The new iPod Touch just dominated the web tablet market. Just like that. The iPhone was already well on its way, but it was hampered by being shackled to AT&T, which not only excluded anyone outside of the U.S. from (legitimately) using one, but a lot of people in the U.S. who couldn’t or didn’t want to switch to AT&T for whatever reason.
Now, there’s no excuse. The iPod Touch is the best web tablet device out there, and it’s not even out yet.
How can I say this? Well, I’ve been using the iPhone for 67 days, and I’m convinced that it’s the best web tablet experience out there. I literally have an Asus R2H UMPC and an HTC Hermes (AT&T 8525) on my night stand, which I use for web tablet stuff. They all use WiFi. And hands down, I use the iPhone more. The experience is just SO much better. The UI is smooth and beautiful (much higher DPI on the screen). It’s so light and thin compared to the others. It’s a pleasure to hold and to touch and caress (you iPhone owners know what I’m talking about).
I use my iPhone to keep connected with my network of people. I read and post to Twitter. I read and post to Facebook. I read my RSS feed subscriptions with Google Reader. I read Digg and Techmeme. I read and post on the forums at Ars Technica. All the things I usually do when I’m at a “real” computer, and the experience is smooth. Yeah, you can do those things on a Windows Mobile device, or a Nokia web tablet, or a UMPC or MID (which aren’t even out yet), but the experience is just SO much better on the iPhone/iPod Touch.
So, I’m boldly predicting that Apple has just owned the web tablet/ultra mobile/mobile internet device market. Anyone who wants to argue otherwise had better have a heck of an ace up their sleeve, because at this point, you’ve got to knock Apple off the top of this hill if you’re going to make a difference.
