Apple's iPad or the Samsung Galaxy? Small-Business Users Debate The Samsung Galaxy Tab is one of the first real credible tablet challengers to Apple's iPad. But are its more limited apps a hindrance or an advantage?
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Can't Live With It
Joshua Bauder, owner of Bauder Extreme Design, a Washington, D.C.-based graphic and web design business
A busy young owner of a thriving small graphic and web design shop, Bauder says he depends on a tablet computer to get him through long slogs on the cramped Washington, D.C., Metro system. But the device he totes with him isn't the Galaxy--Bauder opted instead for the iPad. Granted, Bauder is a bit of an Apple fanatic. Like many longtime designers, he grew his business to more than 40 clients--from small all the way up to big brands like Rockstar Energy Drink--using his cadre of Apple products. It only made sense to add an iPad rather than an Android device, since he uses Apple's MobileMe service to keep data synced between his Apple laptop, iPhone and his tablet. And when he put the Samsung Galaxy head-to-head with the iPad, the real tipping point was that far more apps were available for the iPad than for the Android-based device.
Can't Live Without It
Ray Willig, executive vice president and chief technology officer for The Fresh Diet, a healthful meal delivery service based in Surfside, Fla.
As the team lead for a nine-person technology department responsible for helping The Fresh Diet expand from a small Florida meal delivery service to a national brand running seven kitchens, Willig is the first person to review new devices for possible business use across the company. He says that after trying the iPad, the Samsung Galaxy offered a bit of fresh air. The thing that jumped out at him was this tablet's slightly smaller size. Like Bauder, the app situation was the real determinant, but Willig came to the opposite conclusion: He liked Samsung's Android platform for its flexibility in supporting in-house applications. "The fact that it runs on Android is a big sell for me because I find Apple to be a little control-freakish with the way they handle their app store," Willig says. "As somebody that might be using apps that people on my team are going to be writing, it's so much easier to get them onto an Android device."
