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I had an interesting discussion with someone today. They are an avid Apple Product fanboy. Anything that isn't Apple is inferior. I referred to their I-Pad as a tablet, and they got a little bent out of shape about it. Apparently an I-Pad is something else?


Silly me, I thought that "tablet" is a generic term that refers to any handheld, touchscreen computer. To me, making a deal about this is like getting upset about saying Kleenex instead of "facial tissue", or saying Band Aid instead of bandage.


As dakka has a fairly diverse group of people from all over the world, I have to ask, where you are from is there a difference between a "tablet" and an I-Pad?

Yes, of course it's a tablet. Apple don't tend to use the word often, because they want you thinking 'iPad' instead of the generic term, but that doesn't change what it is any more than referring to a Dalmation solely by it's breed means that it's not a dog.

Yeah, that just seems like someone that's bought into the branding too much. There's no difference between the two.

Apples greatest achievement will always be their branding. It's not a phone, it's an iPhone. It's not a tablet, it's an iPad. These statements are false of course, but who am I to judge? They're the ones with the Scrouge McDuckian money pool to swim in

The branding is too strong in some places. I know in Greece they tend to refer to any product by the name of the leading brand.

Tablets are referred to as I-pads, interestingly touring coaches are referred to as Pullmans, which was the leading brand of railway overnight passenger carriages way back.

Most countries have their own scattering of similar... Like English people 'Hoovering' instead of using a vacuum cleaner, or folk down here using an Esky instead of a cooler.

 insaniak wrote:
Most countries have their own scattering of similar... Like English people 'Hoovering' instead of using a vacuum cleaner, or folk down here using an Esky instead of a cooler.

Band-Aid, Kleenix, ect

Also yes, I would consider my iPad a tablet.

 insaniak wrote:
Most countries have their own scattering of similar... Like English people 'Hoovering' instead of using a vacuum cleaner, or folk down here using an Esky instead of a cooler.

I find this wierd.
Then again language and application is wierd since humans are wierd, so it does not surprise me.

Eh its more that sometimes a brand name becomes so widespread in use and so common that it 100% dominates a market.

Consider also the Thermos flask as that is also a brand name, yet its used all the time. Thermos and Hoover would be the two biggest in the UK that I'm aware of, though wouldn't surprise me if there are others.

Apple and their i-tech aim to mimic the same thing, the difference is whilst things like hoovering arose mostly by accident, Apple has studied those patterns and pushed for it hard. The result is that some people will grow up considering brand items as named items and that they are different from other items of the same type. The idea being then to ensure that your iPad is superior to the regular standard tablets for a while. That fast convinces people that the iPad is "different" and not just different, but superior. You only have to keep up the tech jump for a while to turn a generation of buyers and then the tablet sales drop and now you market dominate. Look at iPods; they decimated MP3 sales and were dominating them and still are (though admittedly one other factor is that mobile phones took their place once memory expansion became common). Now if you hunt for an MP3 there's a few high price other brand options, loads of cheaper chinese ones and iPods.

I hadn't thought about it, but I suppose I do notice that people refer to a 'macbook' specifically when it's just a type of laptop.

So yeah, just Apple fanaticism at work.

Do note it’s not necessarily something a company Wants to happen as it can cost them their trademark. The way Apple does it is a bit special in that they’re not getting you to refer to all tablets as iPads, just that you don’t refer to your iPad as a tablet anymore.

 Overread wrote:


Consider also the Thermos flask as that is also a brand name, yet its used all the time. Thermos and Hoover would be the two biggest in the UK that I'm aware of, though wouldn't surprise me if there are others.

Velcro, Selloptape, Trampoline... there are loads!

 Kroem wrote:

 Overread wrote:


Consider also the Thermos flask as that is also a brand name, yet its used all the time. Thermos and Hoover would be the two biggest in the UK that I'm aware of, though wouldn't surprise me if there are others.

Velcro, Selloptape, Trampoline... there are loads!

Trampoline is a brand? What are they actually called then... bouncy jump mats?

Tannoy is another one.

Xerox is another, one that is specifically not happy about it as AduroT mentions. They found their products being conflated with those of other companies to be poor. Loss of sales and assumptions that inferior products were theirs.

Pepsi Co. also hates it, since they're usually on the receiving end of the 'Can I have a Coke?' 'Is Pepsi OK?' exchange in restaurants.


But yeah, an iPad is definitely a tablet just an overpriced (though fairly reliable) one.

Some companies still jealously guard their terminology as well. I've had eBay cancel listings because I used "velcro" in the item title instead of "hook and loop fastener material" etc. I was informed that Velcro has people who search eBay for that material and report it to eBay, lol.

Don't mess with Velcro!

 Riquende wrote:

 Kroem wrote:

 Overread wrote:


Consider also the Thermos flask as that is also a brand name, yet its used all the time. Thermos and Hoover would be the two biggest in the UK that I'm aware of, though wouldn't surprise me if there are others.

Velcro, Selloptape, Trampoline... there are loads!

Trampoline is a brand? What are they actually called then... bouncy jump mats?

