Agree with mrspeedmaster, but would like to add some other factors.
The iPhone and the Android phone both approached the market with an eye on what was missing and how to build a better mousetrap. Forget who theoretically came first.
How was the first iPhone introduced by Jobs? The best iPod ever and it makes phone calls. They tapped into an existing business model and force multiplied it. They had iTunes and its Music Store in place. They had the muscle to make that work in a competitive field and buyer trust.
They focused on what the iPhone missed and incrementally improved it.
When the first iPad hit, they had a ready target - iPhone owners. And since then, they seem to tie development of the products together. People know what they will get. It's not confusing. That leads to more sales, more profit, and more muscle to apply to the next update.
Show of hands, who remembers our first tablet forums here? A few cut rate models with resistive screens. The next wave brought decent tablets, but at higher prices and no unity to the phones or to a stable ecology.
Maybe it's just me, but I kept wondering why they entered the tablet market not ready. HTC sailed against the wind with a tablet the Android blogs hated because it didn't launch with Honeycomb. Then they made its best stylus feature an add-on. Nobody buys add-ons to complete a product as demonstrated at trade shows (in general market terms, of course people here own one with the stylus) as just one example.
From statements by Samsung last week that they have been learning market lessons with tablets, and Asus bringing in new stuff, I think that tablets will look up for Android.
I think if you want an iOS tablet, you want an iPad. I think if you want an Android tablet, you have many good choices depending on your budget and some real stinkers.
But if you just want a tablet and could not care less about iOS vs Android or buzzwords, then it's a wide open deal and the iPad can be hard beat, depending on your application needs or use preferences.
So I personally think that fair is fair, and the iPad is owed the respect due as a worthy product.
The most innovative tablet that I have seen yet is the Notion Ink Adam with a Pixel Qi display. But they had no muscle to set the market on fire (sales or manufacturing).
So my whole point is maybe this - innovation in a tablet, or the tablet market, may not be the point of the iPad, even if this one does have innovative features, like higher resolution and quad core GPU.
For Android, innovation in tablets will count.
Just like in the early iPhone vs Android phone days, it's not about what Apple is doing, it's about what is missing in the market and what the better mousetrap will be.
Games and high performance apps and graphics sells, the iPad proves it. But are those the the only things or even the main things to sell?
Where are the energy-saving trans-reflective displays? Where's the boatload of ram so Android can scream a little bit? Where are the business and enterprise models?
I don't even know the right questions to ask, but I bet if we are talking innovation, it'll be questions like that.
I think that the iPad 3 is innovative because it brings new features to their target market. I think if you gave me an iPad 3 exact copy with Android, it wouldn't be innovative, even if you gave it to me last month.
I think that this shows innovative thinking -
HTC Joins IBM To Bolster Sales With An Enterprise Mobility Initiative | TechWeekEurope UK
As well as this -
Toys R Us Now Offering Kid-Friendly Nabi Tablet For Pre-Order – Specs And Price Are Better Than You Think
But I sometimes have an odd way of looking at things, so I could be wrong - I often am.
Strictly personal opinions, worth every penny you paid.
