The Samsung Galaxy Note looked like a great product to me until I discovered that Samsung (along with LG and a few others) pays the Microsoft Tax, a fee charged by Microsoft backed by the threat that an army of lawyers will claim that Android infringes Microsoft patents. It doesn't matter to Microsoft whether their claim is true because the real threat is being tied up in litigation for years. Microsoft probably shows these companies that it would be cheaper to pay a per-device fee rather than risk the uncertainty of court, where it may not matter who is right and who is wrong as much as who pays the best attorneys. Because of the Microsoft Tax, Microsoft makes the most money in the Android Universe despite (A) contributing nothing and (B) spending a fortune to destroy Linux.
I choose not to contribute to this gangsterism. My country (USA) once felt the same but the judge in the Microsoft anti trust case made anti-Microsoft remarks in public and Microsoft was able to escape on this technicality. My only recourse as a private citizen with no political power is to avoid paying money to Microsoft as much as possible.
This doesn't mean I want the cheapest Android tablet. I would like the best-spec model I can get. But my experience is that, when Microsoft tried to destroy the netbook market, it only went after the most highly spec'ed netbooks, telling the mfrs that they would spare anyone who made netbooks so limited that they would pose no threat in usability. I assume that Microsoft will pursue this same strategy with Android. I assume it will be hard to find powerful tablets that are free of the Microsoft tax.
I know that Barnes & Noble and Motorola are resisting the Microsoft Tax. Are there any vendors with display resolution to match the Galaxy Note (e.g., more than 275 ppi) ? Any with really fast quad core processors?
I choose not to contribute to this gangsterism. My country (USA) once felt the same but the judge in the Microsoft anti trust case made anti-Microsoft remarks in public and Microsoft was able to escape on this technicality. My only recourse as a private citizen with no political power is to avoid paying money to Microsoft as much as possible.
This doesn't mean I want the cheapest Android tablet. I would like the best-spec model I can get. But my experience is that, when Microsoft tried to destroy the netbook market, it only went after the most highly spec'ed netbooks, telling the mfrs that they would spare anyone who made netbooks so limited that they would pose no threat in usability. I assume that Microsoft will pursue this same strategy with Android. I assume it will be hard to find powerful tablets that are free of the Microsoft tax.
I know that Barnes & Noble and Motorola are resisting the Microsoft Tax. Are there any vendors with display resolution to match the Galaxy Note (e.g., more than 275 ppi) ? Any with really fast quad core processors?