Tablet Computers: Gadgetry vs. Services
Monday, January 16th, 2012
The author of the linked article argues that most tablet manufacturers are making a mistake by trying to cram as many high-tech hardware features as possible into their tablet computers. He contends that, aside from a small number of gadget-loving technophiles, users don’t care about those features. He then goes on to say that Apple and Amazon have the right idea, which is to create a solid base of services that integrate with the tablet, and that this infrastructure is what’s making their tablets successful. His argument makes sense to me, and if he’s right, I think we can see a shakeout in the industry within two or three years.
There’s just something magical about buying a product for 99¢. And in the digital world, where the cost of producing another copy is essentially zero, you can make serious money from a quality item that’s priced at 99¢. Steve Jobs figured this out, and it’s part of what made the iTunes Store so popular. Later, when the music labels wanted to raise the price slightly on newer songs, he fought them tooth and nail, saying that even a small price increase would ruin things. The labels won that battle, but that doesn’t have to be the case with self-published books on Amazon. The profit on a 99¢ book is 35¢, and it really adds up if you sell a few hundred thousand copies. The linked article is a bit old, but it reinforces the benefits of this sales model where you sell many, many digital copies of an item for a low price. The author of the article, for instance, saw his sales of 
Remember how Apple flat out refused to allow 
With last weekend’s switch to daylight saving time in the United States, many iPhones moved back an hour instead of forward. The glitch hit all of Verizon’s and some of AT&T’s iPhones. It can be fixed by restarting the phone or switching it to and from airplane mode.
Here at the Chad’s News network command center, we use 
Breaking AT&T’s monopoly on the iPhone in the United States, 
