Ian Betteridge offers a savvy take on modern computer purchase:

If there’s one thing that the huge demand for netbooks a few years ago proved, it’s that people buy because they can see how a computer can do something for them, not on megahertz.

In the case of netbooks, the “something” was being a machine they could carry everywhere, and do simple stuff on. In the case of Macs, it’s having access to easy to use, powerful software like iPhoto, iMovie, and so on – in a package that’s good looking, well designed, robust, and so on.

This continues through to tablets. There’s a lovely comment I recall reading from a teenager who said they wanted an iPad rather than a netbook, because you could “do more” with the iPad. Geeks would spit out their coffee at such a remark, reel off a tech-specs list, burble on about installing any app, ever (preferably on Linux) and get all huffy about someone buying a tablet, especially one from Apple and its walled garden.

The reality is most people really don’t give a crap about bullet-points. They just want to do things. With the iPad, they see all these adverts that show people making music, finger-painting, creating office documents, playing games, with hugely intuitive interfaces, on a device that’s sleek and shiny. Apple doesn’t need to bang on about the amount of RAM the iPad has, or the A4 chip’s speed—it’s all about what you can do, creatively, productively, or as a consumer. Until the competition figures that out, they’ll have a tough time catching Apple in the tablet space, and also a tricky time stopping Apple from nibbling away at marketshare for laptops and even desktop PCs.