From a personal point of view :

At the highest end, we have Apple iPads, which aren't compatible with anything, but have the "cool" factor.

And all other bases are covered with android, from smaller chepaer tablets, through the Nexus Range and the Samsungs.

Now there is RT, which only benefit is that it runs office, where as the other two don't.

If the RT had been completely compatible with Windows (7) then there would have been a more compelling reason to have one.

From a works point of view

Well, the RT isn't domain compatible, so I might as well buy any of the others - whichever it's going to make and take a lot of work to integrate, so I might as well look at a solution that covers all.

Simple citation, that I linked to earlier, showing Ford complaining that 1973 proposal was too soon. This was only a requirement for federal government cars, not all cars.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595

Hence, the reason why GM designed and produced a fleet of cars with air bags to sell to the government in 1973 with Airbags.

Sorry, I'll disagree again - the FG requirement for air bags was before 1970 (1969 I believe), to be in place for 1973.

The article that I linked to, that which is a newspaper article from 1970, has Ford saying that "it (Ford) sees no way it can comply in time with a federal government proposal that all 1973 cars be equipped with airbags."

I would argue that an experimental fleet was just that, an experiment. It wasn't for sale to anyone, and a bit more research seems to suggest this.

I would suggest that without the Federal Governments requirements, there would have been no Air Bags in cars in 1971, 72, 73 - and indeed it would suggest that as what happened in Europe it wouldn't have been until 1980 + that they would have been introduced.

You said Government should have no credit for any safety improvements. That's your comment. Thats what you said. You then implied it was consumer pressure that produced safety measures (by metioning the ford Pinto)

I pointed out that you should look at federal government(FG form now as I don't want to type it) introducing mandatory airbags. To elaborate on that, it was the FG that mandated that all the cars the FG bought from 1973 must have airbags. Thats the year, those are the facts. I was not specific and I should have been, but I was not talking about the 199X consumer laws.

It seems you don't see the link between the FG mandating airbags in 1973, GM and Ford testing them in 1970 to meet the deadline, and making them available because of the FG demanded it.

The FG may not have "made" the airbags, but the made the motor companies go down that route, by telling them it must be - the article in 1970 that I've linked to makes that obvious - the FG mandated airbags in the cars it bought before the technology was mature enough to go into any cars, forcing the makers to accelerate developing and testing airbags.

I, at no point said that the FG made airbags.

There were no cars with Air Bags being sold in the US before 1973, and the only reason that Ford & GM (And I's suspect other) were developing Airbags in 1970 were to meed the federal requirements that every car sold to the federal government had to have air bags. the following news article alludes to that fact.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595

If you cannot see this link, that the reason Ford and GM were developing Airbags in 1970 was for because the government required it. There were no other cars, there was no competition on airbags.

According to Mercedes, it wasn't until 1980 that they felt they were ready to introduce airbags, 7 years after the federally mandated requirement that Ford and GM were trying to meet in 1970 and introduced in 1973.

> All of these things were already working and being sold in Japanese and German made cars.

There were no cars with airbags before 1973. GM & Ford introduced cars in 1973 to sell to the federal government that had air bags. Seven years later Mercedes thought they were ready, and introduced it. To my mind 1973 comes before 1980.

> I vehemently deny that the Government did anything that improved the technology or shortened development time. That was happening at Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, etc.. so the US had to compete.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595 [google.com]

You may disagree, but the news story above shows that you are wrong. The federal government made it a requirement that in 1973 that all cars it buys must have an airbag, which pushed the US car makers to develop it. It would not have happened without the Governments involvement, ie the car makers would not have voluntarily have made any cars in 1973 that had airbags.

Can't find the documentary, but a useful snippet

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595

They never used to be, hence why they didn't bother with them. Until it became a selling point. They were not interested in safety, and with out government "nudging" in the 1970s then it wouldn't have happened.

Also, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595 shows that air bags in 1970 were being prepared to meet the government deadline for federally bought cars.

> As to the auto makers wanting to have people pay for air-bags, I agree with your point to an extent. However, you continue to present > the argument as though air-bags didn't exist before Government regulation. That is factually incorrect!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595

From 1970, there was a requirement for them to be available in 1973. In 1970 they were still being tested to meet that deadline.

I think to state that air bags didn't really exist in cars before government regulation isn't that far from a factually correct statement.

And one of the arguments offered by ford "When it goes off it'll damage the cars interior".

Oh it wasn't happening

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19700602&id=tcQxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4036595

> As to the auto makers wanting to have people pay for air-bags, I agree with your point to an extent. However, you continue to present the argument as though air-bags didn't exist before Government regulation. That is factually incorrect!

Of course they existed, but but they were not sold to anyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag

In the early 1970s, Ford and General Motors began offering cars equipped with air bags, initially in government-issue Chevrolets.

And,

G.M. discontinued the option for its 1977 model year, citing lack of consumer interest.

You might want to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed

> Market pressure sped up the development and implementation long before the Government made a law to make them mandatory.

No they never. Indeed, the car industry tried thier damndest to blacken anyone who accuse them of being unsafe.

I just wish I could find the information from a documentary I watched, where Ford basically said that they'd rather not sell to the federal government than introduce air bags.

> I would give some credit to Western Governments for fuel emissions, but not safety.

I think you should look a bit more at history - check out the federal governments requirements for air bags (and the auto industries initial response).

Also maybe look at the 3 point seat belt, most western governments have made it a mandatory feature.