets #iPad #iPadMini #WindowsRT #WindowsSurface

iPAD

Above: The state of the iPad... Filling up CEX shops with no buyers.

The iPad is no doubt a wonderfully crafted tablet and therefore it is really outstanding in the field of tablets. Not only is the iPad and mini great to the look and touch the applications are to be reckoned with! Let’s recap as to why the iPad and mini sales are on the decline:-

1. Too expensive; if the iPad was an expenditure that would last at least 3 to 5 years it wouldn’t be so bad but it is renewed every year and twice in 2013 if I am not mistaken. So, Apple users are better off with a Macbook Air.

2. The Lightning connection to my mind came as another nail in the iPad coffin. Overnight many iPad peripherals were made obsolete. Charming!

3. The advent of the iPad mini meant that the standard 10” model was compromised somewhat.

4. Finally, the iPhone 6 Plus rendered the both iPad models dead in the water!


Above: Another computer exchange store in Central London unable to shift second hand iPads.

Still, if I were an Apple user I would want to pick up an iPad second hand! But even in second hand / computer exchange stores the iPad is still priced uncompetitive. Maybe – just maybe the cost of the second hand iPad will come down greatly when the computer exchange shops can’t shift them.

WINDOWS RT / SURFACE
Yes, Microsoft botched up the first wave of Windows tablets with the Titanic-like Windows RT operating system that hit a few icebergs... However, Microsoft did pick up the slack and came back with the Surface! The Surface is truly outstanding and very desirable since it uses the full Windows operating system which means no silly apps but fully functioning software! I want one! Yeah, I know... Who would have thought that I would find myself taking a fancy to the Surface, eh? But here’s a recap as to why Windows tablets are tanking:-

1. Yes, the price is the main killer! As a result many Windows folk would prefer to invest the money into a decent desk or lap top!

2. As mentioned in the first point; the Windows laptop is very compelling as you get a decent processor for the money.

3. The Windows desktop PC is very persuasive still as one can swap out the graphics card or add cards such as a professional soundcard for music making for example. I would rather invest the cost of the Surface into a full on desktop PC for graphic design, video editing and music making!

ANDROID
The Android tablet was supposed to be the saviour of the tablet phenomenon. What happened to the promise? Google and Android OEMs did their best to undercut Apple and Windows but at what cost?

1. Google seemed to let manufacturers run wild with the tablet; there were no standards as one could pick up a £50 Android tablet made by an unheard of manufacturer from China.

I think too many consumers thought, as with the budget handset, that these cheap Android tablets were on par with the iPad. Windows RT wasn’t an issue as it was the wrong product and wrongly priced. And, again, like the budget Android handset of yesteryear (you don’t see much of them these days), the Android tablet can be made obsolete with app updates. Once the usual app suspects get updated (Facebook, G Plus, WhatsApp, etc) the underpowered cheap or otherwise Android tablet may not be able to cope with the demands on the processor.

2. Unrealistic... It appears as though Google and manufacturers did not invest a lot of forethought into the Android tablet. By this I mean that Google didn’t, as far as I know, invest into a chip processing plant and design powerful CPUs that could have been mass produced and therefore bring the costs down. If you look at what Samsung has done with creating its own Exynos SoC for Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge it goes to show how important it is to mass produce powerful chips and place them in worthwhile products... It goes back to standardization. Google seemed to rely on the hardware of manufacturers. Although Google gives its manufacturers a chance to shine I reckon they should have worked more closely with Samsung to produce powerful cost effective tablets that had a bit of longevity in them. Asus had some pretty interesting tablets on the market but were priced too high...

3. The apps weren’t there. The iPad was streets ahead and when the Android tablet threw down the gauntlet to Apple it was clear that it wasn’t really ready. The hardware was not up to par and, again, the apps were nothing to write home about. 

4. As an amalgamation of all the points above today’s Android tablet is still quite iffy in build – as much as I appreciate plastic builds I don’t think that the Android tablet should pop so to speak when handling it. Yes, the Android tablet body can be very flimsy compared to the iPad. Some Android tablets are like DVD covers in that it can yield to the touch. Not good!

