Created with Love

It seems to me that so many products out there are built to make a buck and often don't show the creating company's passion.

I love technology, though I'm certainly not an early adopter. When I first saw an Ipad at Future Shop I was in awe. The feel and look were amazing. The screen is more reactive than I realized it would be. I came within a hair's breadth of buying my first Apple product.

But then I started to really look at the features that Apple DIDN'T include in the IPad. No USB slots. No camera. No Flash. No multitasking. Can't be used in direct sunlight. No ability to expand the memory.

I'm not knocking the Ipad. It's still an amazing product and I applaud Apple for coming out with the first and flashiest tablet on the market. They have an amazing fan base and some solid products on the market. My daughter loves her Ipod Touch. I honestly don't design on a Mac because I learned on a PC and have never felt the need to learn the new system.

I do, however, wonder if it was the best product for their customers or if it was the best product for their pocketbooks. Did they really believe that Ipad users didn't want a camera. Is their feud with Adobe really important enough to keep people from playing their flash games? And what's the reason for not having a USB port? I see an amazing product that should have been so much better. I'm sure we'll be seeing an Ipod II in the coming months that will fix some of the problems the IPad has, but shouldn't they have made and sold a product that didn't have such big features missing? Don't they owe it to their customers - to the early adopters who help drive sales of a new product - to release a product that has all the bells and whistles?

I have no idea what Apple was thinking. Maybe they put out a product that they thought was perfect.

I won't buy it as it stands because there are so many things I would like to be able to do all the things I'd like to be able to do with a $800 piece of technology.

I started looking at the other tablets coming out in the next year. Three really stand out to me as being able to do what I need them to do:

RIM's Playbook looks amazing. It's powerful, supports flash and I don't have to buy another data plan because I can tether it to my Black Berry. It's backed by an excellent company that I know I can trust to put out a great product.

Dell's Duo is exciting because it gives me what I always worry about not having with a tablet - a key board. It also boasts a pretty powerful processor since it's really just a net book with a touchable screen. I like the idea of having a basic computer that I can also use as a tablet, but I worry about size and durability.

The one company that I will probably buy from, however, isn't even based in North America. Notion Ink, a new company out of India, will be getting my money (so far) with their new Adam. They strongly believe that they are putting out the best product. It also will be one of the most inexpensive products in the market. If it's even half as good as it looks, the Adam will still stand toe to toe with the biggest companies trying to bring a tablet to the market. If it is as good as they want it to be, it will be the best product out there.

But it's not just the features that are intriguing me, though they are looking pretty amazing. I have been reading the Notion Ink blog and what I see isn't just a drive to put out a successful product, but instead I see a drive to be the best in the world at what they do. I see passion. I see genuine belief in excellence.

When you strive to be the best instead of striving to be the biggest or the richest, you create more than just a good product - you create a good brand. Branding is so important for a company, especially when the company can begin building their brand before the product has even been released.

Rohan Shravan, Notion Ink's CEO, keeps interested parties informed with a weekly blog, but he also stays on top of the comments from the blog and also other blogs and news stories. He seems always willing to jump in and answer any questions he can, though at 1000 comments on a blog post only days after it's been posted means that he can't talk to everyone.

One of the things that sold the company and the product to me was the marking on the back. On the back of every Adam will be the words 'Created with Love by Notion Ink.' Corny and cheesy? Yeah, probably, but it also hints at an underling value system at Notion Ink. They do love what they do and are striving for something more than just a product; this isn't going to be just a plain old tablet to watch movies on. This will be something special.

The jury is still out on the Adam. The release date is creeping slowly forward, and who can honestly say what the product will be like. Being able to build a brand without a product only works if you can back up that branding with something great. The company has to be true to that brand from the moment the product hits the shelves.

I don't know Mr Shravan, so I can't begin to say if he's honest and as excited about the product as he seems. What I do know, however, is that if Notion Ink and it's young CEO are as honest as they seem, I can't imagine the product being anything less than stellar. And that's enough to sell me.


Notion Ink website
Rohan Shravan's Notion Ink Blog