Is Apple betting the farm on the new iPad (iPad3 or iPadHD or ?)?

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

People with iPad love them. People without cant understand why anyone would even buy one.

$399 ipad 2 and retina displays for $499 mean that apple is now competing on specs and on price. How will windows 8 tablets be priced? Will oither vendors offer this retina display too?

Yes, I like the Ipad but, I like Android better since it's more flexible. In my mind Asus is still beating them everywhere except in screen quality.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by cjr72

Its always been curious to me when people so closely identify with the products they buy and vilify the competing products they don't. Down here in Texas its common to see Chevy pickups with stickers of Calving pissing on the Ford emblem and vice-versa. Maybe it's insecurity over their purchase decisions or it's a tribal thing like rooting for your favorite sports team?

+1

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Ah, my observant friend.
Oh, wait, I see it now, a mid year update to the iPad (new?). In July or August, a quad core comes and a Siri even that works for Southern boys like myself. Naw, hold off on the Siri. Maybe the data load for that little gem is getting too high.

The only real question I really have is how many times a year can Apple dip into its customers pockets? I have seen it time and time again. I have relatives that do it. I myself have given an Ipod Touch as a requested gift.
Do all Apple customers drive Mercedes to work which they then trade for Porsches on the weekend? Do they all have medical degrees or are partners in Law Firms, and live in places called "The Reserves," "The Palisades" or "The Cliffs."
Do they all have pool boys and gardeners? Do their maids and footmen polish their collection of old (defined as 6 months owned) Apple products every morning?
Or another question is really where in heck do all the old Apple products go? There must be giant piles of old Apple products somewhere like old tires stacked up in mounds on the earth that can be seen from the space station.

I admire Apple. It is a merchandiser's dream company. I am highly suspect of its customers. I appears to me that they are somewhat like the stylistas being driven to wear only the very latest, and only once, and always looking for the next new thing.

And finally, the real question.
If they can hardly wait for the next new thing, does that mean that the thing they have isn't really all that good? Or does it mean something more?

Is there any reason why there is so much apple hater-aide being served up at MR? I mean, seriously. It gets ridiculous around here.

I don't own any tablets...probably because none of them have made me want to spend any money.

I do own a few PCs. I've owned countless PCs...the old ones are somewhere like old tires stacked up in mounds on the earth that can be seen from the space station. Huh. Looks like my PCs are Apples...

But the funny thing is...while yall hate to hear it, Apple products work. Really well. And strangely enough...none of my friends have to play techie with their apple products like I do with my PCs.

Great example: I bought a brand new HP computer for work. I also bought a brand new HP printer to go with it. Excited, I set up my shiny new toys (small business, we're our own techs). Everything worked great...for two weeks. Suddenly, my HP printer stopped working. I called tech support every day for about a week...I spend countless man hours on the phone. Several different people from tech support auto connected to my computer to try to get it working. Uninstall, reinstall. Uninstall, reinstall. Rinse, lather, repeat. They never could get it to work. They finally decided to tell me it was the computer's fault. ???!?! By this time I'm angry and my computer's OS/security had holes in it the size of Texas. And now everything was seizing up. WTF. So, I gave everyone the business and prepared to send back both the computer and the printer for a refund. Before I did that, I decided to contact HP computer support. Someone there backed my computer up a few weeks (lost some data) to the time before the printer was hooked up. I sent back the printer and bought a new one. Shuddering the entire time.

All my Mac friends laughed at me. Their Apple products work well together and had none of these issues.

My husband has constant problems with his PC's. And the less said about his wireless printer, the better. Grrrr. That one still gives us problems.

And we have to buy new computers every two years or so. In fact...I'm past the two year mark with my current HP laptop...and it's letting me know that in very obvious ways. My screen is dying. Huh. 2 years. Sounds like the Apple upgrade cycle to me. I guess my PC laptop is an Apple.

I do own an iPhone. I got my first iPhone when the 1st gen was released. I worked great. I loved it. When it came time to get a new cell phone...I decided to stay with the brand that worked well for me. Wonder of wonders! It still works! Only time I've had to upgrade is when my iPhone decided to grow legs and walk away...