Tannoy is another one.

Good question! According to wikipedia...

"The generic term for the trademarked trampoline was a rebound tumbler and the sport began as rebound tumbling. It has since lost its trademark and has become a generic trademark."

Voss wrote:

Pepsi Co. also hates it, since they're usually on the receiving end of the 'Can I have a Coke?' 'Is Pepsi OK?' exchange in restaurants.

That one's a slightly different issue, since it's generally more an issue of more people drinking Coke than Pepsi, rather than the name replacing a generic term. Although I understand that 'Coke' is used as a default term for fizzy drinks in some parts of the US.

The bigger problem there is restaurants only stocking one or the other. Because if I want a Coke, no, Pepsi is most certainly not OK...

 insaniak wrote:

Voss wrote:

Pepsi Co. also hates it, since they're usually on the receiving end of the 'Can I have a Coke?' 'Is Pepsi OK?' exchange in restaurants.

That one's a slightly different issue, since it's generally more an issue of more people drinking Coke than Pepsi, rather than the name replacing a generic term. Although I understand that 'Coke' is used as a default term for fizzy drinks in some parts of the US.

It is. Depending on region, it's usually either soda or pop (or soda pop, but usually people shorten names) or cola. Coca-cola more or less ate 'cola' as a term (though a couple off brands (like RC cola) and generics still use the word) and eventually replaced it with the name brand, 'Coke' Ironically after no longer using cocaine in the recipe.

Its generic enough that if I put 'cola' into Google it gives me a side bar on Coca-Cola, and a 'See results about' sidebar with links for 'Cola (soft drink)' with a picture of a Coke, and a second entry for 'Soda.'

Is a Bugatti Veyron a car?

Is an Airbus A380 an aeroplane?

 Kilkrazy wrote:

Is an Airbus A380 an aeroplane?

This isn't exactly rhetorical, the A380 is clearly a white elephant

Is it a tablet or is it a ipad?


It's a computer. ( low end computers )

 Stormatious wrote:
Is it a tablet or is it a ipad?


It's a computer. ( low end computers )

Ehhh. It has a processor, but that's setting the bar really low for what is or isn't a computer. And times being what they are, that doesn't really exclude console systems, phones, watches, TVs, microwaves or cars.

Voss wrote:

 Stormatious wrote:
Is it a tablet or is it a ipad?


It's a computer. ( low end computers )

Ehhh. It has a processor, but that's setting the bar really low for what is or isn't a computer. And times being what they are, that doesn't really exclude console systems, phones, watches, TVs, microwaves or cars.

Microwaves phones watches and tv's and cars have a lot more purposes for it to be considered a computer, they are "things" which include computers with them.. A tablet is litteraly just a computer.

 Kroem wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

Is an Airbus A380 an aeroplane?

This isn't exactly rhetorical, the A380 is clearly a white elephant

Nah, that'd be the superguppy.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a25587413/super-guppy-badass-plane/

 Stormatious wrote:
Is it a tablet or is it a ipad?


It's a computer. ( low end computers )

Which, while technically true, is not actuality a relevant answer to the question, any more than answering 'is 14 odd or even?' with 'It's a number!'

 Stormatious wrote:

Voss wrote:

 Stormatious wrote:
Is it a tablet or is it a ipad?


It's a computer. ( low end computers )

Ehhh. It has a processor, but that's setting the bar really low for what is or isn't a computer. And times being what they are, that doesn't really exclude console systems, phones, watches, TVs, microwaves or cars.

Microwaves phones watches and tv's and cars have a lot more purposes for it to be considered a computer, they are "things" which include computers with them.. A tablet is litteraly just a computer.

Many tablets have the capability to make calls using mobile data networks. Modern smart phones are fundamentally the same as a tablet except for screen size. They use the same OS, they can run the same software, they both can make use of mobile data networks etc.

The key point of a computer is that the user can put data into the machine, program and run useful computations, and get transformed data out of it.

 Overread wrote:
Eh its more that sometimes a brand name becomes so widespread in use and so common that it 100% dominates a market.

This has happened even in quite old times Japanese have saying "Kobo stole the Daishi"(or something to that effect) refering to the fact that while Daishi is just a title Emperor's used to give to particularly renowed priests(literally means great teacher) Kobo Daishi(as Kukai's posthumous name became) is so bloody famous that if somebody refers to Daishi it's pretty much without exception reference to Kobo Daishi.

Poor other Daishi's all forgotten

An iPad is a tablet. A tablet is any multi-purpose hand-held computer that is smaller than a laptop but larger than a smartphone.

Voss wrote:


The bigger problem there is restaurants only stocking one or the other. Because if I want a Coke, no, Pepsi is most certainly not OK...

That's frequently an issue in restaurants, as a lot of times refrigerated displays and soda cases and such are a 'freebie' from the beverage distributor for carrying their product. And as such, they often demand exclusivity in exchange for supplying the hardware. So that leads places to being Coke or Pepsi establishments, as the equipment is not theirs. Woe unto the establishment that gets caught with Pepsi in a Coke branded cooler, or vice versa!