The difference between an iPad-copy and a Rolex-copy.

I’ve read a Swedish blogpost today saying there is no tablet market, because it’s an iPad market. That blogpost referred to an older blogpost in english, There really isn’t much of a tablet market.

I don’t find any reason to write that blogpost one more time, but it made me think of the difference between an iPad-copy and a Rolex-copy.

Twenty years ago it was enough to sell copies of products like Rolex or Sony Walkman and for a lot of people that bought copies, the main reason was that they wanted others to see that they had this special item. They wanted to brag, create an illusion, the functions were not that important, because there weren’t so many that would ask them to demonstrate their fake Rolex watch or a cheaper fake version of a Sony Walkman. It was enough if the Rolex showed the time and if the Sony Walkman look-alike could play some cassette tape music.

The current situation with iPad and iPad wannabes is different, but the hardware producers don’t seem to understand it. They keep on making their fake iPads, oh yes, they have their own brands and product names, but everyone knows that every tablets secret wish is to be reborn as an iPad. Today it’s not enough to create a product that looks like an iPad. Customers do like the design, but they are in love with the way iPads work. That’s why almost everyone who buys a non-iPad-tablet will feel disappointed. They want to have the functions and the access to all the cool apps.

The only hardware producer that seems to have get it is HP and that’s why they decided to stop producing their tablet and focus on their WebOS. Their shareholders didn’t get it though, because the stock price fell the day after the announcement.

Maybe I should feel sorry for all the PC-makers who haven’t understood this? But no, why should I? They have got every chance to evaluate the development and they also had a lot of experts working for them. Apple has done a lot of things right and I understood that 1989. I hope that Apple will keep on doing the right choices.