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Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

engadget.com

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Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#161

Post by danilocampos »

mattparcher wrote: post #113
billmcneale wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did you really expect Apple to add USB ports to the iPad? Doesn't seem unreasonable coming from the company that claims to have popularized USB: http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/

Thunderbolt is actually based on the Mini DisplayPort specification. If anything, Apple will add this to the iPad, but it will look quite different than USB. The next iPad, rumored for September of this year, is more likely to include major new features, including a higher-resolution display and more connectivity (i.e. Thunderbolt).

It's doubtful that the iPad is going to refresh that dramatically by September. It's even more doubtful that Thunderbolt would be in such a refresh – they would have to add PCIe support to their ARM SOC and that doesn't seem trivial.

(Though it's entirely possible it's in the new A5 and they said nothing about it)

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#162

Post by achompas »

Pewpewarrows wrote: post #128
catch23 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB would add a huge power drain to the ipad. plus I'm not sure if most people would need it. What's wrong with bluetooth add-ons? Also, where are these cheap tablets running honeycomb? The only one I've seen available so far is the Xoom and that's $800 for their starter model.

The Xoom is $600, not $800, and my comment said soon. Android smartphones started out slow as well as you may or may not remember. Apple Fanboys were all too eager to laugh at the first model or two of phone running on Android, and now look who's running the market just a short time later. If you don't see any correlation between what happened then and what's happening now I honestly don't know what to tell you.

> and now look who's running the market just a short time later.

Can we stop with the "market share" talk? No one is "running" the smartphone market. What is this, Engadget?

Android benefits from mass adoption, since Google makes money on ads. So they license their OS for free to a bunch of manufacturers. They're doing pretty well.

Apple benefits from a simple, walled-off platform because that's their design philosophy. So they update a few products a year. They, too, are doing pretty well.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#163

Post by Pewpewarrows »

danilocampos wrote: post #152
Pewpewarrows wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn't have to do much to appeal to the mass market of people that purchase their products. The iPad 2 could have only added a camera, and it would sell by the millions this year. Apple has very good PR. It's allowed them to create a nice ecosystem of brand loyalty where people will always come out to buy their "next great thing" year after year. They've made a good profit from it, so it must be working. When…

> Apple doesn't have to do much to appeal to the mass market of people that purchase their products. Of course they do. They're not selling $20 pairs of jeans, here. They're selling expensive stuff that requires a conscious decision to purchase. Apple needs to provide a compelling case to move their product. It's not practical to buy something just because it's from Apple. It has to actually do something for you as a…

You honestly don't believe that most Apple customers just buy Apple products because of the brand name on the box?

Go survey anyone buying the products in the store or online. See how long it takes you to get an answer along the lines of: "I researched all my options and this seemed like the best choice."

> You can't sell 15 million units of a brand new, $500 product in nine months on the strength of TV ads and magazine pieces. It has to actually work well.

The iPad by any other name and company would not have sold close to that amount.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#164

Post by rkudeshi »

sachitgupta wrote: post #86
mechanical_fish wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sell the old one used. Apple kit holds its value very well, as you would expect from a product that is selling almost as fast as it can be made. Gazelle.com is currently offering me 60% of the retail price of my old iPad. Must... resist...

Have you ever used Gazelle before? $375 is really good for a 16gb wifi iPad. EDIT: Planning on selling mine, so wondering if anyone has used the service before?

Looks like Gazelle's offer just went down to $283. They're convenient if you don't want to use Craigslist, but note that they will always lowball you (since they're planning to resell it themselves).

I sold my original base model iPad for $400 on Craigslist last week ($100 less than I paid). I'm sure you could still get at least $300 now, more if you put in the time to write a good ad and/or offer to deliver nearby.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#165

Post by Pewpewarrows »

marklabedz wrote: post #160
Pewpewarrows wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tablet that has to stand against the next entire year of competitors, at Apple's current release schedule. It's not even caught up to the Xoom in terms of hardware specs. Like the iPhone before it, it'll be tough competition against the wave of competitors that have faster release schedules.

For the general public, it doesn't have to keep up with hardware specs when the experience already out-paces it.

