That number (1.32 million) is dropping and I don't know what the number was before that, but I do know that when I WAS seeing Microsoft tablets was way back in 2005, so I would guess the number was even higher before 2008.
The iPad is surely a success, but it's still in the same order of magnitude as the Microsoft tablets from the last decade.
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Putting things in perspective... In 2008, Microsoft sold 1.32 million tablets at a starting price of more than 2x that of the starting price for the iPad.
Are those numbers for consumer sales or for corporate sales? I'd bet that a very high percentage of those Windows tablets were for corporate sales where they were running a specialty application for that industry. On the other hand the iPad has been much more of consumer device than any tablet before it.
Apple selling in 1 month what it took Microsoft 1 year to sell is basically the definition of a different level of magnitude (~10x sales). Also, iPad sales are still supply constrained and not demand constrained.
It's a different kind of success - and probably more relevant in the long run.
Now, Onenote for example is a highly developed application, and with a tablet PC much, much more useful than the guy pathetically balancing his iPad on the table with the keyboard and attempting to scrawl on the screen with some hopelessly compromised toy-like program which in his Apple-addled state, believes is the best thing ever...
... but the *range* of applications available for the iPad already dwarfs the range of touch-aware apps for Windows, and I'm betting the vast majority of those million-plus tablet sales are for vertical and specialist uses, all of which may end up drying up very soon.
How long has Windows Tablet been in existence? Despite that, you can probably accurately count the number of major general-purpose pen+touch aware apps on your hands - and probably have fingers left over.
'Full' Windows tablets are an irrelevance to consumers, and also importantly for most general-purpose business users due to various factors, and it'll become increasingly irrelevant for vertical uses too once Android / Chrome gears up. The vast majority of vertical applications which currently use Windows Tablet would likely work just as well - if not better - in a Googlified environment.
That said, I'm in fundamental disagreement with Apple as to how this class of device should be and how it should work - and I don't think I'm alone. At the same time I think Android is a second-rate me-too, and I feel we need a slightly different approach for a general-purpose slate. With no-one else realistically in the running, I'm counting on Microsoft to deliver something focused for a work/play-usable slate platform that doesn't cater exclusively for the lowest common denominator before its too late.
But the signs are not looking good right now with their 'let's confuse the hell out of everyone' approach.
Now, Onenote for example is a highly developed application, and with a tablet PC much, much more useful than the guy pathetically balancing his iPad on the table with the keyboard and attempting to scrawl on the screen with some hopelessly compromised toy-like program which in his Apple-addled state, believes is the best thing ever...
... but the *range* of applications available for the iPad already dwarfs the range of touch-aware apps for Windows, and I'm betting the vast majority of those million-plus tablet sales are for vertical and specialist uses, all of which may end up drying up very soon.
How long has Windows Tablet been in existence? Despite that, you can probably accurately count the number of major general-purpose pen+touch aware apps on your hands - and probably have fingers left over.
'Full' Windows tablets are an irrelevance to consumers, and also importantly for most general-purpose business users due to various factors, and it'll become increasingly irrelevant for vertical uses too once Android / Chrome gears up. The vast majority of vertical applications which currently use Windows Tablet would likely work just as well - if not better - in a Googlified environment.
That said, I'm in fundamental disagreement with Apple as to how this class of device should be and how it should work - and I don't think I'm alone. At the same time I think Android is a second-rate me-too, and I feel we need a slightly different approach for a general-purpose slate. With no-one else realistically in the running, I'm counting on Microsoft to deliver something focused for a work/play-usable slate platform that doesn't cater exclusively for the lowest common denominator before its too late.
But the signs are not looking good right now with their 'let's confuse the hell out of everyone' approach.
