Apple releases iPad 4th generation and iPad mini

[Jason]

Fact is, ALL of these tablets are such a good deal (value) that spending a little more to GET more is not going to stop folks from buying either the mini nor the regular ipads. Also, remember that Google and Amazon are not making a dime on sales of those tablets - you and I are buying them for the cost of production (by the millions!). As we see with windows computers, this is not a sustainable business model.

Amazon has built its business on the very model you claim is not sustainable. Google enjoys a razor-thin profit with N7 sales, whereas Amazon is actually losing money on every Kindle Fire sold. Both companies are betting that these devices will become lucrative sales portals from the content being consumed on them (which justifies selling them at/below cost). Only time will tell if that proves right.

Apple enjoys higher margins. It's what they do. You're not paying for the experience, or getting more for the price (unless someone really feels iOS is that great). They could cut the price of the iPad Mini by 20% and still make a nice profit. I suspect what they don't want to do is price it so low where it starts to cannibalize sales of the larger iPad.

Anyway, pretty underwhelming announcement. Apple is starting to play follow the leader. Nonetheless, they'll still sale a lot of these devices. It'll be interesting to see how things play out over the holiday season.

 

[Forsaken]

Huh?

I think an iPad is too big. My phone is too small.
My Nexus7 is just right.
I think many people will find a 7 or 7.85" display works.
It doesn't replace a laptop but is very portable.

Meant tablet .

Doing a thousand things at once right now.

 

[dutchbb]

Apple customers are definitely paying for the whole experience, but this goes beyond the OS (this is a hard concept to get for people who are not used to using Apple). The key to their success is keeping things as simple as possible, causing less headache, which keeps their customers happy. With other brands, customers are less bound to it. I still laugh at the haters, most of them have zero experience with Apple yet talk about it all the time as if they are experts.

 

[Dragapult]

All I was looking forward to was the new iTunes and it wasn't even released today. I don't care about tablets and even the new iMac seems kind of a letdown, with no optical drive and not really being a big step forward.

Have to say the 13'' MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display seems really nice. I've got the 15'' so I'd imagine the 13'' will look and feel just as good.

 

[Jason]

Apple customers are definitely paying for the whole experience, but this goes beyond the OS (this is a hard concept to get for people who are not used to using Apple). The key to their success is keeping things as simple as possible, causing less headache, which keeps their customers happy. With other brands, customers are less bound to it. I still laugh at the haters, most of them have zero experience with Apple yet talk about it all the time as if they are experts.

Any discussion involving the terms "hater" or "fanboy" immediately disappears into a hole of stupidity.

As someone who has bought every iPhone and iPad to go on sale, to date, and owns a few Macbooks, I still disagree. We're paying for a product that is ridiculously marked up. Claiming it's for the UX is simply a way some people rationalize spending their months salary on a phone or tablet.

That said, I also have bought and used Android devices, and from a UX point-of-view, the experience isn't much different, and with each new release that's increasingly becoming the case. There's a lot to brand awareness, something Apple knows.

 

[ManagerJosh]

All I was looking forward to was the new iTunes and it wasn't even released today. I don't care about tablets and even the new iMac seems kind of a letdown, with no optical drive and not really being a big step forward.

Have to say the 13'' MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display seems really nice. I've got the 15'' so I'd imagine the 13'' will look and feel just as good.

There is an optical drive. You just need to buy that 80.00 shiny USB external drive

 

[steven s]

There's a lot to brand awareness, something Apple knows.

Let's face it.
Apple can sell Apple juice and people will pay a premium for it.
I chose juice but was actually thinking of another liquid similar in color.
Didn't want to offend Peggy.

I'm all for the Apple experience having used Macs since the late 80s from a MacPlus to my current laptop.
I was one of those early adopters paying $3200 for my Mac SE/30.
Just never got on board with iPhone because of their association with AT&T and was never able to justify an iPad.

 

[Jake Bunce]

There is an optical drive. You just need to buy that 80.00 shiny USB external drive

I use this one on my mac mini:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003M0NT1M/ref=wms_ohs_product

 

[steven s]

Is it integrated with Google Maps?

Two things being phased out of Apple products. Google and Samsung.

 

[craigiri]

Anyway, pretty underwhelming announcement. Apple is starting to play follow the leader. Nonetheless, they'll still sale a lot of these devices. It'll be interesting to see how things play out over the holiday season.

Well, let's do just a basic compare....

The Nexus 7 is $249 with the same RAM. So, there is a difference of $80.

The Apple has a real camera - so you can take video and snaps (Nexus is low res facing you).

The Apple, as shown in the demo, has a screen with 20-35% more real estate (square inches). It is lighter - it is metal.

Apple has real people at the stores to train folks. They have IOS, which many "normal" users prefer.

You can speak to Apple support on the phone....let alone at the stores.

Are those things, in total, worth $80. I would say - for those who care about them - definitely!

 

[craigiri]

. Claiming it's for the UX is simply a way some people rationalize spending their months salary on a phone or tablet.

Ok, so assuming some basics.....

again, an $80 difference between the Apple and the Nexus.
Let's say said people use their devices for 30 months (I keep mine longer) - so that is less than $3 a month!

Is that a lot of money to you? Does that seem crazy?

Hey, if I was down to my bottom dollar and homeless I'd get a chromebook and buy one of those $50. closeout tablets. But I wouldn't fool myself that I was really getting the same thing as a Mac or ipad.

