iPad Mini: Apple's first major screw-up

[haruhiko]

This will not hurt Apple at all immediately, because the Apple fanboys will still buy this thing in large numbers. But this is like that scene near the beginning of "Iron Man 2" when Vanko attacks Stark and, after being defeated, yells out "God bleeds!" The iPad Mini shows that Apple is vulnerable, that they have stopped innovating.

With the last 2 iPhone models and the most recent 2 full-sized iPad models, Apple has been talking about how important screen resolution and pixel density are to the quality of a display. Then, Apple comes out with the iPad Mini, which has a LOWER screen resolution and pixel density than 2 of its compatitors at nearly $140 lower in price. The B&N Nook HD has a 1440x900 resolution and 243 PPI screen, the Kindle Fire has a 1280x800 resolution and 254 PPI screen. Both much better than the iPad Mini's 1024x768 resolution and 163 PPI screen.

I don't care what Tim Cook and Phil Schiller say, with the iPad Mini, Apple screwed up.

No, some of my super anti Apple fandroid friends said they're interested with the iPad mini due to its light weight. It's actually me who told them, "but it doesn't have a retina display!" and they replied 'who cares, it's light! And there are a lot of apps!'

 

[OTACORB]

John Gruber had this to say on his site:

"The iPad Mini display seems brighter and to have better contrast than the iPhone 3GS display, but unsurprisingly, rendered text looks exactly like it does on the 3GS."

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement given one of the big things people want a smaller iPad for is reading text, books, magazines.

John Gruber is one person... there are others that have said the display in comparing to the iPad 2 looked better. So we shall see!

One thing for sure, I'll judge for myself! They have a return policy and I know how to use it if I am not satisfied. Bottom line if they start getting these bad boys back in droves they will know they screwed the pooch.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

No. This is...

 

[AFDoc]

OP sent out the line....... ZZZzzzzzzzzzz splash....

He hooked a few of you.


Just link to this thread a week after the iPM starts selling and THEN make your comments. Until then let OP's hook go empty guys.

 

[DoctorYuyi]

No, some of my super anti Apple fandroid friends said they're interested with the iPad mini due to its light weight. It's actually me who told them, "but it doesn't have a retina display!" and they replied 'who cares, it's light! And there are a lot of apps!'

Maybe they weren't using those as an excuse to not care about the retina display but as a reason just get the iPad in general? Still bad reasons though, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Anyways, I don't care about the lack of retina display. The display is still nice, just not as nice as what it could be. I think it would have been better for them to cut 2-3 hours of battery life to make way for a retina display.

 

[314631]

John Gruber is one person... there are others that have said the display in comparing to the iPad 2 looked better. So we shall see!

One thing for sure, I'll judge for myself! They have a return policy and I know how to use it if I am not satisfied. Bottom line if they start getting these bad boys back in droves they will know they screwed the pooch.

Well Gruber is very pro-Apple in general so when he says something slightly negative about Apple or an Apple product it's worth considering imo. Typography and pixels are things Gruber obsesses about. He has written adoringly about the retina MacBook Pro for example. I'll definitely trust his opinion on something like this than say a Jim Dalrymple who never has a bad word to say about any Apple product.

I'm sure the display is better than the iPad 2 in some respects. Gruber says there's some qualities to the iPad Mini display too. But for reading text I don't expect it to be very much better beyond size and weight of the device.

 

[aziatiklover]

OP was just trolling ya! Cuz he did not come back.

 

[cloud25]

How is this a screw-up? Seriously, this isn't a failed new product or a re-hash of something old. It's just a different form factor for a lower price. It's like saying Apple screwed up because the Macbook Air is a failure since it is nothing but a smaller, lighter, lower specc-ed Macbook Pro. The two have different uses.

 

[MrXiro]

This will not hurt Apple at all immediately, because the Apple fanboys will still buy this thing in large numbers. But this is like that scene near the beginning of "Iron Man 2" when Vanko attacks Stark and, after being defeated, yells out "God bleeds!" The iPad Mini shows that Apple is vulnerable, that they have stopped innovating.

With the last 2 iPhone models and the most recent 2 full-sized iPad models, Apple has been talking about how important screen resolution and pixel density are to the quality of a display. Then, Apple comes out with the iPad Mini, which has a LOWER screen resolution and pixel density than 2 of its compatitors at nearly $140 lower in price. The B&N Nook HD has a 1440x900 resolution and 243 PPI screen, the Kindle Fire has a 1280x800 resolution and 254 PPI screen. Both much better than the iPad Mini's 1024x768 resolution and 163 PPI screen.

I don't care what Tim Cook and Phil Schiller say, with the iPad Mini, Apple screwed up.

Maybe it's a budget model... Like the iPod shuffle was marketed as when it first came out... Now there is an iPad for everyone.

 

[yegon]

Did you seriously just quote scene from iron man 2 to make your analogy?

I glol'd when I read your post, for some reason my brains spam filter meant I didn't register that ludicrous quote when I read the OP's post, hahaha.

 

[OTACORB]

Well Gruber is very pro-Apple in general so when he says something slightly negative about Apple or an Apple product it's worth considering imo. Typography and pixels are things Gruber obsesses about. He has written adoringly about the retina MacBook Pro for example. I'll definitely trust his opinion on something like this than say a Jim Dalrymple who never has a bad word to say about any Apple product.

I'm sure the display is better than the iPad 2 in some respects. Gruber says there's some qualities to the iPad Mini display too. But for reading text I don't expect it to be very much better beyond size and weight of the device.

I'll trust my opinion much more than Gruber... I think he's gotten a little fanatical! Who knows I may come the same conclusion and send this bad boy back! Multiple bloggers and tech geeks have reported the mini display looked good. A couple guest on Twit was saying the text actually looked decent. Now exactly what that means, I guess until we get these things in our own hands we won't know.

I do like retina displays and its possible I may not be satisfied.

 

[VSMacOne]

OP,
I'm glad you're such an expert in technology and marketing. Apple should've hired you instead of Schiller and Ive.
While its not impossible for apple to release bad products (HiFi) I doubt that the mini will be that. This will be a perfect price point for those who wanted an iPad but didn't wanna spend $500+. They're not going after the bottom of the market, just after the ones who were looking for a slightly cheaper alternative. Remember how we'll iPad 2 still sold after iPad 3 was announced?
You still don't understand apple... They're not simply about specs. They have much more than that to offer. What good is a "fast" android tablet if the apps are crap?

Oh also, are you sure it's a MAJOR screw-up and not a MINI screw-up?! Ba-Dum-Ching!

 

[Lancer]

I'm sure next year when the Mini goes retina many will complain they bought this one... such a *firstworldproblem