The battle between small ultra-portable tablets is heating up in a big way, with Apple, Amazon, Google, and others all competing for the top spot. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows division president Steven Sinofsky has his own views on the matter (despite the fact that Microsoft doesn’t make an ultraportable tablet).
Speaking to AllThingsD, Sinofsky bashed the IPad mini as being significantly overpriced. In essence, he is calling the iPad mini a ripoff at $329. From AllThingsD:
He notes that there are full-featured Windows 8 laptops that sell for $279. […] At that price, he said, you can get a computer good enough to last a student through college.
“It’s $279,” he said, “Here we are, talking about seven-inch recreational tablets for $329.”
Of course, there’s a tremendous difference between an underpowered netbook made of flimsy plastic and an iPad. There’s also a significant difference between competing 7-inch tablets and the iPad mini – while the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 are made of plastic, and offer less viewable space, the iPad mini is made of metal and glass, backed by Apple’s exceptional customer service, and compatible with a wide range of already-available iPad apps. By contrast, the Kindle Fire is very limited in available apps, and is essentially useless in most areas outside of the United States.
At ant rate, Apple’s customers don’t seem to consider the iPad mini a ripoff at all – pre-orders sold out in a matter of hours!