My mom owns an Android phone and an iPod touch. She hates her android with a passion. Keeps calling me asking for help. Can't help her...no android experience. She just lost her iPod somewhere around the house...and almost bought an iPhone because she can use it...this is the first time she's had to depend on her Android and she's coming to realize it's...super complicated and she's no techie.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

1~2 years per product class appear to be the norm.


Compared to other manufacturers, Apple products actually have relatively high resale value. If you do upgrade every year, you can generally cover half the cost of the new version by selling your older one. For iPhones, you could make enough from selling the 2-generation old models to cover the entire subsidized price or close to it (of course, you're on the hook for the monthly voice and data plans for 2 years).


I reckon not that many people upgrade every year. For folks who upgrade, someone else in the family probably inherits the older model. For me, yes, the iPad 2 wasn't ideal primarily because I wanted it to have retina display (there were rumors of it prior to release). Unfortunately, there was one app I wanted that was iPad-only at the time (it's now been updated to support the iPhone and iPod Touch, but remains an iOS exclusive), otherwise, I wouldn't have bought an iPad 2.

P.S.
No Mercedes or Porsche here. I reckon the lack of monthly $1,000 car payments is what allows me to buy all my tech stuff (which isn't just limited to Apple).

+1

I buy all the toys I want. Cause I manage my money in a way that allows me to do so. I have never owned a luxury-moblie... I guess that helps me quite a bit.

Originally Posted by SeaKing

2. It is my belief that the Apple product buying cycle is much shorter than most other manufacturers. I think the rush to buy the next "upgrades" show this. Witness the excitement about getting a new color.

A lot of my comments come about from having talked with Apple owners over the years, and questioning them on why they buy Apples which are usually more expensive than other products. Granted that was mostly about computers and not iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Those Apple computer owners were a diverse lot. My doctor, at least 2 children, 1 wife, my sister and her husband, cousins, friends, co-workers, etc. They all feel that Apple gives them something special that makes the extra cost worth it, and yet they can't explain what it is very well, if you are familiar with what they want to do.

Why I buy Apple phones (I've used the computers but have no real plan to purchase one):

1. I like the OS. It's very smooth and functional.
2. I like the fact that I have so little to do to make it work. I have never had to play techie with my phone.
3. I love the features that my phone has (and OMG. I almost had a nerdgasm when iTunes U got it's own app)
4. The ecosystem works really well for me
5. Since I've had a touch screen phone since before any other company but Apple had one (that I know of) - every thing I've ever purchased on my phone follows me even when upgrading. When my phone was stolen I went to the store and bought a new one. Came home, plugged it in and....PRESTO! I had my old phone back. Background and everything. Apps arranged the way I had it. Phone numbers/contacts all there. Songs, no problem. Wow. So great.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Apparently the iPad 3 has image stabilization built in. I always think that people taking photos with an iPad look very silly .

+1 Totally agree.

[petermillard]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

The first batch from the UK Apple store has already sold out, and you now can't order for a March 16th delivery.

I preordered early this morning and was a little surprised to get a March 16th delivery; my wife couldn't get online until this evening and has a 'probable' delivery date of March 30th.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Miss Jospeh, you say in a lot of words that choice is good. I agree. Many here agree, they just want people to choose something other than apple.

If same exact Apple products were made by samsung or ms and sold for same exact price mobileread would have half the traffic because people just don't hate those companies.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

Miss Jospeh, you say in a lot of words that choice is good. I agree. Many here agree, they just want people to choose something other than apple.

If same exact Apple products were made by samsung or ms and sold for same exact price mobileread would have half the traffic because people just don't hate those companies.

I do agree. Choice is great.


But I think that people would hate those companies...just to be contrary and angry. It'll still be people claiming that the reason X is buying a samsung is because they want to be cool. Brrrrrr.

I guess personal preference isn't good enough anymore.


Just to piggyback on what another poster said earlier... if it were all up to me, everyone would read nothing but sci-fi/fantasy and romance and only NatGeo/Science Channel and HGTV would play on TV. ;-)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by petermillard

But if you cast your mind back a couple of years, Apple were being roundly criticised by all and sundry for leaving cameras off the original iPad; then when the iPad 2 had cameras, they were roundly criticised for them not being good enough.

Now the cameras are decent, they're being criticised for having cameras at all! No pleasing some people, lol!

