Linux Based iPad RivalLinux Based iPad Rival

The iPad hasn't even been out for two weeks yet and there is already a Linux rival to the iconic device. As with all rivals, it seems to have more of everything - a larger screen, webcam and USB ports, the latter two totally missing on the iPad. Like all other things Linux though, will the market care?Yes, I know Android is Linux based, but Android is Google and they used Linux as the underpinnings, but it is still a product built and marketed by one of the sharpest companies in the world. Other commercial Linux offering haven't fared so well for consumers. Does anyone remember the Yopi? It was started by Samsung, handed off to GMate and then off into oblivion. It was a PDA with some impressive specs that outclassed the Palm Pilot and Pocket PC on paper, but outside of tech circles, was basically unheard of. It never drew many developers and ultimately died.

That is just one example of a Linux project for consumers that went nowhere. Linux powered netbooks are another example. I have to wonder if the WePad, the name for the new tablet competitor to the iPad, will be just another footnote in tablet computing history.

The device is made by German company Neofonie GmbH. Founder Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen discussed the price of roughly $600 for the 16GB version, which is $100 more than the 16GB iPad, but with more features. Ankershoffen "claimed that given its technological superiority and greater openness, "that's a bargain compared with the iPad."

He also claimed that it is a benefit that the WePad isn't tied to a music store, allowing people to use music from a variety of sources.

I disagree. iTunes, love it or hate it, is the main reason the iPod was so popular, not the hardware. It finally let people get top notch music easily on their device. Now, coupled with the App Store and Apples' ebook offerings, getting popular content on your device is just a few taps away. One stop shopping beats using a dozen or more sites any day of the week for most people. This is why the Kindle is such a popular ebook reader. It has good hardware and is hooked up to a fantastic online book store.

Microsoft is trying to replicate this story with the Zune library being the hub for their mobile devices. This openness that the WePad offers that sounds so appealing when you say it will be its downfall, as it has been on so many Linux devices. It isn't about the hardware or the software, it is about the entire ecosystem, and when your ecosystem can conceivably include everything, it means nothing. The consumer is left to their own devices to find their content and build their libraries.

The problem is, the consumer will just go buy a device that has a prebuilt ecosystem that is content rich and easy to deal with.