Agreed. Historically, it has been cheaper to buy a high volume existing piece of hardware and throw away the pre-installed (and paid for) software than it is to build linux-oriented hardware. The price breaks that come from manufacturing million of units simply swamps the cost savings of not paying for an unused OS (e.g. Windows, Android).
Another interesting trick Canonical has talked about is Ubuntu on Android http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android - essentially running a virtualized linux on the Android kernel. I don't believe it is available yet (their target market appears to be handset manufacturers, not us) and I have my doubts whether it will be useful enough to break into the general market.
WRT getting the software right, it is not easy moving a desktop-oriented system to a tablet/touch-oriented system. Canonical and others have been working that problem, so it will get better over time. This video (from 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn3m09zkcbo makes it look like it works great. Maybe it is time for me to buy that Nexus 7. :-)
You can install Ubuntu on the Nexus 7 today. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nexus7/Installation The Nexus 10 will probably happen too.
Another interesting trick Canonical has talked about is Ubuntu on Android http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android - essentially running a virtualized linux on the Android kernel. I don't believe it is available yet (their target market appears to be handset manufacturers, not us) and I have my doubts whether it will be useful enough to break into the general market.
WRT getting the software right, it is not easy moving a desktop-oriented system to a tablet/touch-oriented system. Canonical and others have been working that problem, so it will get better over time. This video (from 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn3m09zkcbo makes it look like it works great. Maybe it is time for me to buy that Nexus 7. :-)