Different groups have different opinions. I gotta say, that rear cam in iPad 2 is pretty lame. It's the same cam found in my iPod touch - a 0.7MP fixed focus joke. Why bother?

I gave up on the iPod when the Galaxy Player was released with better features. All devices have shortcomings and people need to decide what features they're willing to live without.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

Miss Jospeh, you say in a lot of words that choice is good. I agree. Many here agree, they just want people to choose something other than apple.

If same exact Apple products were made by samsung or ms and sold for same exact price mobileread would have half the traffic because people just don't hate those companies.

I do not know why or how you get those statistics from Mobileread, but people do not hate Apple products here.

Granted, we have some users that do not like iPads, that's for sure, but that also applies to other products as well.

I actually do not "love" or hate Apple but I own an iPad2. I just like the functionality and features it provides. But I would sell without any regrets if Amazon or even B&N can provide a better experience where I can read, buy and enjoy my computer books.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Is there any reason why there is so much apple hater-aide being served up at MR? I mean, seriously. It gets ridiculous around here.

Don't worry. It's not just on MR. With their success, hating on Apple has become almost as popular as hating on Microsoft. Apple is actually on firmer ground since while practically everybody hates on Microsoft, there are plenty of Apple fanbois ready to defend Apple to the death.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Granted, we have some users that do not like iPads, that's for sure, but that also applies to other products as well.

I'd get an iPad if it was priced at $250

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'd get an iPad if it was priced at $250

Me, too!

[Penforhire]

It isn't unique to MobileRead. It is the same at most of my technical forums. Apple is a polarizing topic and hating their products is hip in l33t circles.

On tablets, technical types see the more open and flexible Android OS as an advantage. Of course most people will never use that advantage in any meaningful way. What do you want to do on an iPad? There's an app for that. Or they think Google's walled garden is somehow superior. Specifications sell to technical types. They have to get out of the way of all those non-techies who are enjoying their 'inferior' Apple products because they don't know any better.

The haters enjoy a peculiar blindness. For example, MacBook Airs are quite cost competitive for what you get. To really step beyond that combination of size, power, and features you end up with a high-end Sony that costs significantly more.

There are some equally blind Apple fans out there but it is a mistake to assume anyone who choses an Apple product has been sucked in by the reality distortion field.

[ScotiaBurrell]

What is single most popular Android tablet that compares to iPad?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by petermillard

It's been said before, but bears repeating - there are lots of occupations where the ability to shoot pictures or video directly into a notes app would be a bonus as it saves having to collate them later, and removes the attendant problems that mismatched notes & pictures could cause.

You know, this makes a lot of sense.

The only thing I've used the camera (any camera) on my iPad for is facetime, so it didn't make any sense to me that they would increase the quality of the camera since it's so inconvenient to use as a camera.

But if you were using your iPad - particularly for work - in a context where having phots was useful, it would be convenient to have usable camera right on tablet, simply because you would have it in your hands.

I guess it's good to remember that other people have different use cases.

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

+1



Is there any reason why there is so much apple hater-aide being served up at MR? I mean, seriously. It gets ridiculous around here.

I totally agree. It's particularly jarring since MR is generally mature and surprisingly free from these kinds of attacks on the users of various products.

Originally Posted by jocampo

I do not know why or how you get those statistics from Mobileread, but people do not hate Apple products here.

I disagree with that - there are a lot of vocal posters who do. Look at some of the posts in this thread. And this is not the first post by the OP which basically accuses Apple users of being moronic spendthrifts. (Although you are right that the OP doesn't really attack Apple products. Only users.)

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I disagree with that - there are a lot of vocal posters who do. Look at some of the posts in this thread. And this is not the first post by the OP which basically accuses Apple users of being moronic spendthrifts. (Although you are right that the OP doesn't really attack Apple products. Only users.)

That does not mean Mobileread users (all) hate Apple ...

Without mentioning names, some folks have replied really ugly stuff to me in the past.

However and If that's the case, my advice is contact the Forum Admins so they can address those type of issues and take proper corrective actions.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'd get an iPad if it was priced at $250

I would get two! ...

However, do you hate Apple? I do not hate Ferrari, but I can't afford one.