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Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

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Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#591
post #14

They announced a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2"

My initial thought precisely.

  Samsung Note Pro :  12.2" , 2560 x 1600
  Apple iPad Pro   :  12.9" , 2732 x 2048
So, about 15mm longer in the diagonal, and a higher resolution.

I have a Sammy Note Pro 12.2 - purchased with the vague intent of not needing to take a laptop with me on some work outings. Consequently I picked up an integrated keyboard / cover (the custom Logitech model). Combined they bring me very close to the weight of a laptop, but (just like the iPad will) it wins out on battery life and needing a USB charger rather than a power brick. And carrying a mouse is optional, though once you use a keyboard, a mouse also becomes a convenience.

Curiously enough I'd originally expected to not get much use from the stylus / digitiser, but it's become one of the more compelling features of the thing.

Nonetheless it's a heavy beast, and I usually end up carrying a laptop too. The Samsung (just like the innovation that Apple has only just announced) has been doing side-by-side and floating application windows for a while now - but even so, painful to do anything productive on it compared to working on a proper operating system.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#592
post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The starbucks full of students typing out reports on iPads with bluetooth keyboards begs to differ. I mean, obviousy, you can't do all work on an iPad, but for a certain class of "work" it works fine.

Of course. And don't get me wrong, the iPad is far from worthless and Apple is far from Trivial in the space. The point is that Apple is no longer the leader/innovator in the space. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that a lot of iOS devices get sold on intangibles rather than concrete benefits or capabilities. Apple has created tremendous value in these intangibles by being so awesome/innovative/ahead for the last 8 y…

I don't see where the competition is coming from. Samsung? Google? Xiaomi?

Outside of Microsoft (disclosure: MS employee), I don't see much competition for Apple in the innovative premium tablet space. They still execute well in the phone space, watch seems to be shaping up fine, they are still the only PC maker that is known for producing PCs that can last. The costs don't seem too off from the competition, unless we are talking about Xiaomi or Lenovo, but then the tradeoffs are obvious (no longer in the premium space).

I do see Apple slowing down a bit in innovation. I mean, if iPad Pro was released last year (stylus, yeh!), I might have bought it, but the Surface 3 came out instead, which is quite decent (I won't go SP3 because of the fan). But Apple is still executing well, they aren't making many mistakes. They have built up a loyal fanbase and haven't done anything to betray them yet.

People who depend on tech are usually about the shiny more than normal consumers, who just want to get what they need done. The rabid irrational Apple fanboy isn't grandma, no, it is the young kid working in tech.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#593
post #588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They dominate the profits -- and the people that actuall do anything "smart" (most web use in the US for example, is from iOS devices, despite Android devices being far more percentage-wise). Androids huge sales are mostly low end of the market -- people who don't care about smartphones or computers, and just get whats cheaper with a 2 year contract.

> most web use in the US for example, is from iOS devices Any proof? Our US-only ecommerce site has 33% more visitors using Android than iOS. Our other US-only site has 2x more Android visitors than iOS. I realize that sites vary by demographics, so I'm curious if you're just making this statement up, using your own site's stats, or found something that actually backs this up on the wider web.

>Any proof?

http://fortune.com/2015/09/04/apple-tv-everywhere-share/ http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-outshines-android-in-us-mobil...

Or:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/08/03/ios-users-...

Or even this, which spins the issue:

http://www.businessinsider.com/android-is-beating-ios-in-web...

The latter is about Android "beating" iOs in web usage for the first time -- but in fact usage/users ratio is much higher in iOS, so you get more web usage from far fewer users.

>Our US-only ecommerce site has 33% more visitors using Android than iOS. Our other US-only site has 2x more Android visitors than iOS.

Depends if it attracts the demographic who would opt for cheaper Android phones.

My numbers are from several generic articles (by ad companies, sites etc) on the respective platforms web use.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an insurance adjuster at my house to evaluate hail damage earlier this year and he did everything on an iPad. My doctor uses an iPad for Medscape (? not sure if that's right) and some other mobile point of care app. My mother in law is a real estate agent and her office uses iPads for everything. There's a ton of them and it's a very hot area right now. It's a great time to be an iOS developer.

It's worth noting that some (probably most) of these aren't iOS exclusives; I've had Medscape on quite a few of my Android devices over the last couple years, for example.