So, yeah, it is the user experience and thereby the productivity. If is was not, please explain why the 91% of web browsing on tablets is done on ipads? Since Apple sells less than 60% of tablets, shouldn't ipad web browsing be about 60%?

Facts are stubborn things.

 

[Floren]

The 4th generation is there, only 6 months after releasing the 3th generation...

Google Nexus, phone and tablet for myself... for life.
Wait until Nexus 10 comes out with 1920x1200 resolution on a tablet made by Samsung.

Although Nexus 7 is simply perfect for me. I tether all the time Internet from my phone to tablet while I stay in transit to go to work or home... and use Tablet Talk to get my texts directly on my tablet.

 

[John]

I use this one on my mac mini:

What kind of display do you use on your mini, Jake?

 

[Jake Bunce]

What kind of display do you use on your mini, Jake?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3703/dell-g2410h-review-a-green-24-lcd

 

[Jake Bunce]

I don't like the idea of retina for computing. Tablets are fine, but for computing I need pixels. I just found out that you can buy the new macbook pros with regular screens too.

 

[Dragapult]

I don't like the idea of retina for computing. Tablets are fine, but for computing I need pixels. I just found out that you can buy the new macbook pros with regular screens too.

You still get pixels on the Retina Display, though. You can turn off the default resolution to give yourself either more or less.

 

[Jake Bunce]

Resolution scaling on LCDs is to be avoided.

 

[Jason]

Well, let's do just a basic compare....

The Nexus 7 is $249 with the same RAM. So, there is a difference of $80.

The Apple has a real camera - so you can take video and snaps (Nexus is low res facing you).

The Apple, as shown in the demo, has a screen with 20-35% more real estate (square inches). It is lighter - it is metal.

Apple has real people at the stores to train folks. They have IOS, which many "normal" users prefer.

You can speak to Apple support on the phone....let alone at the stores.

Are those things, in total, worth $80. I would say - for those who care about them - definitely!

Again, nothing that really differentiates this product.

 

[Jason]

Ok, so assuming some basics.....

again, an $80 difference between the Apple and the Nexus.
Let's say said people use their devices for 30 months (I keep mine longer) - so that is less than $3 a month!

Is that a lot of money to you? Does that seem crazy?

Hey, if I was down to my bottom dollar and homeless I'd get a chromebook and buy one of those $50. closeout tablets. But I wouldn't fool myself that I was really getting the same thing as a Mac or ipad.

So, yeah, it is the user experience and thereby the productivity. If is was not, please explain why the 91% of web browsing on tablets is done on ipads? Since Apple sells less than 60% of tablets, shouldn't ipad web browsing be about 60%?

Facts are stubborn things.

Apple keeps running the same play over and over because it works. It's clever. Apple positions their products to be affordable luxuries. This is expressed through the device's design but also because Apple protects their brand aggressively. There is no cheap iPad -- there's a thinner and lighter iPad that costs less. It's 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, an item coveted by others (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). Customers enjoy the experience of everyone swooning in on their new purchase. They like the idea of thousands of people waiting in line to get what they're holding in their hands right now. This is even more important when giving an Apple device as a gift. Do you buy the cheap but acceptable option that sends one message? Or, by buying someone the expensive and also acceptable option, which sends a different message.

Most of my colleagues, friends and family (including myself) use Apple devices. I can't remember a single instance one of them (or even random strangers) listed a device's specs or the usability of iOS (and let's face it, most have never tried alternatives, anyway) as a reason for buying their device. Apple cracked the code of getting people to pay more and be pretty happy about it. All of us rationalize our purchases in different ways.

As for the numbers you keep purporting as facts... Context is everything.

Android enjoys about a 3% share in browsing, Safari (iOS) 2.7% and Opera mobile 2.32%. Our stats across SonyUSA properties correlates with this, as well. So, they're all about even. As for iPads, well there hasn't really been a successful tablet to compete against it until recently. It'll be interesting to see what the numbers look like in a month or two.

 

[ManagerJosh]

Apple keeps running the same play over and over because it works. It's clever. Apple positions their products to be affordable luxuries. This is expressed through the device's design but also because Apple protects their brand aggressively. There is no cheap iPad -- there's a thinner and lighter iPad that costs less. It's 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, an item coveted by others (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). Customers enjoy the experience of everyone swooning in on their new purchase. They like the idea of thousands of people waiting in line to get what they're holding in their hands right now. This is even more important when giving an Apple device as a gift. Do you buy the cheap but acceptable option that sends one message? Or, by buying someone the expensive and also acceptable option, which sends a different message.

Most of my colleagues, friends and family (including myself) use Apple devices. I can't remember a single instance one of them (or even random strangers) listed a device's specs or the usability as a reason for buying their device. Apple cracked the code of getting people to pay more and be pretty happy about it. All of us rationalize our purchases in different ways.

As for the numbers you keep purporting as facts... Context is everything.

Android enjoys about a 3% share in mobile browsing, Safari (iOS) 2.7% and Opera 2.32%. Our stats across SonyUSA properties correlates with this, as well. So, they're all about even. As for iPads, well there hasn't really been a successful tablet to compete against it until recently. It'll be interesting to see what the numbers look like in a month or two.

*Rings the Keynote Bell to get the drool going*