What Apple hopes you didn't notice about iPad 2

[Michael CM1]

I didn't know Glenn Beck followed Apple products so closely.

You get a thinner, lighter device, choice of colors, option of Verizon 3G, a processor that is twice as fast yet uses the same amount of power, the addition of two cameras. All of this and it doesn't cost any more.

Yes, something that long is called whining. If Apple had told you how much RAM was in the iPad, you would be complaining that Steve didn't tell you how fast the main bus was or what the refresh rate is on the display. Trust me. When the iPhone 4 camera was announced, first thing I saw some people complaining about was some other phone had an 8 megapixel camera.

The iPad isn't going to have everything. It's not going to be everything. Bring me one these stupid Xooms with 1GB of RAM and this and that and I'll ask you where the 65,000 dedicated apps are. You won't be able to find them. If you tell me about some car that gets 8,000 miles per gallon but then tell me you're talking about gallons of Unobtanium ... well, you see where I'm going.

I have a two-year degree in networking. I know all about this spec crap. I don't care about it. Yeah, it's neat to know about. But after so many year on Windows-based PCs, I could give a rat's patoot. Does it work and for how long does it work? That's all I care about.

 

[kettlecorn]

Most people don't see Apple from a business perspective, only a technological one. Apple is very very smart business first. Their entire model is based on niche market, which actually grew out of its niche. They thrive on the fact that their consumers want their goods and are loyal followers. Apple consumers are subscribers. If you were in Apple's shoes, particularly the CFO or CEO, and you can deliver the latest and greatest, iOS 5.0, 8.0 megapixel camera on 4 sides, quadcore this, 24 hour battery life, why would you do that? Why put down your best hand when your competitors are holding nothing in their hands?

If Apple was able to bring out a quadcore tablet with a crazy graphics card, 24 hour battery life and ridiculous specs, it'd have to be priced at $2000 and that shifts their market to an entirely different target audience. It's all about getting the most bang for your buck. If you know that regardless of 1gb ram or 256 ram the sales will yield the same revenue and consumer loyalty, why spend the money? Bottom line, MILK IT.

The ipad 2 in my opinion didn't get the greatest updates, and neither did the MBP because people are still lining up to buy them anyway. Basically you just extend your sales revenue over a long period of time, much like a subscription based service.

I guarantee the ipad 3 isn't going to be mindblowing because by then people are going to expect a, b, c, d. and they're going to only get a, b, and HALF of C. And apple will still get buyers for it, leave them wanting more. Upgrade JUST enough to maintain sales and loyalty.

 

[Onimusha370]

You forgot to whine about the fact that ipad doesn't have Flash.

+1

I've had mine for over 9 months, and I've only had a problem with flash 3 times. My iPads staying for a few more years

 

[The Great Boony]

When will you people learn.

You need to stop looking at specs... Will the iPad work quickly without lag?

Yes - No need for higher specs.

I'm sure Apple could strap a quad core i7, Retina display, more memory and a 256GB drive to the iPad if they wish, it would cost a couple of grand and have a battery life of about 30 mins.

Is that what you'd rather? becuase you're in the minority.... Apple have done a wonderful job of keeping the cost low. something that HP and everyone else are struggling to do....

 

[Blorzoga]

Didn't you feel strange quoting an entire ginormous article and then writing one line in response?

yes, I'm devastated.

 

[Krandor]

Most people don't see Apple from a business perspective, only a technological one. Apple is very very smart business first. Their entire model is based on niche market, which actually grew out of its niche. They thrive on the fact that their consumers want their goods and are loyal followers. Apple consumers are subscribers. If you were in Apple's shoes, particularly the CFO or CEO, and you can deliver the latest and greatest, iOS 5.0, 8.0 megapixel camera on 4 sides, quadcore this, 24 hour battery life, why would you do that? Why put down your best hand when your competitors are holding nothing in their hands?

There is a technical problems too. In designing stuff like the iPad there are always tradeoffs. To improve one thing, something else often has to give be it battery life, or weight or cost. So while Apple COULD add lots and lots of features to the iPad 2, it would be much heavier, pricier, and horrible battery life which is not really all that good for somebody who actually wants to USE the device. Apple tries to add what they can while still keeping cost, weight, and battery life at good levels and that is not easy to do.

As was pentioned in the Applle conference, this is a post-PC world. In the PC world it is easy to add lots of stuff in since it is a box that sits on the floor. Once you have to carry it around with you other facts starts to become more important.

Is a quad core tablet with retina display and 1G of RAM worth a device with 2-3 hours of battery life? Those are the tradeoffs Apple has to deal with.

 

[Mattstkc]

Man on Wire: iOS 5.0 - Anyone with a clue knows Apple is holding this stuff back for the next iOS update, just like they held back a lot of features after the first iPad came out until iOS 4.0 came out for it (sadly months after it did for the iPhone but still).

Memory Man: Isn't that the whole point that Steve Jobs was making about obsessing of specs? This is a post-pc device, so the user experience is the only important thing, not competing with other devices with specs. Clearly someone did not actually watch the keynote? I agree about the storage space factor though, but I suppose Apple has to draw a line in the sand somewhere for making a profit.

