Clayton Morris of Fox did nothing but proved himself to be a joker the way he compared the iPad with the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The way he blindfolded himself on the camera and did an entire 30 second stint 'touching' and 'feeling' the Galaxy Tab made me think,"is this how we cover technology?"  While he admitted that the Samsung Galaxy looks good, feels better, is lighter and thinner, he doesn't recommend buying it.

Is he saying that advancement in hardware and design does not matter? How the product  feels in your hand doesn't matter? He seems to be contradicting himself, and may upset the master Apple. Look at any of the iPad ads and you will find Apple trying to sell using the same points which Morris is trying to tell us do not matter when it comes to Android!

Wow! So, next time I plan to buy a piece of hardware I should not care about the weight, build, quality and feel. According to  Morris's approach toward hardware and design, I am sure if Morris were to design the iPad, this is what he would have designed:



Even if the display of the Tab is far superior to the iPad, which even he admitted, he had to say something negative about it. "The display on the Galaxy Tab is nice, but it has a 19 x 10 widescreen -- that's great for movie hounds, but I actually find it a little weird. It makes ordinary applications just a little too stretched."

A little too stretched? What ordinary applications Morris? Google Mail is optimized for Galaxy tablets, YouTube needs a perfect 16:9 screen, Angry Birds has better visibility and playground on  the 16:9 screen. In fact,  iPad's 4:3 leads to compromises by applications. 16:9 is the most natural form-factor.

Morris picked an app "Calendar" saying it looks bit stretched.  No, it doesn't. There is something wrong with your calendar Morris. Are you sure that's a Christian Gregorian calendar you are running there?

You find “16:9” dimension “a little weird”?

Let me give you an example. Morris, do you know there is something called books (it's a bunch of paper somehow stacked together with some Miracle of God which only Glenn Beck can explain). If you ever happen to see that thing called a book, you might notice it has the similar dimensions -- a bit stretched or rectangular. They are all a bit stretched just like the Galaxy. Why? Because that's the perfect design to fit content on.

Sorry, Glenn Beck that's the only book I have by my side right now

Just because iPad doesn't come in that form-factor doesn't mean it's weird.  In fact, iPad's squarish design kills the fun of watching videos, reading book or browsing websites. It's the iPad's design which is weird Let me tell you one thing Morris, iPad 3 may be 16:9.

When Morris was done bashing the Tab despite its better design, he attacked the soft part – applications.

Morris's take on applications
"Let's talk about applications, for one thing. Samsung has included about six apps of their own on top of the standard Android package. Subtract them and you're left with a bunch of shoddy applications that aren't really made for Honeycomb, the operating system running on this device." He then contradicts himself, "There are a bunch of other Android apps, of course -- 65,000 of them or so -- but very few quality ones, and there are very few application developers who are really sinking their teeth into this platform to date."

We all know that Android applications are catching up. Morris did you forget that the first 3.1 device was made available only a month ago and they already have 65,000 apps. That means more than 2,000 apps written for Android every day. By this rate we will overtake AppStore within months.

To be clear Morris, Samsung's App Store is just a placeholder for, what I think, apps customized for Samsung Devices. There is a far bigger market for Android apps, why would Samsung try to re-invent the wheel? Now coming to “you are left with a bunch of shoddy apps..."

Shoddy apps? Are you serious? You call YouTube, Google Main, Music Player, etc shoddy apps? Apps like Pulse, Google mail, Music, Movies which was created from scratch to fit the tablet screen is a shoddy app? All top and useful apps are available for the Tablet form-factor. As I said, he had to say something negative, no matter what.

"For instance, there are very few good Twitter clients, and very few news readers. Want to browse headlines? You'll be hard pressed here."

It was a revelation to hear that you do read news. But come on Morris are you serious? News readers? There are hundreds of readers out there for, but you can't beat the best news reader Pulse for all the jazz and Google reader for simplicity. There is a saying, Seek and you shall find. Search Google Reader on Android Market. Morris, go to Android Market with a pure heart and you will find what you need.

Twitter clients? How many clients do you need (there are so many out there either way) when you have one of the best, and Twitter's own, client TweetDeck and Twitter on Android

Morris, I recommend you this link which tells more about the latest Android apps for Tablets. I think you can access that page from your Apple devices, if Apple has not yet blocked non-iOS content on their toys.

Choices!
Morris, I felt great that you were talking about options -- something a Taboo on Apple devices. Irony isn't it! Apple is the end of options.

But, I don't think its fair to misguide users by giving them wrong info. An average user doesn't install 65,000 apps. We use mainly 4-5 apps, that's it. But, that doesn't mean there are no apps for Android. It took Apple 30 years to get a decent market in the US. Android has done that in only 3 (or less years). Unlike Apple's communist AppStore, Android offers developers a bigger and dynamic market where they can sell their apps through many channels, without worrying about Apple snatching their app and throwing them away from the AppStore. ?With all major heavyweights coming to Android, and Apple's communist-like policies for AppStore, more and more developers will quit iOS and move to Android.

Please don't go blindfolded
"So should you buy this device? I can't in good conscience tell you to go out and spend $499 on this half-baked experience when the fully baked iPad experience can be had for just a few dollars more,” says Morris.

Half-baked? It's the iPad which is half-baked. Apple always holds back a few features so that they can add those features and resell the devices to the same customers. Android devices on the contrary comes with features that are missing in the iPad, which the Cupertino bully will sell in the next device. iPad 1 did not even have a camera, which is a norm in Android tablets. iPad 2 comes in a form-factor not optimized for content consumption – the very purpose of tablets, it can't even support the Flash, leaving a black spot on websites. You can add/remove files to it without getting locking into the compromised iTunes and you call it fully baked?

Read between the lines
OK, let's do a bit of reverse analysis. When Morris says Tab is thinner, it means thinner than the iPad right? So, let's put the iPad in comparison with the Tab, from Morris' POV.

Galaxy Tab is an anti-thesis of the iPad, according to you, Morris. Going by your observation of the iPad in comparison to the Tab, you are asking us to buy a device (iPad) which is thicker, heavier and doesn't feel good in your hands? You are telling us to buy a device (iPad) which is not optimized to watch movies? You are telling us to buy a device (iPad) which doesn't have a decent camera and hardware? Why? Just because your Christian calendar somehow looks good on this fully baked device?

In other words, what you are telling us is not to buy a device which has better hardware, which has better look and feel, which is more open and doesn't not lock into Apple's walled garden? When everything is great about the Tab why do we not buy it? I know Fox has a blindfolded approach towards everything, but for God's sake Morris, Apple is not a religion yet. Its more of a suppressive communist force.

To be honest Morris, you will not buy the iPad unless you go shopping blindfolded. In fact most Apple users go shopping blindfolded. They shop in the light poring from the aura of Lord Steve Jobs!