Oh for sure. Many are fairly thin wrappers around web api client.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#595
post #581
post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Apple added NFC the day they had the software and the service ready, with all the intricacies in making a secure and private payment system, that works offline, is as fast or faster than swiping a card with no passwords to type... What specific changes have made it possible for NFC to work in this way? All those things you listed seem possible in 2012.

Market changes - POS credit card machines were scheduled to be phased out in favor of chips and NFC by EOY2015 [1]. Apple Pay didn't come out of the blue. The impending POS infrastructure change created the opportunity to launch a better payments user experience in the 2014-2015 timeframe. Apple knew this, and developed/acquired/refined a better security method (touchID + tokenization) and corresponding user experien…

That's not quite right. That article is about chip & pin only, and not about NFC. Apple made the business decision to build their own payments system and lock merchants in using Passbook, rather than use NFC, which is more open.

When it comes to market adoption of hardware, typically the market leader gets picked up for adoption. By forcing their own version of mobile payments (passbook) and not allowing NFC, the market was split and NFC adoption stymied.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#596
post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They dominate the profits -- and the people that actuall do anything "smart" (most web use in the US for example, is from iOS devices, despite Android devices being far more percentage-wise). Androids huge sales are mostly low end of the market -- people who don't care about smartphones or computers, and just get whats cheaper with a 2 year contract.

But most mobile web browsing worldwide is from Android devices, and iOS's share of the mobile device market in the US is much larger than in most other countries (not quite parity, but Android's lead is much smaller). Apple does reap the lion's share of profit from smartphone sales, but they don't dominate smartphone use.

>But most mobile web browsing worldwide is from Android devices

Of course it is -- there are way more of those Android units.

But I wanted to point which users are more active, not mere volume. Even in the US Android could have more volume, but iOS users still generate far more traffic (not as total: as traffic per head).

If the 10% or 5% iOS users in a country generate the 20% or 30% of web traffic, then they are much more heavier tech/web users than the others.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#597
post #47

Predicted by a 3 year old comic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COenroJWEAAjLoi.jpg:large

And so it begins... the once innovative company is now playing catch up, losing a little bit of its sex appeal as it copies the bland competition.

Where did you get the impression that Apple have really invented any original technologies in its long history?...

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example they'll say 'the iPhone 6 was the most popular iPhone ... EVER'. As if it's significant. But that's completely unexpected and it's not news, either. I'll happily take a 10 trillion dollar bet that the iPhone 7 will sell even better. And that the new Galaxy S 6 sells better than the 5, and the 7 will sell better than the 6, too. You understand that sales growth can't last forever right?

It's limited by global macroeconomics, which is still raising its ceilings.

Actually it's also limited by tons of factors: competition, fashion, etc. People have been announcing the "end" of the iPhone and iPhone killers ever since 2008 (that was BS of course, but it still can happen that some revision, e.g. 6s sells less than the previous).

iPad for example has had that happening to it (later revision sold less well).

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not asymmetry. The lovers are also not really interested in discussion and are just as prone to pollute it with blind positivity as the haters are to do so with blind negativity.

The lovers, while possibly blinded, are at least interested in the details.

If you do not think somebody can think something's a bad idea and still be interested in "the details", I question what sort of world you live in.

You would do well to consider removing the word "haters" from your vocabulary. It's used solely by the unempathic, the childish, and the criticism-sensitive, and doesn't in any situation help.

Re: Apple Unveils the iPad Pro

#600

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's marketing. And when it comes to marketing its far more true than that Lynx will get you laid (lol), or that some new detergent will revolutionaze how clean your clothes are, or that some GAP clothes will make you part of the "in" crowd. It's also depends on the level we're talking. If we just take "product like the iPad pro" to mean "a large tablet" then yes it's a "complete falsehood". But it obviously means "a…

> It's marketing. And when it comes to marketing its far more true than that Lynx will get you laid (lol), or that some new detergent will revolutionaze how clean your clothes are, or that some GAP clothes will make you part of the "in" crowd. Yes. It's marketing - the magic context in which we suspend our disbelief and let people lie to our faces, and we then applaud and pay them.

Do we really "suspend our disbelief"? I don't think we're naive 50s tv viewers in this day and age.

If anything gets us is not us believing the ad, but just getting pumped with the nice visuals and subtle suggestions (so more subsconscius manipulation than convincing us).

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