Personally, I consciously want the iOS to fail. I want to be able to install any OS I want on my tablet without voiding my warranty, and Apple's done a great job of setting a trend against that. If Apple provides boot camp for the iPad, I personally will probably shut up and buy one.
Locked-down bootloaders are the norm in the high-end tablet space, because Apple set the trend. Yes, there are a handful of freely modifiable ones, but I don't want my hardware choices constrained to those vendors which deign to let me use the hardware I've purchased as I please.
That's twisting my words a a bit isn't it? I don't like what Apple is doing. Other manufacturers imitate Apple. I want Apple to fail in the hopes that other manufacturers will stop imitating Apple.
I'm sure other manufacturers would stop imitating Apple if Apple failed.
But that's an incredibly negative view isn't it? By imitating Apple, the other manufacturers simply aren't contributing anything meaningful. It seems unlikely that Apple's failure would make them suddenly unleash a wealth of creativity and contribution on the world. If they had it, why wouldn't they be using it right now?
Wouldn't it be better for Apple to succeed, and the imitators fail? That way, we'd get the best of both worlds. Advancement of technology from Apple, and a clear marketplace signal that imitators are not wanted.
New companies and investors would who wanted to succeed would no longer be tempted to imitate but might actually innovate.
