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Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

daringfireball.net

51–60 of 92 posts

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#52

For anyone wondering why Daring Fireball is able to garner a lot of attention (and for that matter, almost any article pertaining to Apple) I refer you to two studies: - When, Why, and How Controversy Causes Conversation by Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger - What Makes online Content Viral? by Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman Results from the first study reveals that controversy significantly affects likelihood of dis…

Backing your opinions up with studies is great. There sure are plenty of reasons (other than quality, which is the elephant in the room IMHO) that Gruber might sometimes find himself on HN.

But your analysis is more about why any article of his can qualify. Wouldn't it be better to judge this individual piece on its merits instead of pleading the general case?

If you label each of his articles as "Controversial; Pro-Apple" you run a risk of forgetting to read them. Today's piece should count against that label, not reaffirm it.

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#53
post #39

I'm not a regular reader of daringfireball, but that blog post is very long on speculation and decidedly short on facts. It's random chance whether any of the resolutions, dimensions, weights, or features he settles on wind up proving to the true. This is firmly in the "Bluray support will be native in the next version of OSX!" sort of speculation.

I've started to read DF posts like this with the mindset that he has some inside information. It is very short on facts, but the logic seems mostly sound. Unfortunately it comes across to me as a "I have 75% of the info, I need to create 100% of the story" kind of piece.

His arguments make sense, especially when following Apples product history. I like the smaller bezel, makes it very handy and I hope it's as thin too. Looks like a very promising product.

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. My thoughts exactly. His recent talk with Siracusa must have helped. [edit] From the show, 1h24m23s: “You haven't done one of those in a while where you do like screen shots and stuff, you used to do that more…” He also changed his favicon soon after Siracusa remarked that it w…

He still manages to come up with gems like this: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polis... He and Siegler come off as partisan hacks and nothing else. Hence mostly only Apple fans seem to think he writes great. I do not know why they have to hate other competing platforms so immensely to love Apple.

It's not hate, just being realistic.

But Apple fans bend their picture of their company, as much as fans of other companies do it. Therefore neither understands, or is willing to understand, the other.

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#55
I do not see how anybody might think it would have iPad-like edges

An edge to place your thumb on must be about an inch wide. A 7 inch diagonal screen is 4 by 6 inch or so. With a one inch edge, the edge would be 16 square inches, or about a third of the area of the device. I do not see how they could sell you that (well, maybe, if they used them for solar cells and managed to power the device from it)

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#57

From the standpoint of a mobile developer and a user of one of Samsung's 7" tablets, the 7" form factor is too big for phone apps to really feel right on it, and too small for the big tab apps to be naively scaled down and feel right. So any Apple tablet at that size will suffer from a lack of good software until everyone catches up. On the plus side, with the entry of an Apple device, there will be a much greater in…

You're assuming that an iPad mini screen would be roughly as usable as a nexus 7 screen, but if the rumours are correct they would be very different. The Nexus 7 has a 'letterbox' widescreen aspect ratio compared to the iPad's chunkier 4x3 screen. Also the iPad screen would be 40% bigger. These are not small differences.

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#58
post #2

I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. On the content: Right on. I will definitely be surprised if the words "thinner" and "lighter" do not feature prominently in Apple's keynote, both vs. the Retina iPad and the Google/Amazon competition.

When "The Tablet" piece came out, I was sold on Gruber's ability to really analyze Apple and think through details in an informational and insightful way. I was impressed enough that I sought out and read some of his much earlier long-form essays, mostly about the nascent days of OS X. He's always had this in him, but I agree the snark has been pushed way too far over the course of recent years to the detriment of th…

This is probably my favourite DF piece http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/the_problems_with_click-th... - the fact that it's from 2003 is telling and I'd like to see him do more like this.

Re: Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

#59
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The extreme popularity of the mac book air and now pc clones of that form factor would indicate otherwise. I think Gruber hit the nail on the head with: Don't think of it as an iPad mini but an iPad air. Once the early adopters flash their iPad airs around with no case (or an extremely thin mag cover), an ipad 3 is going to look fat and heavy. A nexus 7 is going to look bulky and old. Soon it will be a basic expectat…

OK, but everything will still be in a case so still fat and heavy and clunky looking. A shock proof case can only be so thin and only when you can prevent thin glass/metal/plastic from breaking or warping so easily (let's see how long that takes) will that cease to be the limiting factor. And the cases you see around town aren't the mag covers, I'm talking about fully blown folio in synthetics or leather. Mag covers…

So they should make it out of rubber because "it'll end up in a case anyway and be fat and heavy and clunky looking"?

There is a severe flaw in what you're saying - Apple didn't design the iPad 1, iPad 2 or iPad 3 with a full case in mind, in spite of the audience using them lots.

Yes I realise they make the smart case. I think of this like the bumper - offering something demanded, but the core product was designed without it. They also introduced it significantly after the iPad 2.

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