Behind the screen: The "rumor mill" always overhypes products. The product is already way under priced by Apple standards, and putting high price features (Retina Display and high megapixel cameras) is not cheap! Something that people don't seem to understand is that the MSRP of the iPad is actually less than the iPhone when unsubsidized. This means Apple has more room to work with on the iPhone's features. Call it greed if you want, but it isn't that hard to understand why there is no Retina Display.

Basically the whole article just reads as someone who is not a tech analyst, but just wants and wants, but never lives in reality. I want a space elevator but I know it's too expensive for us to build, does that I mean that someone is holding back from building one? Reality sucks, but we all live in it.

The Xoom doesn't "hold back"! IT HAS 4G! oh wait I have to mail that in..

IT HAS FLASH THOUGH.. oh wait not yet cause Moto doesn't listen worth a Sh** to Adobe saying it's not ready..

All these other tablets are rushing features to market with no ecosystem and the features don't work as smoothly as an admittedly LESS featured iPad or iPad 2.

That's why Apple wins. They know what to hold back, what's ready, what's not, and they define the market by creating the ideal - ecosystem balanced with just enough specs to sell millions

 

[Irishman]

Good point. Don't think I will be rushing out to replace my iPad just yet.

Yeah, I think THIS iPad (the iPad 2), is for those of us (like me) who didn't grab v. 1.0.

If you already have a v. 1.0 iPad, skip a generation at LEAST, unless you see a feature that you absolutely HAVE to have.

 

[darngooddesign]

I thought the (original, at least) iPad actually did have two (stereo) speakers...

The original has two mono speakers.

 

[fertilized-egg]

Memory man

How much memory will the new iPad have? We don't know, because Jobs didn't tell us. Given that he ticked off all the other major specs of the device, it seems an odd omission. Could it be because its memory is exactly the same as the original iPad -- 256 megabytes?

Ars and now CNN. I understand they are trying to get clicks but what's up with these obviously uneducated guesses and conjectures? Haven't these tech writers following Apple? Don't they know Apple haven't been disclosing RAM specs for their iOS devices for a while now regardless of changes?

 

[mcdj]

redacted

 

[Dwee8le]

Memory man
How much memory will the new iPad have? We don't know, because Jobs didn't tell us. Given that he ticked off all the other major specs of the device, it seems an odd omission. Could it be because its memory is exactly the same as the original iPad -- 256 megabytes?

Why is everybody so fixated on the amount of RAM? We all know what RAM can do for a PC or Mac, but does anybody know what more RAM can do for an iOS device? How much does it need to run smoothly? How much RAM do apps need?
I don't understand why everybody is so fixated on a number without understanding what that number will actually do for this device. You can't say that the Xoom will be better with 512mb RAM Instead of 256mb, because it also has a different OS.

It's also very understandable to talk about the A5, because it's their own design (and they like to rub that into our faces ).

 

[dejo]

I don't understand why everybody is so fixated on a number without understanding what that number will actually do for this device.

That's the way of the spec-whore.

 

[bob5820]

Was this your first Apple event? Steve's distortion field is more or less a given at these things. Apple tells the story Apple's way and always has since Jobs returned. Their message for every product launch that I can recall has been light on specs and heavy on game changing experience.

A big deal is being made, and a good deal of unfounded speculation, of the fact that if Steve didn't mention how much RAM the iPad2 has. Obviously this means Apple must be hiding something.

I wonder about the other specs he didn't mention:

• How many amp hours is the battery? Cant be a good sign that he overlooked that.
• What type of screws are used to secure the back of the iPad? This one screams cover up.
• What is the maximum altitude at which the iPad2 can be operated? You know for those of us who fly.

This approach is obviously too confusing for certain journalist, but it does build excitement for the product, which is the reason Steve is there in the first place. A better title for this tread might have been "What CNN is to dim to understand"

 

[treyjustice]

one would expect a 128-gigabyte hard drive by now.

CNN source here

iPad doesn't use a hard drive... it is flash memory

 

[That70sGAdawg]

The OP was a thoughtful post.
You people screaming "If you don't think it's Magic- go away and buy a Xoom" sound ridiculous. I like most Apple products, but "come on", Jobs and the "video" was full of it and fanboys are very shallow minded...

 

[bearcatrp]

Apple is just milking the fanboys who will buy anything apple puts out. Apple should have held off until the real update comes out toasted the end of the year. Would have saved some cash too. Now if you didn't buy the 1st version, I could see buying one. Otherwise, a worthless update.

 

[peaceActivist]

this information is relative to someone who has an iPad1. Which is good info.

Since iPad's release, all I've complained for was a camera, ANY Camera, whether it be crappy or not. An internet device without a camera just seems like "90s tech". So any "improvement" over the last gen is an improvement none the less.

I fell under the category of "they had better upgrade the RAM", but after playing with older Linux systems with less than stellar specs, its pretty obvious that RAM isn't that big of an issue if the OS is catered to low specs in the first place.

That being said, a system thats made to handle multiple processes (server/desktop PC) will need to be spec hungry versus a tablet that just needs to get the job done quickly.

At this point, there really isn't much that anyone can say about what "apple hopes we didn't catch" or whatever thats going to persuade me from not getting an iPad since I never owned one to begin with.

 

[foodle]

I also read somewhere, that this new iPad 2 is only in the interim as there is going to be an iPad 3 launch sometime in September. If I find it again I will add the link.

ZOMG! I even heard that after that there'll be an iPad 4!!!