Live Blogs - Apple iPad mini Event 23 Oct 2012

[robertc88]

The price isn't right for me but what could one expect with the Ipad2 and Ipod Touch 5?

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by afv011

We'll be kicked in our back sides for going off topic, but to answer your question, with the exception of the nook classic (which had separated libraries for sideloaded and purchased items), all other nooks show the sideloaded and purchased items seamlessly in a single library. There have been some issues with the covers not displaying though, but that's very easy to fix with Sigil or Calibre - the nooks are a bit picky with how the cover should be specified in the manifest.

Hey thanks again. That's really good to know. I am a bit picky about my epubs showing their covers, so if the Nook HD couldn't handle it, that would probably be a deal breaker for me.

As for this maybe being off-topic, I think it's valuable for people looking for a really good color e-reader to know their options relative to other products. The specs of the Nook HD are so attractive I don't understand why it's not getting more hype these days. As long as one can handle the closed ecosystem (and it's not a problem for me as long as it handles ALL epubs with ease), then it's one of the best tablet options in this size out there right now. Especially if the display lives up to its specs in real usage. The only thing left to know is what the battery life will be like. And kudos to B&N for putting an SD card slot in there. Maybe the next Google Nexus will have one too.

--Pat

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

We'll be kicked in our back sides for going off topic,...

Originally Posted by PatNY

As for this maybe being off-topic, I think it's valuable for people looking for a really good color e-reader to know their options relative to other products.

Going off topic works for me. It's my thread and I approve. Besides, your conversation has far more value than an Apple event that went bust.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by PatNY

Hey thanks again. That's really good to know. I am a bit picky about my epubs showing their covers, so if the Nook HD couldn't handle it, that would probably be a deal breaker for me.

In my experience, about 50% of ePubs will not show the cover. That said, it is a 30 seconds job to fix it in Sigil, that's my preferred method to have them show covers on my nook readers.

I don't know if the HD(+) will be less picky, but I'd be on the safe side and assume it'll behave as the previous nooks.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Going off topic works for me. It's my thread and I approve. Besides, your conversation has far more value than an Apple event that went bust.

Thanks. Seriously, I wasn't monkeying around.

If you're going to be reading on one of these tablets for hours, then screen quality is important. The iPod Mini's screen is so inferior to the competition right now, it's shocking. Meanwhile, the Nook HD screen looks like it might be the best of the current crop, with an IPS display that's more readable outdoors too. It's not even solely about the money. It's also about reading comfort and the health of your eyes!

--Pat

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by afv011

In my experience, about 50% of ePubs will not show the cover. That said, it is a 30 seconds job to fix it in Sigil, that's my preferred method to have them show covers on my nook readers.

I don't know if the HD(+) will be less picky, but I'd be on the safe side and assume it'll behave as the previous nooks.

As long as it's a quick fix, then it doesn't seem to be a major problem.

Can you be more specific as to what kind of Sigil fix needs to be done? I currently use Sigil for things like tweaking the TOC, so I know my way around that app.

--Pat

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by PatNY

As long as it's a quick fix, then it doesn't seem to be a major problem.

Can you be more specific as to what kind of Sigil fix needs to be done? I currently use Sigil for things like tweaking the TOC, so I know my way around that app.

--Pat

Try this thread (I'd start reading at the end)...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=107318

[afv011]

Originally Posted by PatNY

As long as it's a quick fix, then it doesn't seem to be a major problem.

Can you be more specific as to what kind of Sigil fix needs to be done? I currently use Sigil for things like tweaking the TOC, so I know my way around that app.

--Pat

First open the EPUB with Sigil and make sure the cover is properly set. Right click on the image in the Book Browser and under Add Semantics choose Cover Image if it is not already checked. This will add the meta element defining the cover to the OPF. Save and quit Sigil.

Or check my other post here.

[PatNY]

Thank you Brian and afv011. I bookmarked that thread. Seems like there are various ways to fix that issue too.

--Pat

[Chi Cygni]

moved to another thread

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by david_e

We've danced this dance before, and we're never going to agree. :lol:

If they were selling the same OS as everyone else, I would be more inclined to see your point.

Regardless of what anyone's motivation for buying i-thingys is, it's never been because of competitive pricing.

But that is what they are trying now -- can you hear SJ turning in his grave? They should have made this with the same resolution as the iPad3, priced at $399.-

We have been told Apple buyers don't care about specs, but this screen and this processor are ridiculous.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Wasn't Jobs strongly AGAINST a 7" tablet? What are they doing exactly? I was considering buying an iMac but this is the same story, less bang for more bucks and somehow I don't see Apple leading the trends anymore.

Yes, he was.

While one could increase the resolution of the display to make up for some of the difference, it is meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of their present size.

Apple has done extensive user testing on touch interfaces over many years, and we really understand this stuff. There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touchscreen before users cannot reliably tap, flick, or pinch them. This one of the key reasons, we think, the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps.

Given that all tablet users will already have a smartphone in their pockets, giving up precious display area to fit a tablet in their pockets is clearly the wrong trade-off. The 7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with the smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad.

These are among the reasons we think the current crop of 7-inch tablets are going to be DOA – dead on arrival. Their manufacturers will learn the painful lesson that their tablets are too small, and increase the size next year, thereby abandoning both customers and developers who jumped on the 7-inch bandwagon with an orphan product

The reason that we wouldn't make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit a price point. It's because we don't think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen. We think it's too small to express the software that people want to put on these things. And we think – as a software driven company – we think about the software strategies first.

We know that software developers aren't going to deal real well with all these different-size products when they have to redo their software every time a screen size changes, and they're not going to deal real well with products where they can't put enough elements on the screen to build the kind of apps they want to build. So when we make decisions on 7-inch tablets, it's not about cost, it's about the value of the product when you factor in the software. You see what I'm getting at?

And you're sitting around, saying, "Well, how can we make this cheaper? Well, we can put a smaller screen on it, and a slower processor, and less memory," and you assume that the software will somehow just come alive on this product that you're dreaming up. But it won't.

Source

[Chi Cygni]

avf011

sorry I copy/pasted it to the other thread. But it still stands. I fear they head nowhere without a visionary and Jobs was one in a million.

[bhartman36]

Apple's new tagline for the iPad Mini:

"Because we know you have more money than sense."

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

But that is what they are trying now -- can you hear SJ turning in his grave? They should have made this with the same resolution as the iPad3, priced at $399.-

Yes, I think that would have been more attractive, even with the higher price. As it is, there isn't anything innovative about this device.