| Friday, January 4, 2002 |
19:10 - Bet on the iDock?
http://davenet.userland.com/2002/01/04/betOnTheIdock
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So it's clear that the iWalk is not what's going to be showing up on Monday at MWSF. But what will it be?
All I can say is, I sure hope it isn't that stupid web-pad that everyone thinks is the next best contender. Microsoft will be unveiling their Windows-based wireless pad-PC on Tuesday, and much ink has been spilled over the possibility that the Stevenote was moved to Monday purely so Apple could release the same damn thing a day earlier.
Why would I hope this isn't what's happening? Well, because it's petty, for one thing. Definitely not the kind of thing I'd expect an honorable Steve to do. And furthermore, if both devices are released within a day of each other, and they're reasonably similar in functionality, three months from now nobody will remember who brought theirs out first. Nobody will care. All they'll care about is that the Windows one is available, and the Microsoft and Apple pads will sell in the same proportion that Wintel PCs and Macs sell today.
And that's to say nothing of the fact that Microsoft will have had all kinds of other companies on board with their concept for months, and all the infrastructure will be in place as soon as it's introduced; whereas because Apple's device has been secret, nobody else will be ready with any software or anything. So Apple will effectively be hobbled out of the gate, Monday/Tuesday one-upmanship or not.
If Apple was going to release a web-pad, they should have done it a year ago when they could have developed a lead in the market. But if they're jostling with Microsoft over a one-day lead in getting the thing out the door, they're too late.
The Monday announcements had better be more impressive than this. What sucks, though, is that "Where no PC has gone before" plays perfectly into the "web-pad a day before Microsoft's" theory.
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