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iPad mini

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Re: iPad mini

#321

Post by jsz0 »

jpxxx wrote: post #138

There is no obvious reason this product isn't going to sell in huge quantities. Less conceptually fragile, less expensive, more portable, same software stack, same media stack, same OS, same UX, same premium experience, same monstrous manufacturing and distribution reach, same monstrous advertising and product awareness engine. Every single one of the children you see in restaurants working an iPad so mommy and daddy…

I think it will be a huge success for Apple. I know a lot of folks want to believe Apple's success has just been some amazing fluke thus must end soon but there's really no indication out there the market has changed much since the original iPod. Apple keeps running the same play over and over again because it works. It's very clever. Apple positions their products to be affordable luxuries. This is mostly expressed through the device's design but also because Apple protects their brands very carefully. There is no cheap iPad -- there's a thinner and lighter iPad that happens to cost less.

Psychologically this is interesting because Apple is pulling at a lot of strings here. They want consumers to feel good about buying the product. Not resentful it's not the thing they really wanted but couldn't afford. Part of it is almost Pavlovian. The customer pays more but in the process is rewarded in different ways. For having the taste to pick the perceived superior brand for example. It's an item coveted by others, again if only because it's perceived to be superior, and it's an item that broadcasts it's premium price tag like a badge of honor with a striking design. The customer enjoys the experience of everyone swooning over their new purchase. They like the idea thousands of people are waiting in line to get this thing they are holding in their hands right now. This is even more important in the context of giving Apple products as gifts. Buying someone the cheap but acceptable option sends one message. Buying someone the expensive and also acceptable option sends a different message.

Basically Apple cracked the code of getting people to pay more and be pretty happy about it.

Re: iPad mini

#322

Post by mbreese »

coob wrote: post #121
mbreese wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. This is typical for Apple's stock. There is always a run up before an announcement, and a drop immediately after. It's the old adage: buy on the rumor, sell on the news. I wouldn't read too much into it. The only time I really pay attention to what the street thinks about Apple is when earnings are announced.

AAPL has dropped from 670 odd over the last few weeks. There is no pattern with announcements.

There are only a few product announcements each year, so of course there isn't a correlation with the overall price fluctuations.

However, you can be pretty sure what the price will do a couple of days before and the day of an announcement.

Re: iPad mini

#323

Post by eropple »

taligent wrote: post #299
StavrosK wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you were in the market for a small tablet, why would you not get a Nexus 7?

Because the tablet iOS ecosystem is far, far, far better than Androids. There are plenty of great iPad specific apps.

I've heard this a lot, but I honestly can't think of anything I use on my iPad that isn't built-in. I say more or less the same thing about my Nexus 7, aside from stuff like game emulators which are verboten on iOS (and, truthfully, I don't use them that often).

Care to share?

Re: iPad mini

#324

Post by mhartl »

jsz0 wrote: post #321
jpxxx wrote: post #138

There is no obvious reason this product isn't going to sell in huge quantities. Less conceptually fragile, less expensive, more portable, same software stack, same media stack, same OS, same UX, same premium experience, same monstrous manufacturing and distribution reach, same monstrous advertising and product awareness engine. Every single one of the children you see in restaurants working an iPad so mommy and daddy…

I think it will be a huge success for Apple. I know a lot of folks want to believe Apple's success has just been some amazing fluke thus must end soon but there's really no indication out there the market has changed much since the original iPod. Apple keeps running the same play over and over again because it works. It's very clever. Apple positions their products to be affordable luxuries. This is mostly expressed…

This is just a quick meta-comment, because I feel a simple upvote isn't enough: insightful comments like yours and its parent are the lifeblood of Hacker News. Please keep them coming.

Re: iPad mini

#325

Post by emehrkay »

munchor wrote: post #247
hkmurakami wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect to digital textbooks, as someone who had to haul many American sized (read: Oversized) textbooks from class to class, from school to home, every day for 6 years during Junior High and High School, carrying around 1 iPad would have relieved my spine of great gravitational burden. For this reason alone, I truly hope that digital textbooks become viable.

But do you think school should be relying on iOS/Android/Kindle? Should they use something new? I don't want governments to pay (even more?) bazillions to Apple or Samsung, but making their own will also come expensive. Ideas?

html,css, and javascript -- or as the cool kids call the stack: html5 -- is more than enough

Re: iPad mini

#326

Post by cookingrobot »

gfodor wrote: post #311
cpeterso wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the promo video, they say "it's small enough to fit in one hand" at time 0:49, but later at 2:29 Ives says, "you can still pick it up and easily use it with one hand." https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/overview/#video-ipad-mini-fe...

Clearly he meant that you can pick it up with one hand, and use it with the other. Nobody thinks you can physically operate the ipad mini with a single hand.

You can probably scroll or flip pages with your thumb, so it might be comfortable to read long content with one hand (like a kindle).

Re: iPad mini

#327

Post by noisebleed »

eco wrote: post #316
enraged_camel wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know there are a lot of awkward moments in both of those shows. But it's silly for a person to feel personally embarrassed by those moments.

I think there just isn't a good term for this feeling of vicarious embarrassment.

I don't know if it qualifies as "good", but the internet has coined a term for it: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wahjah

Re: iPad mini

#329

Post by ceejayoz »

nirvana wrote: post #54
akavi wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I say this with absolutely no judgement regarding the value of the iPad Mini, but I'm struck by the similarity between this criticism and the criticism leveled against the original iPad ("it's just a giant iPod Touch!").

This is what apple haters say about every Apple product. They said the iPhone would be a total flop and never sell the 10 million units Steve Jobs said they hoped to sell-- because it didn't have a hardware keyboard. They said it about the iPod too- claiming that having less capacity than the creative nomad and no built in radio made it "lame" (CmdrTaco famously said this.) They said it about the iMac as well, callin…

The iPod mini was also widely mocked by the tech crowd - it was $249 to the iPod's $299, with much smaller (like 1/10th, IIRC) storage space.

Turns out it became the best selling iPod of all time.

Re: iPad mini

#330

Post by Johngibb »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #175
spot wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"you can't just scale down the interface" oops

It's like a compatibility mode. I expect apps will be able to detect the difference, and many will resize for the new pixel density- except wait, that wouldn't work! Elements would be inconsistent in size! This could end up a huge mess.

I bet the variation in the size of people's fingers is greater than the difference in the size of touch targets between original and mini iPads... :)
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