The general public doesn't buy Apple products by way of rational decision-making. They buy it because it's Apple and to be part of the community and culture of Apple fans.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#166

Post by cwisecarver »

sachitgupta wrote: post #86
mechanical_fish wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sell the old one used. Apple kit holds its value very well, as you would expect from a product that is selling almost as fast as it can be made. Gazelle.com is currently offering me 60% of the retail price of my old iPad. Must... resist...

Have you ever used Gazelle before? $375 is really good for a 16gb wifi iPad. EDIT: Planning on selling mine, so wondering if anyone has used the service before?

I've got a co-worker who sold his 3gs about a year ago. He said it was a great experience. On seeing your comment I just started the process of selling my iPad 32gb wifi to gazelle. $437, not bad. I won't be buying the 2nd gen. I just want to offload mine before the value drops out of it.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#167

Post by rimantas »

Pewpewarrows wrote: post #128
catch23 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB would add a huge power drain to the ipad. plus I'm not sure if most people would need it. What's wrong with bluetooth add-ons? Also, where are these cheap tablets running honeycomb? The only one I've seen available so far is the Xoom and that's $800 for their starter model.

The Xoom is $600, not $800, and my comment said soon. Android smartphones started out slow as well as you may or may not remember. Apple Fanboys were all too eager to laugh at the first model or two of phone running on Android, and now look who's running the market just a short time later. If you don't see any correlation between what happened then and what's happening now I honestly don't know what to tell you.

  > and now look who's running the market
How about looking who is making money?

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#168

Post by Pewpewarrows »

niallsmart wrote: post #157
Pewpewarrows wrote: post #64

So... a dual core processor, two cameras, and... that's it? I was honestly expecting a LOT more considering how much competition they're getting this year. The new cover is neat, and it seems like they did a great job with the Movie and Garage Band apps, but the new iPad 2 is pretty underwhelming. Same old low resolution, no USB ports, and no desperately needed UI changes (I'm guessing iOS 5 wasn't ready yet and you'…

USB? What, exactly, do you want to plug into it? It will run iOS 5 when it's ready (good luck getting the latest Android releases on non-Google hardware).

Nearly every Android device has been made to run up to almost the latest version of the OS.

Good luck with iOS 5 practically bricking the all but the latest hardware coming out of Apple because the phone slows to a crawl.

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#169

Post by pitdesi »

mattparcher wrote: post #73
pitdesi wrote: post #61

Wow, Steve seems to have done a turnaround... does anyone remember when he said 7" was way too small? http://www.tipb.com/2010/10/18/steve-jobs-7inch-tablets-terr...

The iPad 2 retains the 9.7" screen size and dimensions of the original iPad: http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

thanks i totally misread that

Re: Live from Apple's iPad 2 event

#170

Post by danilocampos »

Pewpewarrows wrote: post #163
danilocampos wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple doesn't have to do much to appeal to the mass market of people that purchase their products. Of course they do. They're not selling $20 pairs of jeans, here. They're selling expensive stuff that requires a conscious decision to purchase. Apple needs to provide a compelling case to move their product. It's not practical to buy something just because it's from Apple. It has to actually do something for you as a…

You honestly don't believe that most Apple customers just buy Apple products because of the brand name on the box? Go survey anyone buying the products in the store or online. See how long it takes you to get an answer along the lines of: "I researched all my options and this seemed like the best choice." > You can't sell 15 million units of a brand new, $500 product in nine months on the strength of TV ads and magaz…

> The iPad by any other name and company would not have sold close to that amount.

That's definitely true. An iPad by another company would not sell anywhere close to 15 million units in nine months. Why?

* Low standards for overall product quality, along with short term gotta make Wall Street happy this quarter thinking, so products get rushed to market

* Sloppy software/hardware integration

* No access to 20 years of NeXTStep/OS X libraries and tools to build an awesome developer experience, so apps will suck

* No supply chain optimization to provide an outstanding form factor at a compelling price

* No consistent, worldwide retail presence to allow users to experiment with the new product and have questions answered

* No culture of absurd exhaustive prototyping to ensure that the user experience works well once the product is in the hands of customers

> You honestly don't believe that most Apple customers just buy Apple products because of the brand name on the box?

I honestly believe the Apple brand gets people into the store. Once they're in the store, the actual product sells itself. Any further influence of the brand in the purchasing decision comes down to the simple truth that Apple has been consistently making better shit than everyone else for years. But you can't pay a PR firm for that.

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