How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years • Hacker News Board

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#41

Post by jballanc » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:07 AM UTC

lmedinas wrote: post #38

In my opinion the problem with iPad is iOS. Not saying that iOS is bad it's just not as good enough for tablets. The iPad Air 2, for example, has a huge amount of power in it's CPU and it's not by far being used on OS level functionality like multitasking. Until Apple makes iOS more appealing and functional for tablets people will find it boring or "just another version of an iPhone/iPod with big screen". Also there…

I agree, but I also think this falls into the category of "good problems to have". The unfortunate reality is that all software has the tendency to accumulate "features" like a katamari. Apple knows this, and so I think they are being deliberately slow about introducing new features to iOS. Remember how long it took to get copy/paste? The introduction of extensions, notification center widgets, custom keyboards, etc. in iOS 8 shows that Apple knows they still are light on features and are willing to add them, even if the pace of addition is glacial...

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#42

Post by ghaff » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:10 AM UTC

As others have said, a lot of people already own iPads and there's nothing about the current concept/design that encourages especially upgrade cycles. Not that there's anything wrong with that from a consumer perspective. It does what it does pretty well and doesn't really call out for incremental improvements to battery life/resolution/processor power/etc. although those do naturally come about with each iteration. And, of course, the carriers don't subsidize upgrade cycles as they do with phones.

Being able to share data plans with phones at nominal cost would be one interesting upgrade driver but that's really in the hands of the carriers and is unlikely.

The other interesting possibility across both Macbook and iPad lines would be some sort of reconvergence of tablet and laptop experience but Apple got to where it is by doing the precise opposite so I'm not sure Apple feels a big impetus to shift up the playing field right now. (Microsoft OTOH has been trying to parlay its desktop strength with tablets that are more tightly coupled but with somewhat limited success--to say nothing of the fact that Windows 8 was largely a product of this thinking.)

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#43

Post by chetanahuja » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:14 AM UTC

throwaway800 wrote: post #29

monsterix wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides I think iPad was something that Jobs envisioned when he was alive. He wanted, seriously wanted , to disrupt the education space with it. That's an important reason why he did not want porn to be easily available on the device [1] and why they had a large book-sized screen and not a mini to start with [2]. I think Jobs had a razor sharp focus back then. After his demise, from what it seems, Tim Cook never felt…

Little known fact: the lack of copy/paste in original iPhone OS was a nod to anti-plagiarism and also an attempt to disrupt the education space

Honestly can't tell if sarcastic or serious.

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#44

Post by CmonDev » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:16 AM UTC

forcer wrote: post #12

I am a father of 2 year old. I did not experience being a parent before iPad arrived but I suspect it changed the parenthood completely. These days I see all kids of all ages interacting with tablets. My son started using one before he was 1 year old, now he is experienced user, able to start, launch games he likes and videos he wants to see on youtube. Its so powerful as it is scary. Everyone from parents is scared…

http://nextshark.com/why-steve-jobs-didnt-let-his-kids-use-i...

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#45

Post by marak830 » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:16 AM UTC

graeme wrote: post #6

pitchups wrote: post #3

The article misses a more likely reason for the declining sales: maybe sales of the iPad are declining - not because the iPad has lost its appeal - but because the market is saturating and most people who wanted an iPad, have already got one. Folks who have iPads that are 3 or 4 year old are not in the market for newer models - as the old ones are working just fine.

Indeed. I use an iPad to make drawings for online lessons. It made drawings well when I got it in 2012, and it continues to make drawings well. I won't ever upgrade unless it breaks or software updates junk it. Why would I? It would be a mistake to view my reluctance to upgrade as a bad thing, from apple's perspective. I've bought two MacBook airs since (I needed an upgrade for work projects). The fact that the iPad…

If you don't mind answering ill second the other comment, also, do you use a stylus? If so which one? I thought I'd try that out but I haven't found one with a fine enough tip that works well yet :-s

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#46

Post by CmonDev » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:17 AM UTC

peteretep wrote: post #31

dasil003 wrote: post #13

It's crazy how out of whack people's expectations for Apple have become. I mean after the string of iMac => iPod => iTunes => iPhone, people were just expecting iPad to split the earth in half or I don't know what. Not that the article's reasoning is wrong about the ultimate utility of an iPad, but I find it really hard to describe it as a "meh" product. Remember tablets before the iPad? There were a lot of them but…

> people were just expecting iPad to split the earth in half ... and it did. This time last year, 42% of Americans over the age of 18 had a tablet, of which 75% had an iPad. That is, 31% OF AMERICAN ADULTS OWNED AN iPAD.[1] Only 78% - at that time - had a laptop of a desktop, of any brand[2]. 1/3 the number of people who own a computer in the US own an iPad. That is market penetration that beggars belief, for a produ…

That's just one of the average countries. What about the whole world?

