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Apple iPhone vs. Internet Tablets

Sure, the iPhone is a sweet phone (even at $600), but how does it compare to the less definable internet tablet category?

I’ve actually used a Pepper Pad and held an OLPC in my hands (yes, they exist), but what I know about the Nokia n800 (the successor to the n770) is limited to what I’ve been told.

All four devices have feature-complete browsers and can take advantage of the rich web 2.0 applications their larger cousins can. And each offers some local applications, including media players. But these aren’t general purpose PCs, and they’re not trying to replace PCs. These are information age devices that deliver the network in places we generally don’t bring our laptops.

The iPhone is the smallest and lightest of the bunch, though it also has the smallest screen (counting both pixels and inches). Still, it’s claimed battery life bests everything but the famously power-efficient OLPC. Yet even the 8GB iPhone isn’t the most expensive of the bunch, and the 4GB model is just a bit more than the least expensive publicly available tablet.

Mix the mainstreaming of social software over the past couple years with a device like this and step back. Twitter was just the start. Still, the iPhone might also find use among ebook users (though what we really need is a browser-based book reader) and for other purposes.

olpc, internet tablet, information age, iphone, nokia n800, pepper pad, comparison, chart

Posted June 27, 2007 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Technology. Tags: chart, comparison, information age, internet tablet, iphone, nokia n800, olpc, pepper pad.

6 Comments

Comment by Peter Murray on June 28, 2007 9:05 am
Thanks, Casey! I’ve got an old Samsung SPH-i500 that is showing its age, but with all of the choices out there today I’m not sure which way to jump. Your chart is a helpful start…
Comment by Collin on June 30, 2007 5:38 am
some corrections:

The Nokia N800 has an Opera browser

The iPhone has Bluetooth

The N770 has an USB Host port (non-powered)
Comment by Steve Paine on July 2, 2007 12:26 pm
Whats the general opinion on minimum screen size for successful e-book reading? Can you do it in 320 pixels wide?
I guess so.

I just did a test with an Everun UMPC and it was quite a nice experience. Better than the Pepperpad and Nokia(which I have also owned)
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=741

Regards
Steve.
Pingback by iPhone v. One Laptop Per Child’s OX PC. « Carson’s Post on July 5, 2007 7:34 am
[...] complied by MaisonBisson.com, hat tip: OLPC news, where there are more comparisons, like how the XO’s screen is readable [...]
Comment by Casey Bisson on July 5, 2007 2:37 pm
@Colin

Thanks for the correction about the N800 browser.

The iPhone has Bluetooth, but it can’t be used to connect to an upstream network as with the N800. Though, when you’ve got a built-in cell phone, Bluetooth-tethering to another isn’t quite as important.

My understanding is that the N770 can be hacked to operate as a USB host, though similar hacks for the N800, haven’t worked as well yet. Still, the chart isn’t so much about what can be hacked as what works for the average consumer.
Comment by picbros on August 11, 2007 2:30 pm
I think iPhone is very big problem because it seems small computer but only seem.
I can say iphone can’t be a mobile phone (bluetoot and mms problem)

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