2) Well it might be heavier, but not enough to make that much of a difference. Wii U gamepad is light and nice to hold.
4) But most apps are actually good enough to bother with, unlike app store filled with trash.
5) My GBA has survived a 3 meter fall like nothing, without a case. Wii u was the same quality.
6) Which means it have quite good specs.
7) Thickness could also tie into battery.
I don't really put my 3ds in the pocket that much. A much bigger tablet will a) fit in my bag b) carried around.
2) we disagree here. Anything that's double the thickness of the typical tablet on sale today will see little traction, even if there were no other obvious weaknesses (which there are plenty; apps being the most notable)
4) I can pick anything from clothes to supermarkets to music and say most of it is trash...and it is. The point is you are far more likely to find what you want with choice. As opposed to none. There is truly a massive
choice of apps to do what you want (keep in touch, organise, tons of specialisat apps, dictionaries, medical resources, whatever) and it does satisfy a heck of a lot of users, unlike having almost no choice with Nintendo. You are far more likely to find what you want with
choice. Nintendo has no plans to get serious competing with phones and tablets on this level. Personally, I don't blame them. That ship has sailed and it's not their core competency. They'd be competing with so many large & small software & hardware companies for very little reward.
5) this is a large-screened device that looks far more delicate to my eyes. Everything from the slide-off controllers to exposed edges and kickstand accidents look ripe for damage to me. We'll see. Earlier portable hardware had smaller screens and no great need to offload a lot of heat either.
6) which could mean early component death due to heat stresses and/or early battery death, probably. Li-Ion/Li-Polymer batteries degrade pretty badly due to heat too. The Switch doesn't seem half as elegant as using devices that don't require fat vents to dissipate waste heat (like phones and tablets which the masses are using daily) and no chance for dust and liquids and little critters getting inside either.
7) Thickness could mean a bigger battery, sure. But the point is it is substantially thicker than the average tablet. Which means less users likely to carry it around (particularly the non-hardcore casual user and females, frankly), even if it did have all the apps and games people wanted or needed. It definitely doesn't look like it will be competing in the apps department, so we can cross that one off. That alone is enough to relegate it to 'gaming only, for-the-Nintendo-fans' status. Sure, nobody puts tablets in their pocket, but it's still thicker and likely heavier. I can't see many casuals choosing a Nintendo tablet for all the reasons already discussed. For gaming, sure. Not for any other reason. It just won't be replacing general-purpose devices like phones and tablets anytime soon. Price. Size. Apps. All major stumbling blocks. Even if the hardware were perfect.