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Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

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Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#41

Post by PhrosTT »

mtgx wrote: post #24

Wow. Look at every Apple user come out and say how much like they a smaller screen now, after downplaying all the 7" Android devices for being too small before the iPad Mini. And please don't tell me it makes such a big difference between a 7" and a 7.9", because in my mind the bigger display size is actually a disadvantage, as it's not a very comfortable one-handed device anymore. You can't use it like you would a s…

Your point on "holdability" is very apt. I find myself watching netflix in bed on my S3 while my 7" HTC Flyer sits on the nightstand. It's just easier to hold.

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#42

Post by thoughtsimple »

potatolicious wrote: post #31
thoughtsimple wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The weight of the 3 is really difficult to hold for long periods of time. I have to say I've never really understood this complaint. Do people use iPads standing up or something? I have the iPad in my lap or on my chest if reading in bed. The amount of time I spend using it while I have to hold it unsupported is minimal. The iPad 3&4 weigh about the same as a large hardcover book. Do people find the weight of hardco…

> "Do people use iPads standing up or something?" Not much, because it's too heavy to use standing up. Or rather, in the usual stand-up use cases (e.g., on a bus, boat, or train) you usually want to one-hand the device, and its weight prevents you from doing so. > "The amount of time I spend using it while I have to hold it unsupported is minimal." Is that because tablets naturally don't have "unsupported" use cases,…

>> "Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is about twice the weight of The Hobbit."

>And how many times have you seen someone reading a book that size on the subway/bus/ferry? ;)

Good point. You may have convinced me.

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#43

Post by snuze »

topbanana wrote: post #30

Uh-oh, my bullshit buzzer went off at "Retina displays aren’t disruptive". Didn't read the rest of the article.

Agreed. I will never go back to a non-retina screen. I bought the Nexus 7 to see what the Android ecosystem is all about and I always reach for the iPad instead. The screen is the deciding factor.

The 7" screen is too small. The text is not crisp. The colors are bland.

My devices: iPad (3rd gen) iPhone 4S Nexus 7

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#44

Post by rayiner »

mtgx wrote: post #24

Wow. Look at every Apple user come out and say how much like they a smaller screen now, after downplaying all the 7" Android devices for being too small before the iPad Mini. And please don't tell me it makes such a big difference between a 7" and a 7.9", because in my mind the bigger display size is actually a disadvantage, as it's not a very comfortable one-handed device anymore. You can't use it like you would a s…

Strawman much? It doesn't take more than 10 seconds on Macrumors to realize that Apple users don't think Apple is perfect. The media fawns over Apple not because it's perfect, but because everyone else is worse. Apple isn't the one releasing a $500 10" tablet with only a 1366x768 screen, they're not the ones releasing $1,000 ultrabooks with bad trackpads, etc. Apple is the one company that consistently puts out products that don't make you go "what the hell were they thinking?" They are the only ones that consistently realize what's important in a consumer product and what's not (e.g. that regular people will gloss over the use of a "last generation" processor on the MBP, but that a bad trackpad will be a dealbreaker). Remember, it was Apple who first realized that people would pay $1,000+ for a laptop with long battery life, light weight, good trackpad/keyboard, and didn't care if it didn't have an optical drive/big spinning HDD/latest processor. When PC manufacturers picked up on this, they started releasing ultrabooks that took all their cues from the MBA line.

As an aside, the size aspect/ratio concern is totally valid. My wife loves her iPhone 5, but lamented, unprompted, that she can't reach the whole screen one handed. The online intelligentsia are shockingly myopic on this issue. I'd bet something like a quarter of iPhone customers are teenage girls--4.7" phones designed for guys with big man paws are not the right design choice for Apple's demographics.

