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iPad Air

arstechnica.com

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Re: iPad Air

#171

Post by cylinder »

rfnslyr wrote: post #99
cylinder wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you would want to write your book on a tablet. Sounds counterintuitive. Why not just use a real keyboard and OS on a Macbook Air? They are marginally thicker than the iPad.

Why not just use a goddamn type writer? Man I love typing on those things. I still write up my programming assignments on it just to hear the clickity clackity. Computer Science in hard mode: Do your programming assignments on a type writer. Once.

Poor analogy. I already said that a Macbook is almost just as thin and light, with a superior OS and input mechanism. Tablets were never intended to be the next generation of word processing devices.

Re: iPad Air

#172

Post by misuba »

enraged_camel wrote: post #90
phaus wrote: post #23

So their new commercial for the iPad focuses on the fact that so many people use it for productivity, so why can't Apple create a decent, first-party pressure sensitive stylus, so we don't have to deal with expensive, clunky, third-party solutions.

Steve Jobs said it best: "if you see a stylus, they blew it."

For core usage he was right, but: I'll bet you Steve owned a pen. I'll bet you it was great. And I'll bet you he used it a lot.

Re: iPad Air

#173

Post by misuba »

nooneelse wrote: post #139
DonPellegrino wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was strongly against the stylus and famously said something like "God gave us 10 styluses at birth". Maybe part of his legacy is a company filled with people having the same opinion.

Yeah, and we learn to finger-paint very early, it being quite intuitive and all... but then we grow up and the overwhelming majority of people learn to use writing implements (and other such tools of numerous sorts). I haven't been able, nor wanted to, turn in finger-painted work since early elementary school. Adults use pens (and other such) to write, as well they should, since doing so increases the efficiency of c…

And the iPad is growing up too, and can extend itself into new kinds of usage with new, _supplementary_ kinds of input.

Re: iPad Air

#175

Post by anigbrowl »

jmduke wrote: post #7

One of the more interesting aspects of this is that they're keeping the iPad 2 at $399 (compared to the Air's $499). I can't imagine the value proposition for a new iPad 2 is at all attractive at that price point (I bought mine used for ~$250 last summer.)

It surprises me that they've just ditched the iPad 3/4 altogether from the comparison page, though they still sell refurbished iPad 4s for $379 in the store.

It seems to me that this is to put a floor under the second hand value; in terms of bang-for-the buck, the right price for a used iPad 2 should really be about $175 by now, but it's rare to see one under $200.

One reason the iPad 2 remains attractive to many (especially musicians) is that peripherals - there hasn't been that much take-up of Apple's Lightning connector by people who make add-on hardware.

Re: iPad Air

#176

Post by keeperofdakeys »

suresk wrote: post #107

I find it slightly odd that Apple goes into a decent amount of technical detail on the processor in the iPad - calling out the number of registers and transistors - but still doesn't ever disclose how much RAM is in the thing. This is especially vexing, as my biggest complaint with my current iPad is that it doesn't have enough of it.

They aren't trying to inform you of useful specs, they are trying to wow you and make you think this thing is new and revolutionary. If they don't mention the RAM, then they probably haven't upgraded it.

Re: iPad Air

#177

Post by SurfScore »

terrellm wrote: post #137
SurfScore wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is definitely for enterprise and school purchases. We have an educational app, Kodable, and a huge number of our users are still on iPad 2s. When you buy in volume, that extra $100 goes a long way, and, for better or worse, schools and enterprise don't always want cutting edge tech.

My 5 year old really loves playing Kodable. Congrats on creating a educational game.

So glad to hear it!!

Re: iPad Air

#178

Post by lmm »

specialist wrote: post #108
Osiris wrote: post #24

Can someone explain to me the obsession with "thinner"? This model is 2mm thinner and it's touted as taking "years of work". Lighter, I understand. Thin is a good goal, but 2mm is pretty pointless when you're just going to put a 5-10mm thick cover/case on it anyway.

My obsession with thin is because of my bike bags. Long time MacBook Pro user (3 diff models), bought a 2013 MacBook Air and now it's nothing to throw it into my bag(s) and schlep it around.

Thin isn't what matters there though - it could be an inch thick and would fit just as well. Weight and overall size (i.e. the diagonal) matter.

Re: iPad Air

#179

Post by hobb0001 »

cylinder wrote: post #171
rfnslyr wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just use a goddamn type writer? Man I love typing on those things. I still write up my programming assignments on it just to hear the clickity clackity. Computer Science in hard mode: Do your programming assignments on a type writer. Once.

Poor analogy. I already said that a Macbook is almost just as thin and light, with a superior OS and input mechanism. Tablets were never intended to be the next generation of word processing devices.

> Tablets were never intended to be the next generation of word processing devices.

sigh If only that we're true. iWork for iPad was announced at the first iPad announcement.

Re: iPad Air

#180

Post by berntb »

devx wrote: post #100
radicalbyte wrote: post #15

Lighter. Faster. More magical. Sigh. Disappointing. What happened to doing something revolutionary? Where is the the text input? Apple are driving by creatives. When can I write my book on my Apple tablet? And what's with the 16gb model. As they said, it has been almost 4 years now. And the 16gb model persists.

I know at least 2 people who'd love to have the option to buy Wacom pens for iPads. Right now it doesn't really work unless you use some very hacky solutions. I wish Apple supported pressure sensitive pens. I'n also still hoping for an 11"-12" 16:9 iPad Pro (they can just make it longer like they did with the iPhone 5 that comes with a keyboard. It should basically be an iPad laptop (not hybrids, no point) that costs…

>>still hoping for an 11"-12" 16:9 iPad Pro

Personally I was hoping for two products; a retina iPad with 11"-13" screen -- and a Macbook Air with the same screen!

(If they could reuse the screen and electronics it wouldn't be expensive, but drivers etc would hardly be easy to move over processor architecture?)

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