(Or: How to spot a lazy pundit in one easy step)
How many column inches and ad impressions have been used to say that the iPad mini is a response to the Google Nexus 7?
Before the Nexus 7, the 7″ tablet market was a bit of a wasteland Littered with the corpses of failed no-name tablets. Even the Amazon Kindle Fire (with some hard-to-substantiate numbers) failed to make a dent.
It is fair to say that the Nexus 7 proved the market. It showed that it is possible to make some gorgeous hardware in a smaller form factor.
I don’t expect journalists to be experts but I do expect them to do some research. I would love to know how Apple managed to make a response to the Nexus 7 in less than four months. If they managed to design it from nothing in less than a year I’d also be interested (especially as Steve Jobs was still around). The reaction from the press has been all about how this is a reaction, how competition is heating up.
Bottom line, the Nexus 7, the iPad mini and the Kindle Fire are all excellent tablets with their very distinct niches due to their differing ecosystems. The manufacturers will sell millions of the things this Christmas. All of them will do well this season. The only people who should be worried are folk still selling plain ol’ laptops and desktops.