I had a 5" display Dell Streak and really liked it, actually. I didn't consider it that underpowered at all, as the article claims. It actually had a cell modem in it, which was rarer in tablets of the day, especially minis. It replaced my phone, and I don't like carrying a separate tablet, and I loved reading on the big screen.
The medium density class for what was high end phone resolution, though, did make software look bad on it often, however. Developers don't often test at that combination.
That said, you can't compare it to modern devices. It was the same size as a 7" display device would be today. There's a certain size above which you are out of the mainstream phone market and into the loss leading, lower numbers tablet market. It didn't have the huge marketing budget Samsung and Apple has either. Heck, marketing for it was even below Google Nexus levels, and I see signs for those around SF regularly.
The medium density class for what was high end phone resolution, though, did make software look bad on it often, however. Developers don't often test at that combination.
That said, you can't compare it to modern devices. It was the same size as a 7" display device would be today. There's a certain size above which you are out of the mainstream phone market and into the loss leading, lower numbers tablet market. It didn't have the huge marketing budget Samsung and Apple has either. Heck, marketing for it was even below Google Nexus levels, and I see signs for those around SF regularly.