Quote:
Originally Posted by Charbax
More likely, apple wants to sell you another ipad a few months later when they are forced by competition to also integrate the Pixel Qi LCD screen technology.
That's the way apple operates, milking the same cash sheep as many times as they can.
I don't know exactly when the first Pixel Qi based devices are going to be available on the market. But I am sure that if Apple had wanted to be the first with the screen commercially available on the market they could have.
Just as if Apple wanted they could support Flash on the iphone, they could support DivX, Flac, Ogg vorbis, Mpeg2 on the iphone, they could support other devices in iTunes, they could provide subscription music services, they could provide an open applications platform for the iphone, they could provide a removable battery on the iphone, they could provide an applications platform for multi-tasking on the iphone, they could support Google Voice, Apple could even use Android. The fact is that they don't do any of these things.
The reason Apple doesn't do all those things are not in terms of considerations for what may be best for consumers, but based on their choices for how they think they can make the most money.
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Yes, that's how many companies work. Once we get over the fact that Apple is a company and not an altruistic organization, we can move on. There will always be people who mistakenly believe the company does what is best for the consumer, and they'll never really be convinced otherwise.
Of course, using Android or supporting open formats is rarely borne of generosity or a beautiful company philosophy, but rather a compensation for a misgiving somewhere that jeopardizes their market positioning. They milk customers too, but in a way that seems more noble to the technologically-inclined.
As far as your Pixel Qi zeal...it has become the "I caught a fish
this big" of battery life stories. It's gone from "it'll add about 30 minutes of runtime" to "10 times the battery life". That's not even the technology advancing, just hype about it (IIRC, the most recent 10x comment was based on the 2W to 200mW = 10x efficiency statement made by Notion Ink, even though Pixel Qi stated around 500mW). Mirasol, which has a far lower power consumption than even Pixel Qi's reflective mode, has yet to boast such massive differences in
device power consumption. That is interesting to me, since they do actually do an awful lot of boasting.
Looking at a backlit screen is looking at a light source yes. You do not appear to understand how light works though, if you believe it is like looking directly at a light bulb or looking at the sun. Going by that logic, looking at the reflected light off a piece of paper or off a Pixel Qi screen is just like looking at the sun as well. A diffused source and a reflected surface of the same luminosity are not going to affect the eyes differently. If the intensity of the light is too high, or too mismatched to the ambient environment, then yes it may be a problem, just like looking at a piece of paper that is too brightly lit.
I like Pixel Qi's concept, and I hope to get a device or two with it so I can save a little bit of power and get some better daylight readability. For a tablet the likes of the iPad though, I don't think it's going to be a big deal for Apple unless Pixel Qi's a surprise hit. It may take several years for widespread market acceptance of Pixel Qi-style transflective screens, and they may not be the only, or the best, provider in that time. Ultimately though, Apple does not need to use Pixel Qi to be popular. Yes, some people wish for it and are disappointed that Apple hasn't taken it up, but those people are not important or common enough yet, and likely won't be for a year or three, if ever. For now, Apple needs
ooh shiny, and not
ooh not bad, and rather practical. Good IPS/LED LCD and AMOLED are where the
ooh shiny is going to be for a while yet, and it seems like the latter is a bit too expensive at tablet sizes for now. Perhaps a Gen2 or Gen3 device will go that way, if the costs come down.
I'm more disappointed that the screen's resolution is as low as it is. I'd have liked something 1280x1024 or higher. I probably won't get an iPad, but my reasoning is unrelated to Pixel Qi. I probably won't get a Notion Ink Adam either, even though I am eagerly awaiting a good multifunction reading tablet.