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#47

Post by bigiain » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:18 AM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #42

As others have said, a lot of people already own iPads and there's nothing about the current concept/design that encourages especially upgrade cycles. Not that there's anything wrong with that from a consumer perspective. It does what it does pretty well and doesn't really call out for incremental improvements to battery life/resolution/processor power/etc. although those do naturally come about with each iteration.…

Anecdotal data point: I'm typing this reply on an original iPad I bought on release day, and haven't yet felt the need to upgrade.

And in response to the last snarky line in the article - who buys magazines that pile up on the coffee table any more? I used to have a $60 or $70 a month magazine habit - its been years since I bought a magazine. About a grand for this iPad (Australian price ing), plus maybe another $900 in 3G connection, I reckon I saved all that in under two years of iPad ownership in savings from not needing to buy 5 or 10 magazines a month to have something to read over lunch.

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#48

Post by ghaff » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:21 AM UTC

blueskin_ wrote: post #35

Doesn't even need an article. Year 1: Apple fans buy it because they always buy everything apple sells. Year 2: Some other rich people buy it, because they were shown it by apple fans. Year 3: People buy it because other tablets aren't as mature; people start realising that doing normal day to day tasks on a tablet sucks. Year 4: "Everyone has one", while at the same time most are actually shoved into cupboards or bu…

Or they're sitting on the table in their living room and they still work perfectly fine on a daily basis. Personally I carry both my computer and a full-size tablet (though sometimes just an e-reader) and a phone when I travel on business. OTOH, I just take the tablet and phone on vacation. Each has their uses even if the tablet is the least necessary of the three.

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#49

Post by tim333 » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:28 AM UTC

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #28

dasil003 wrote: post #13

It's crazy how out of whack people's expectations for Apple have become. I mean after the string of iMac => iPod => iTunes => iPhone, people were just expecting iPad to split the earth in half or I don't know what. Not that the article's reasoning is wrong about the ultimate utility of an iPad, but I find it really hard to describe it as a "meh" product. Remember tablets before the iPad? There were a lot of them but…

I'm not convinced that the iPad was all that revolutionary, I think that 2009/10 was the year when the hardware needed to build a successful tablet became cheap enough to build a profitable one. The equally successful Galaxy Tab launched just half a year later, and Samsung obviously didn't start working on it after the iPad launch. It really was an "obvious" thing given the wild success of smartphones (not that the e…

Michael Arrington was going on about making a similar product, the Crunchpad for a couple of years before. Still it was Apple that actually built a decent product.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo#Crunchpad

Re: How the iPad Went from Massive to ‘Meh’ in 5 Short Years

#50

Post by ghaff » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 9:32 AM UTC

bigiain wrote: post #47

ghaff wrote: post #42

As others have said, a lot of people already own iPads and there's nothing about the current concept/design that encourages especially upgrade cycles. Not that there's anything wrong with that from a consumer perspective. It does what it does pretty well and doesn't really call out for incremental improvements to battery life/resolution/processor power/etc. although those do naturally come about with each iteration.…

Anecdotal data point: I'm typing this reply on an original iPad I bought on release day, and haven't yet felt the need to upgrade. And in response to the last snarky line in the article - who buys magazines that pile up on the coffee table any more? I used to have a $60 or $70 a month magazine habit - its been years since I bought a magazine. About a grand for this iPad (Australian price ing), plus maybe another $900…

I gave my original to my dad--who loves it and this is someone who could never really use a computer. Given that I'm tech support, best present (for me) that I ever gave :-) If I hadn't given it away I suspect I'd still be using it and just thinking about upgrading.

I do still buy magazines--but very selectively. Partly because, oddly, I can get some paper magazines cheaper than I can get digital subscriptions. I also just prefer flipping through some magazines than sitting down to read them digitally.