No sympathy

I really am not at all surprised. They were selling a not-a-ipad for the price of an ipad, and expecting to carve a slice of market action. Just like HP, they were greedy. I've written on here before about my old Dad's dictum, that to compete with the market leader you have to be one or both of:

* twice as good

* half the price

Because they have already done the hard work before you and taken the high ground.

I really hope that this is the end of Mee-toooo engineering.

It has been all too aparant in the world of digital cameras where man+dog was making the same indistinguishable box for drunken office girls to point at each other in italian restaurants. That was a long tradition of copying going back to the days of the Instamatic, and it sort of worked for cameras because you could buy one and it worked and you didn't need anything else.

Fondlepads are not like that. They are part of a system. It's like trying to sell dodgem cars when no-one has put up the chicken wire for the electric supply.

I am sick of people saying "there is a proven market of X million, if we get 15% of that it is Y million". For heavens sake, lads, go out and invent something for yourselves.

Where is my voice-based computer? what about a way to get the BBC radio while driving through poland? Why aren't all the new phones dual- or triple- sim? What about a bonephone layer on the head? spectacles with zoom lenses? What about a camera with IR visualisation for spotting people with a fever? What happened to data gloves? eye movement tracking instead of a mouse (all you need is two cameras on a notebook)

Or even some boring peripherals? what about a printer and scanner the same size as an ipad, that will do a sheet or two at a time? Remember home automation? temperature indicating tableware? Where are the standing stair lifts, the cycle detectors for the left side of large vehicles? What about private family networks on phones, a sort of always-on walkie talkie with intercontinental range? and position tracking? gadgets to weigh things or measure them in 3D? Cheap domestic solid printers? electric cycle retrofits? Why do cars have the same key on every door, central locking, and remote openers, and houses don't? Where is my pocket device to scan bank notes for forgeries? a minature soldering station for reflow soldering IC packages? peltier based spot heating or cooling for foodstuffs? domestic energy recycling for b athwater and flue gasses? a method of keeping next door's cat from using the flower beds as a latrine? linked watches, so you can remind yer partner of an appointment, or know what direction they are in some cavernous shopping mall? Cheap space flight? window glass that goes reflective in hot weather? an UV based bacteria scanner for domestic and catering food preparation surfaces?

There are still a billion things to invent. Stop bloody copying the latest fad and use some brains for a change!