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

[Andy_T]

Indeed.

This being a mobileread forum, I am surprised that not more people find the idea of having 4 times the display resolution to display ebooks as a very intriguing feature.

When I broke my Kindle3 during my holidays (the despair ... having downloaded all the books and then not being able to read them), I started to use the Kindle app on my iPad and found that it does a great job... so much so that I went for the Kindle Fire when it became available (mainly because of its more portable form factor).

[Sil_liS]

I think that the importance of how the market receives the new iPad is based on associating iThing's success with Apple and not with Jobs.

If they are not sold out within the first week, then the new management will be blamed. If they will not try to manufacture as many as possible it can be interpreted as no confidence. If 10% increase in weight will be considered too much, if there is no obvious performance boost, if the battery life is slightly shorter, etc. then the device will lose the magical quality.

I'm not saying that Apple won't sell the new models but any market share loss will cost them more then it would cost other manufacturers because they have more to prove.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tomsem

For reference, my 32GB iPod Touch is nearly half full (4GB system, 8GB apps, 3GB content). I could probably easily chop out 3 or 4GB of that, but still that would leave me with only 4 or 5 GB free space, if all I did was to move this to a new iPad. So much as I would like to get one for $499, I'm pretty sure that would not work for me.

My 6.4GB iPod touch 4 has 3.8GB of free space. Apps - 2.2GB, content - 0.4GB. For a device that's mostly used for internet radio and audiobooks, it has ample room. For that, it's a great device; for anything else, it pretty much sucks.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Andy_T

Indeed.

This being a mobileread forum, I am surprised that not more people find the idea of having 4 times the display resolution to display ebooks as a very intriguing feature.

Because some of us don't like reading on back lit displays. Also: Kindle -$79; iPad - $499 ...do the math

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Because some of us don't like reading on back lit displays. Also: Kindle -$79; iPad - $499 ...do the math

But, OTOH:

A4/Letter PDF on iPad = readable
A4/Letter PDF on Kindle = unreadable

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But, OTOH:

A4/Letter PDF on iPad = readable
A4/Letter PDF on Kindle = unreadable

Some of us don't do PDFs

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Some of us don't do PDFs

Oh, absolutely. I read all my fiction on my Kindle, but the iPad is absolutely invaluable when it comes to reading PDFs.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Oh, absolutely. I read all my fiction on my Kindle, but the iPad is absolutely invaluable when it comes to reading PDFs.

The academic pdf crowd is just going to wild over PDFs rendered at near-laser printer resolution. And iOS has apps that do decent-enought PDF annotation.

Like I said, it's not for me but it's not going to lack for customers.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Andy_T

Indeed.

This being a mobileread forum, I am surprised that not more people find the idea of having 4 times the display resolution to display ebooks as a very intriguing feature.

When I broke my Kindle3 during my holidays (the despair ... having downloaded all the books and then not being able to read them), I started to use the Kindle app on my iPad and found that it does a great job... so much so that I went for the Kindle Fire when it became available (mainly because of its more portable form factor).

You are right about that, however, for someone who already owns one or looking to upgrade, needs to consider price and weight as well, even portability.

If someone has the money, investing on an iPad3 or whatever the new name is, will be a fantastic reading device, but remember you are paying a good amount of money for that. I guess people will put that in a balance and compare against a Kindle Fire or even a regular eink device.

The iPad is much more than just reading, is a fantastic tablet. But I do not consider its price to be really affordable for majority of people.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jocampo

If someone has the money, investing on an iPad3 or whatever the new name is, will be a fantastic reading device, but remember you are paying a good amount of money for that. I guess people will put that in a balance and compare against a Kindle Fire or even a regular eink device.

The Kindle Fire doesn't enter into the equation for the overwhelming majority of people. It's only sold in the US.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Some of us don't do PDFs

It's not only PDFs. I read my computer books on my iPad. Kindle eink is kind of too small.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

1. What was the "one app" you wanted so much?

Viz Manga. There's a Flash-based website but 1) it sucks and 2) it's useless for offline viewing.

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.

Is there any question that Steve Jobs was excellent when it comes to marketing? While tech manufacturers are fighting spec wars and have to contend with low profit margins, Apple has built itself into a luxury brand and thus, can command much higher prices for their products. Besides, I reckon familiarity has a lot to do with it. They're already used to Mac OS. A lot of people wouldn't want to move to a new OS and learn a new interface.

I do have to say this, the iPad 2 wasn't my first tablet but it was the first one I felt was worth my money. Prior to that, I already had a $650 Viliv X70 (Atom Z520+XP Home) "slate" and a $1,400 Fujitsu (low voltage Core 2+Vista Business) convertible.

The Viliv was just awful. It was slow, battery life wasn't that good, it gets pretty hot and when you've used it after a while, the display goes all wonky (was never able to trace the cause). The Fujitsu was actually pretty nice. Handwriting recognition was quite accurate and I really liked using it. However, it shares 2 of the complaints I had with the Viliv - short battery life and it gets pretty hot. It's also much heavier (over 2lbs) which made it very tiring to hold for long periods of time. I barely used them and they're just collecting dust now.

Besides, it's not like I'm buying Apple products in lieu of other brands. I just haven't bought a large Android tablet yet because I was waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich (and now that it's been released, I'm waiting on the upcoming Transformer). I'm also waiting for ultra low voltage Ivy Bridge before getting an x86-based slate (although I'm sorely tempted by the Samsung Series 7).

Originally Posted by Andy_T

This being a mobileread forum, I am surprised that not more people find the idea of having 4 times the display resolution to display ebooks as a very intriguing feature.

Probably because most folks on this forum prefer their e-ink reader(s).

Originally Posted by jocampo

You are right about that, however, for someone who already owns one or looking to upgrade, needs to consider price and weight as well, even portability.

If someone has the money, investing on an iPad3 or whatever the new name is, will be a fantastic reading device, but remember you are paying a good amount of money for that. I guess people will put that in a balance and compare against a Kindle Fire or even a regular eink device.

The iPad is much more than just reading, is a fantastic tablet. But I do not consider its price to be really affordable for majority of people.

I think that would be the 3rd generation iPad (in much the same way they just refer to the iPod Touch by generation). As for the rest, it's really just a matter of how much you're willing to pay and/or sacrifice (in terms of weight, etc) to get the new features.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jocampo

It's not only PDFs. I read my computer books on my iPad. Kindle eink is kind of too small.

Some of us don't do computer books

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

One thing I haven't commented on though I have seen it elsewhere on the Computer boards is about the new 5MP camera, with auto focus, etc.
.

The Transformer Prime has a 8MP with auto focus back camera and 1.2MP front camera.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

The Transformer Prime has a 8MP with auto focus back camera and 1.2MP front camera.

The iPad 3 is using the camera from the iPhone 4S. Probably easier to do that than to "reinvent the wheel" with a new one.