“Intel inside...” Once upon a time the Intel chip meant and still means something in the PC world but when it comes to the Android tablet (and phone) I have yet to be convinced! Whenever I see “Intel inside” I cringe. Last year I got the Asus Fonepad 7 LTE to replace a defunct Motorola RAZRi (also with an Intel CPU inside) and today I may as well use the hybrid tablet and phone as a rather expensive coaster for my coffee table. The Asus Fonepad 7 LTE struggles with Facebook, Messenger and just about every worthwhile application... It is crap! I am now planning to replace the device that is crap as a phone and even worse as a tablet! I don’t know what Asus was thinking with the Fonepad 7 LTE but it doesn’t live up to the promotional material. I can reel off a bunch of other complaints against the Fonepad 7 LTE but I shan’t bother...

So, from my experience with the Fonepad 7 LTE I can say that my expectations may have been unrealistic as a consumer... OK, I fell for the promotional blurb but I should have known better as someone who tests hardware and software. If I want a decent tablet I have to pay for it and as much as Google might want to undercut the competition the fact is that a powerful Android tablet will cost handsomely!

The future of Android tablets lies in better everything: internal hardware, build quality and applications. I can see that Samsung are up for taking on the iPad with the Galaxy Tab S models and HTC did put out the 64-bit Nexus 9. The 64-bit CPU should revolutionize the Android tablet as it has the handset. I would like to see Android manufacturers move away from these underpowered novelty tablets once and for all this year because good products are a calling card.

I am looking to get a serious tablet this year and it is going to last a lot longer than 6 months!

UPRISING
The Android tablet could rise as could the Windows Surface. With Android it is just a matter of getting the power and quality right! Motorola has shown what can be possible with budget handsets, Moto E and G, and although there are no known plans for Motorola to do the same for the tablet there has got to be a few manufacturers that will do it for the tablet. I am quite sure that it’ll be Samsung that will release a serious 64-bit tablet this year but what other manufacturer or manufacturers will produce a serious pro Android tablet? HTC? LG? Asus? Could the Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Lenovo take the market by surprise?

And with Windows it’s getting the price down a fair bit and it is getting there!

There’s life in the tablet yet! We’ll just have to see how the rest of the year plays out! The forthcoming Google i / O in 7 days could reveal the powerhouse tablet we’ve been waiting for along with a better version of Android that is leaner, faster and easier on the battery consumption. Lollipop is by far the best and most ambitious version (as it should be) but I feel that it could be a lot better still! I feel for the Android developers as they’ve got their work cut out for them! But the fact that 5 of my Android handsets have Lollipop shows me that Google is on the ball – albeit a tad behind with what was set out at last year’s i / O! I can see that there is scope!

As for the Android tablet apps I can see that the quality it getting better all the time. According to the news Google Play Store has surpassed the Apple App Store for profits going to developers and this will certainly mean that iOS developers will release keep releasing more Android versions that will almost certainly see an increase of Android tablet sales. Many of us Androids have been waiting for the 64-bit chip before making a serious tablet purchase and now that it is here we’ll see...

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

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SYNAPSE CIRCUIT MICROSOFT TALK SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

How much???? Are you nuts????

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT 

MICROSOFT TALK 1:
BELOW THE SURFACE
Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! What’s happening? It’s always good to see you! Good news if you are interested into making music as I have the latest Magix Music Maker software coming soon! And if you want to create 3D animations then standby for the Synapse Circuit iClone 5 competition! Whoohoo!

What’s up with Microsoft, huh?

#Microsoft #Surface #Digitalworkshop #Reallusion #Magix #Roxio #Incomedia #Roxio #Android

OH YEAH? TAKE THIS!
Sadly, for the consumer, Microsoft and Apple have a warlike attitude towards emerging technologies such as Google for example. Apple, as we all know, has taken great strides into mobile device technology out of reinventing the MP3 player, mobile phone and tablet computer. Apple’s mobile devices have overshadowed its computers for a good while and now that mobile device windstorm has petered out the consumer can see more clearly.

