Apple’s or Sony’s choice is to be the ecosystem. Asus’ choice, IMO, is to be part of a much larger ecosystem, built by Google, HTC and many thousands of app developers, content providers and other hardware providers. They choose not to build the whole ecosystem, but to fill in a very specific hardware niche in this ecosystem – provide the best quality/cost ratio for laptops and tablets – I’d say even for desktops, since my mobo, which is Asus, was one of the best on the market when I bought it, and still is one of the best available, in its class. They also provide the best user experience in their market niche – for instance good support.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t any content for their platform. It just means they get a free ride on content provided by others. They’d probably not have the experience and the economi power to build an entire ecosystem on their own.

Nokia, with maemo/meego, ovi apps etc. tried to build their own end-to-end ecosystem, and failed. Asus’ strategy is much less risky. IMO, that’s a good thing.

I feel, however, that you may possibly have taken personal affront, from your perception that Wayne appears to you to be dumping negative criticism upon your highly-respected micro-partner of choice. Much in the same way as if someone had suggested that your bimmer was a bummer.

But, Wayne’s thread ( I think ) addresses the WIDER platform ecosystem and, in this respect take, for example, the way in the early 80s that VisiCalc, SuperCalc and Lotus123 pulled micro-computers through from being almost a hobbyist device to being a MUST-HAVE business tool – round about the same time as IBM capitulated and accepted, belatedly, to pitch in with the upstart micro-computer revolution.

The point is, that the killer application that drove most business sales of microcomputers at that time was company accountants’ need-for-speed  – the electronic spreadsheet – which single handedly ensured the success of the Apple II.

Almost 30yrs later Apple ( as they also had done in the mid80s with the desktop publishing market, along with Adobe PostScript and, later, Aldus Pagemaker ), again, repeated this maneouvre, and captured its intended generation of users with its ecosystem of music, video and social networking; and continually captivates them by its ensuing slow roll-out of next-gen and linked platforms ( Apple’s “Story Without End” – not the same Wayne Anderson ).

The Sony S story-book-hook is not just that it is a cleverly-disguised remote control ( something that you always want to keep handy ) but Sony’s link into its own vast libraries of music, video and PlayStation content. Being its own content partner, it’s kind of Sony S Tablet with added Sony!

So, Steve, THAT’S the story.

It’s all about POP music – no, really – it’s MARKETING and pull-through.

As a committed Asus aficionado, what do YOU think would really light the fire under the transformer and suck us all in, and captivate us for all time.

Cheers.

In the consumer segment, I have to wonder how Asus sees the content market playing a part in thier success.  It seems that the story coming from the company is still about hardware, about specifications, and features, and less about use of the platform and how it fits in the customer’s lives.  

The kindle fire releases in a similar timeframe with a less powerful device and despite the reiteration that they play in different segments, I still think Asus needs a strong content partner to drive a story behind the capability of the device.  

It’s a story that I really dont feel Asus has there at the moment.  Not having that story will work for users like myself, who understand the features, understand the potential, can make use of the battery/keyboard for long flights and airports.  In driving into the average living room, in connecting with users like my mother, my wife, my family, they simply need more than that.  I walked into the store and my wife could not tell one tablet for another, and did not understand the stickers.

Asus is still behind the curve in finding and delivering that story.  If they do not close the gap soon, either on android or with a solid Windows 8 offering that is office-capable to go after the productivity worker, I have to wonder how well they can build market share – remembering that the kindle fire is coming out which has that story in the same timeframe – even with great early hardware.