誰是平板之王

????今年11月可能會成為一個被人銘記的月份，因為隨著美國兩大書商亞馬遜（Amazon）和巴諾（Barnes & Noble）相繼向翹首企盼的市場上推出了競爭性產品，眼下的“平板大戰”也變得越來越有趣。比如亞馬遜的Kindle Fire平板就讓媒體和消費者寄望以久，這款誠意十足的“iPad殺手”如今終于上市了。

????這兩款平板各有自己的優點和缺點，硬說其中的某一款勝過另一款，恐怕會以偏概全。據高德納咨詢公司（Gartner Research）估算，今年平板電腦的全球銷量可能達到近２９０億美元。顯然，iPad的很多優勢勿庸置疑的，比如它的硬件設計、用戶界面和應用系統。它給整個平板市場定了調子。不過和６個月前剛上市時相比，iPad２高達４９９美元的售價恐怕會令不少消費者望而卻步；而且如果把它和更小更輕便的Kindle Fire和Nook平板擺在一起，它的塊頭可能也顯得稍大了些。

????Kindle Fire的評測結果有褒有貶，不一而足。不過很多人都認同這是一臺貨真價實的機器，絕對對得起它的價錢。iPad能做到的，Kindle Fire也基本都能做到，但它的價格還不到iPad的一半。分析人士認為亞馬遜在今年的假日季節可能賣出５００萬臺Kindle Fire。然而更重要的是，之前也有許多廠商嘗試過２００美元的低價電腦，不過基本上都以失敗告終，Kindle Fire的成功則提高了我們對于低價平板的功能預期。比Kindle Fire貴５０美元的Nook平板并未提供內置的視頻和音樂服務，不過作為一款集成了大量多媒體功能的閱讀設備來說，它也有著自己獨特的魅力。據獨立分析機構Forrester公司預測，巴諾在今年的假日季節可能賣出１５０萬至２００萬臺Nook平板。

????科技博客TechCrunch的專欄作家MG?西格勒最近寫道，Kindle Fire的成功再次說明了消費者不再那么苛求技術規格，而是越來越關注用戶體驗。包裝盒上印的那一長串硬件配置有多強悍并不重要，重要的是設備的運行速度有多快、多流暢，設備是否真的好用，以及它提供了哪些服務。就像智能手機一樣，如果用戶界面反應遲鈍，哪怕它安裝了一顆四核處理器，又有什么用呢？Kindle Fire和Nook平板立足簡單務實，主打“剛剛好”和普及型平板的理念，因此立刻實現了更好的價值定位。

????隨著平板電腦行業的持續增長（從現在到2015年，預計平均每年增長52%），平板市場會變得更加多元化，預計廠家還會推出不同配置層級的平板電腦，以滿足不同層次、不同需求的消費者。所以說無論是500美元的10吋平板（iPad）也好，200美元的7吋平板（Kindle Fire）也好，它們只不過是個開始。這樣看來，平板市場的競爭可能會越來越像汽車行業的競爭。很少有人會說有哪款車型能滿足所有消費者的口味。比如2012款的保時捷Cayman R跑車可能是操控性最好的汽車，但在載物能力上卻落在下風。所以說苛求某一款平板能滿足所有人的口味，本身可能就是個不切實際的要求。

????譯者：樸成奎

????November may well be remembered as the month the "tablet wars" got more interesting, when Amazon and Barnes & Noble catapulted competitive devices into a waiting and eager market. For the Kindle Fire in particular, media and consumers fixated on the idea that a bonafide "iPad killer" had finally, potentially arrived.

????In truth, each tablet has its pros and cons, but to dub one the reigning champ would be to ignore the nuances of a growing market Gartner Research estimates could rake in nearly $29 billion in global sales this year alone. Obviously, the iPad gets many things right -- hardware design, user interface, app ecosystem. It set the tone for the entire market. But a $499 price tag might not appear to be the same bargain it was just six months ago and its 10-inch screen could look oversized next to the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet's smaller, more portable footprints.

????Kindle Fire reviews run the gamut, though many agree on one thing: it's a solid device for the money. It does most of what the iPad can do but for less than half the price. Amazon could sell as many as 5 million Kindle Fires this holiday season analyst believe, but more importantly, its tablet succeeds where others have failed, raising our expectations for what a $200 tablet can do. Meanwhile, the Nook Tablet costs $50 more than the Kindle Fire and doesn't offer in-house video and music services, but has its own charms as a reading-focused device with a dollop of multimedia. Forrester predicts Barnes and Noble could move between 1.5 and 2 million units this holiday season.

????As TechCrunch columnist MG Siegler wrote recently, the Kindle Fire is just the latest example of people focusing less on technical specifications and more on the user experience. It's not so important what the long list of components on the side of a box says so much as how quickly and smoothly the device inside runs, how easy it is to use and what services it offers. After all, who cares if a smartphone has a quad-core processor running under the hood if the interface running on top of it is sluggish? Looking at the Kindle Fire, and even the Nook Tablet, through the simplified, more pragmatic prism of being "good enough" and affordable, they instantly become better value propositions.

????As the tablet industry continues to grow -- 52% on average each year through 2015 -- expect it to diversify, catering to different consumers willing to spend different amounts of money for different sets of features. So a $500 10-inch tablet versus a $200 7-inch tablet may just be the beginning. In that regard, the tablet market could look a lot like the auto industry. Few would say say there's such a thing as "one car fits all." The 2012 Porsche Cayman R may have the best handling for instance, but fall short if you're considering cargo capacity. That's why the idea of the search for one tablet to rule them all may be just plain foolish.?