For a long, long while Microsoft has been trailing behind Apple’s iPod and who can forget the Zune? Oooh, it died a death! However, if the truth be known one could get great MP3 playing devices that didn’t need the iTunes ecosystem. Because the Windows PC was and still is commonplace its users could enjoy the countless free and commercial MP3 creation software. PC users could determine the quality of the MP3 from the original recording on vinyl or CD. I know... By today’s standards a generation has spawned without the warmth of vinyl or the CD... I used to love vinyl (singles, LPs & albums) but as a collector with a small abode it became impractical. I warmed to the CD especially due to the extra information / media that could be had from a collector’s edition Enhanced CD that contained a multimedia presentation not unlike a PowerPoint presentation complete with a video or two of much loved singles, interview, etc. This got replaced by the DVD. The point I am making is that Apple and its bloody iTunes killed off the music industry. I mean... ...how bad must the industry be if you can’t even give away an album? Because Apple were great at publicity it made people want to buy into its products and right from the start I could see through it!

Microsoft felt that it had to come up with an alternative to the iPod when it was impractical due to the fact that most of us PC users were happy to go out and buy the music in a retail outlet: Virgin, Our Price Records, Tower Records and HMV! Oh, not forgetting the various independent music shops in London’s West End! We were happy to go out there buy the music, convert it to MP3 and place it on our MP3 players or the mobile phones that could handle the format. We PC users didn’t care for iTunes at all! We never needed it and still don’t! I thought the iPod was a load of crap – I still do think that! I thought the Archos media players were so much better!

Microsoft started to fall down the Apple rabbit hole.

ALONG CAME ANDROID
When the first Android handset hit the market in the form of a HTC designed flip-out QWERTY keyboard it looked very raw and most importantly it was perceived by many as a fad that wouldn’t go the distance as the iPhone was all the rage! But we all know the story of Android... As Android started to take off with the HTC Hero and the Samsung Galaxy S I started to hear rumours of Microsoft working on its own handset. Can anyone remember when it made its debut? I can’t and that’s the point with Microsoft – it can’t do anything beyond the operating system and Office!

Sadly... I say “sadly” because Microsoft didn’t take – in my opinion – enough time to study the marketplace to make educated anticipations upon where Apple would end up... Microsoft was so busy lashing out to preserve this fallacy of a technological giant when all it really did was to give the IBM compatible PC a visual user interface. Okay, I shouldn’t appear ungrateful because Windows is GREAT and it is was and still is a LIBERATOR! Without Windows we would never have gotten a myriad of wonderful software houses such as:-

Serif
Magix
Roxio
Digitalworkshop
Reallusion
Incomedia

There were many, many more but they fell by the wayside as they were not able to keep up with the innovation and take initiative in a different approach to things we do on a PC! The software houses mentioned above not only showed MAC users that great things can be achieved on the PC such as DTP via Serif PagePlus, PhotoPlus and DrawPlus; Music Composition from Magix Music Maker and Music Studio; Video Editing through Serif MoviePlus and Magix Movie Edit Pro; Web Design from Incomedia WebSite X5, Magix Web Designer and Serif WebPlus and so on! Once upon a time there was a widely held view that in order to do the above well one had to:-

A. Own a MAC.
B. Own Adobe software (for the MAC).

Sure, one could own a PC and use the same Adobe software but that was very, very costly! The aforementioned software houses have done so much to empower ordinary users with extraordinary ideas! The above software houses made and still make their products cost effective to the point of mocking Adobe and MAC users that think little of the PC and non-Adobe software. For a good, good while it was a pain in the ass to take PC produced documents to be printed at MAC based print bureaus. To be honest with you a lot of MAC based designers were too far up themselves to recognize what a PC and non-Adobe software can do! The one good thing that Adobe gave us was the PDF format which helped to take the befuddlement out of the printing game! THANK GOODNESS!!!

What Apple did for its computers was very, very, very smart! Apple recognized that PC users were benefitting from these wonderful inexpensive software and decent PC set-ups that it created cheaper MAC computers with a set of bundled software to get the user going: iWork. Adobe also recognized what was happening and released consumer versions of its professional software i.e. Photoshop Elements but what Adobe failed and still fail to understand is that its direct competition, Serif, released fully professional software that produced documents that a professional printer can understand i.e. CMYK files such as TIF, PDF and JPEG. Today, CMYK isn’t much of an issue as many print bureaus have large scale domestic printers that will do the job of producing your flyers, newsletters, etc. The big music software creators such as Cakewalk, Steinberg, etc did the same thing and produced cut down versions of their respective software titles but such efforts weren’t enough to stop Magix, Synapse Audio (Orion Studio) and lately Cockos (REAPER) from producing music composition software that delivered!