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#45

Post by rogerchucker »

I own an iPad 3 and played with the mini at an Apple Store. The screen really felt unimpressive. Also dimension-wise, Nexus 7 felt more "natural" on my palm compared to the iPad mini, although iPad mini more than compensates with its tablet-specific app selection and what not. So I guess the perfect tablet for me would be the one with the Nexus 7's dimensions, came with Google Now (and other Google-integration), was equipped with Retina Display, and finally ran iOS and the iPad-specific apps. Am I asking for too much? :)

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#46

Post by dpcan »

steele wrote: post #17

On every single flight I take, the main reason why everyone loves my iPad Mini is because it is a Nexus 7. Edit: People ask: "is that the mini?". I avoid being a jerk about it and just say "It's the google one. One of the Nexus products. The mini wasn't out when I bought this but I really like it. etc etc"

I have a 2 year old Galaxy Tab 7" and the same thing happens to us while the kids are playing with it out in public. Everyone thinks it's an iPad mini and wants to see it, even tho it's about a quarter inch thick.

It's 2 years old and it seems to run all modern games at full speed, no problem at all, Minecraft, etc. When playing a game, it would be easy to mistake it for a mini.

It's true that the retina displays aren't disruptive. It's not like I can't fully enjoy our current games and apps without a retina display, so it's just one of those "that would be nice" kind of features.

As far as processor speed is concerned. Again, my 2 year old device runs most modern games and apps at what appears to be full speed. I have no lag, no choppiness, no problem. So why would I need something faster?

I feel like Apple is about to hit the same brick wall PC's have been faced with for years. From a developer's perspective, they have already entered the chaotic realm of fragmentation and backwards compatibility issues, and it's messy.

Things will be changing for Apple. Where they do they go from here?

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#47

Post by mun2mun »

mtgx wrote: post #24

Wow. Look at every Apple user come out and say how much like they a smaller screen now, after downplaying all the 7" Android devices for being too small before the iPad Mini. And please don't tell me it makes such a big difference between a 7" and a 7.9", because in my mind the bigger display size is actually a disadvantage, as it's not a very comfortable one-handed device anymore. You can't use it like you would a s…

Also there is a popular thinking among Apple apologists that Samsung is copying Apple and taking Apple's lunch. In reality Samsung single-handedly proved Apple wrong on various things. They created a market for "phablets", proved that stylus is still relevant in normal operation, content creation. If Apple have implemented half of the feature presented in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L930NbUKgJY Apple will be hailed for "revolutionary innovation". Until then Apple knows that users do not use these "features".

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#48

Post by Shivetya »

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #6

The iPad mini is "disruptive" only if you live in an alternative and exclusively Apple universe. The smaller Android tablets and large phones (like the Galaxy Tab), which have been out for a long time, disrupted the iPad and forced the introduction of the mini.

It would be nice if I could actually lay my hands on a 16g Nexus 7, no local retailer carries it. Well I should not say none do, one does at the old price.

I can find 32g Nexus 7 tablets at most office supply stores and the like, the few that don't carry Nexus usually carry Kindle.

So where are they at? I can go to Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart, or even an Apple store, for all things iPad but finding the Android tablets is...

In other words, smaller Android tablets forced nothing, unless your counting Kindle Fire's as androids. You can barely find them; I live in Atlanta and looked; but I can certainly find Apple products.

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#49

Post by technoslut »

rayiner wrote: post #8
scott_meade wrote: post #3

"even though the screen sucks" reminds me of Lewis C.K.'s "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy". How soon we feel anything less than retina sucks. Really? We're spoiled people when we look at a piece of technology like the iPad mini and our response is "this screen sucks!". Sheesh.

Look at it this way: if Apple released an MBA without a big glass touchpad, wouldn't everyone say "the touchpad sucks?" It's not that the old touchpads weren't usable, it's just that it's really hard to go back after you've used a new-style touchpad.

You presented the wrong problem. In your situation Apple gave them something they didn't ask for and was an incremental upgrade to a 20 year-old way of the solution.

Society's problems, from Louis C.K.'s POV, is that everyone expects everything to be faster and they always expect to be amazed. As we all know, that occurs very rarely in technology.

Re: Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)

#50

Post by dpcan »

topbanana wrote: post #30

Uh-oh, my bullshit buzzer went off at "Retina displays aren’t disruptive". Didn't read the rest of the article.

I think it's not disruptive because to be disruptive it has to be more wide-spread disruptive.

There are just too many people, like myself, who look at the retina display and wonder why the heck I'd pay more for the smaller pixels. It's just not important to way to many people to be considered disruptive.

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