Ways of Seeing the World
This sheet, comparing the upcoming HP Slate to the iPad has been making the rounds for the last couple days and I think it says a lot about the difference in how HP, or their customers, see the world in contrast to Apple.
Note that every aspect of each device that HP pulls out is a technical specification. It’s the size of the screen, graphics cards, ports and so on. No where does HP mention the experience of using the iPad as it compares to the Slate. There is nothing about ease of use or ease of installing applications. Most striking to me: no mention of the OS.
To be fair, HP doesn’t have total control over a lot of these aspects of the device as they’re the hardware manufacturer so it may only make sense to speak to what they can own. Additionally, this may be intentionally geared to the person who would be looking at the HP in the first place.
None of this is meant to be critical of HP, I just find it interesting to see what motivates a brand, and how those motivations manifest themselves in the final product.