At that point Microsoft could have easily gotten into PC hardware production – especially as there quite often hardware that conflicted with the various versions of Windows. Microsoft could have standardised the PC and worked with the aforementioned software houses provide a bundle of great software to match iWork. It would have made the PC even more ubiquitous than it already is and helped to make the software houses (and products) even better known than they are today!

What did Microsoft do instead? In a nutshell they went so far up its backend that it weakened its position. What do I mean?

1. Microsoft concentrated on its Internet Explorer web browser so that it dominated the competition at the time i.e. Netscape! Not only that, Internet Explorer played by its own rules and did not adhere to the current web standards: W3C

2. Produced a potentially good WYSIWYG web design software, FrontPage. The trouble with FrontPage produced websites was that they would only look good and function with Internet Explorer. What if the user viewed the website on a MAC? How about another browser such as Netscape Navigator? DISASTER! By the time Microsoft realized the error of its ways it lost the web design software market just as fast as they started it.

What a waste! As a result I do not use Internet Explorer! Internet Explorer is the Internet equivalent of faecal matter! Microsoft continued to make the imperfect operating system releases expensive. How many times have you bought a legitimate Windows operating system and you get a message to say that what you have is an illegal copy? That’s bloody annoying! Rather than perfect releases of Windows Microsoft kept releasing product that had to be fixed by these constant Service Packs that could sometimes mess up a PC even more! Grrrrrr! What? A Windows phone??? £*@% OFF!!! That’s how I feel about anything Windows and that’s Microsoft’s doing!



Above: As you can see, Windows Phone 8. Below: The screenshot of an Android handset using a Windows style launcher. 



INSIGHT
Had Microsoft taken the time to be analytical it could have foreseen that the iPad would clash with the Macbook. What business model can survive a yearly complete hardware overhaul? This is why the MAC computer and PC aren’t going away anytime soon as much as the tech media loves to report the drop in PC sales!

Analysis would have led to the understanding that Android handsets and tablets can complement both Windows and MAC computers. The Android tablet is phenomenal not only due to its cost effectiveness but its longevity! And as I have stated before, many of the productivity applications are fully functional in its own right and / or can act as a sketchpad for PC and MAC set-ups in that one can produce Office compatible documents; MIDI for music; MP4 video and so on. I would rather take out a 7” Android tablet that can, incidentally, make and accept phone calls! Why on Earth would I want an iPad? And why on Earth would I or anyone else want a Surface tablet???

Look at how much Microsoft has lost on the ill-fated Surface Windows RT tablets; $1.2 BILLION!!!! Just how much more does Microsoft has to lose before it realizes that the Surface is not going to fly???

PRIDE BEFORE THE FALL
Because of this ‘us against them’ attitude Microsoft, like Apple, does not think of unification and harmonizing with new, exciting emerging technologies. They (Microsoft and Apple) want our custom and will – if they had their way – litigate the competition out of business. Look how that’s turned out for Apple? It is ugly for the consumer! I as a PC owner feel that my custom is unappreciated with idiotic messages informing me that my copy of Windows is illegal! A few years ago I tried to update my Windows XP Professional with a Service Pack and I got a message to say that my copy was illegal and was not able to perform the update, caught a virus in the process and lost a couple of years of work! This will be the last time I mention it but I was super-pissed off at the time! All that work lost because of Microsoft’s crappy software! And they want to move into phones and tablets without perfecting what they have???? That’s insane!

That $1.2 Billion could have easily funded Microsoft branded computers with an operating system to be proud of and a great bundle of software to get the user started. There are some amazing Windows based laptops out there with a touch screen that should have seen Microsoft invest into Android phones and tablets to compliment the Windows computer! Microsoft could have set-up a division for the creation of Android applications.

The only reason why I still use the PC is because of the amazing aforementioned software houses that produce cost effective products that deliver professional results each and every time – unlike bloody Microsoft!

Microsoft, if you are reading this please compensate me for my loss and get it together! Stop scratching the surface and embrace Android!

That’s something to think about!

THANKS FOR READING...

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