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All iPads When is Apple going to get it; a USB Port??

As far as I can tell, Apple's market share loss in the tablet area is somewhat of an illusion. Given the fact that tens of millions of Android tablet being sold are sub-$200 and a large of number are even sub-$100, it's hard to suggest that the increased number of Android tablets being sold is related to a disinterest in the iPad. Year to year, iPad sales continue to increase and the sales of the upcoming 5 and Mini 2 are expected to be huge.

Apple has a long history of not adding niche features particularly if adding them will necessitate the elimination of other features (e.g. form factor).
 
Zerilos said:
As far as I can tell, Apple's market share loss in the tablet area is somewhat of an illusion. Given the fact that tens of millions of Android tablet being sold are sub-$200 and a large of number are even sub-$100, it's hard to suggest that the increased number of Android tablets being sold is related to a disinterest in the iPad. Year to year, iPad sales continue to increase and the sales of the upcoming 5 and Mini 2 are expected to be huge.

Apple has a long history of not adding niche features particularly if adding them will necessitate the elimination of other features (e.g. form factor).
Click to expand...

Yes and No. Some poeple are actually choosing a high-end and similar cost Android tablet like a Samsung Galaxy Tab, Sony Xperia Z, etc, etc. Those are NOT $100 tablets. They are in the same price as any iPad.

But, yeah, cant really count the $100 jalopy tablets as "competition" either.

The reason that there is no USB is more about the walled-garden versus any other asthetic reason. Apple just doesnt roll like that.
 
s2mikey said:
Yes and No. Some poeple are actually choosing a high-end and similar cost Android tablet like a Samsung Galaxy Tab, Sony Xperia Z, etc, etc. Those are NOT $100 tablets. They are in the same price as any iPad.
Click to expand...

Talking about Android tablets, how many of those come with USB ports? As people have mentioned, adding a USB port increases device thickness, so I imagine many Android tablets also leave it out.
 
Also, floppy drives in MacBook Pros, DVD drives in MBPr's, etc. I mean, Apple is on the verge of bankruptcy! /s
 
saback said:
If you need to use a external storage device, you can buy:

Seagate's Wireless Plus: A terabyte drive equipped with battery and Wi-Fi.

Patriot's Gauntlet Node: a DIY tablet drive.

Kingston Wi-Drive

Or any other wireless storage wifi harddisk

:)
Click to expand...

unfortunately these don't work for me.

for one I have to carry a second device. at that point i might as well buy a macbook air.;)

in addition the problem I have is that I want to frequently transfer files from my work computer to my iPad (presentations and pdf files) that I want to read on the go. wifi is locked on my work computer for security reasons. so setting up a local network won't work. connecting a wifi enabled drive is blocked as well. the only way that is not cumbersome is connecting my nexus 7 via usb cable and i'm good to go. all apple would have to do is allowing a usb to lightning connection between a pc and the ipad and all would be good. no hardware required. without that capability I find myself needing to jump through hoops just to read a few PDF's and power points. that is just too cumbersome and so I'm not using the iPad much. overall the iPad and iOS are the better solution but for my needs the nexus works better. would be interesting to know how many customers really choose a non apple tablet because of this. probably only a few percent or less so apple won't bother to change their stance on connectivity anytime soon.
 
donnaw said:
I would certainly like an SD slot if I could store media (TV, movies, etc) and play from it. Of course that's exactly why Apple will never put one in. People would keep a library of media files on SD cards rather than pay big bucks for more storage. And Apple really sucks the $$$ for storage. They won't lose that cash cow.

Oh, not not everyone has access to wifi all the time (like on long plane flights, or waiting in a DR office, etc).
Click to expand...

I don't want an sd card slot. I prefer to give Apple hundreds of dollars for small increases in storage when every competitor charges less. How dare you ask for Apple to make less money by implementing an sd slot.
 
sracer said:
Typical response of someone who has allowed Apple to do their thinking for them.

"If anyone thinks that any non-Apple device has some merits they MUST be paid shills." - pg. 34 of the iSheep handbook

Oh, and if you're going to quote your deity Steve Jobs, didn't he say something about 7" tablets? Hint: it wasn't favorable.
Click to expand...

OK, think with your brain now. iPad and USB mouse attached :) Wow! It is like Ferrari and trailer behind it ... :) There are world of people who don't use mouse, especially USB for maybe last 5-8 years connected to the portable devices. Bluetooth or wifi mouse is for that purpose, is it S. Jobs fault? :)

----------
andiwm2003 said:
wifi is locked on my work computer for security reasons.
Click to expand...

Maybe it is good reason or if not ask why they did it to you.
 
Night Spring said:
Talking about Android tablets, how many of those come with USB ports? As people have mentioned, adding a USB port increases device thickness, so I imagine many Android tablets also leave it out.
Click to expand...

Android tablet makers have a habit of being late to the party.

When android tablets first dropped it was all about SD slots, Mini HDMI, flash, and USB ports.

Those things have increasingly vanished from android tablets over the past 2 years or so, while the iPad has maintained it's core design philosophy from the first model to last.

Furthermore, look at the design limitations the MSFT Surface has hit because of USB ports. Why on Earth would Apple mimic failure?
 
macguy360 said:
I don't want an sd card slot. I prefer to give Apple hundreds of dollars for small increases in storage when every competitor charges less. How dare you ask for Apple to make less money by implementing an sd slot.
Click to expand...

Ummm, if you notice I did say that Apple wouldn't do this because it is a cash cow.
 
andiwm2003 said:
unfortunately these don't work for me.

for one I have to carry a second device. at that point i might as well buy a macbook air.;)

in addition the problem I have is that I want to frequently transfer files from my work computer to my iPad (presentations and pdf files) that I want to read on the go. wifi is locked on my work computer for security reasons. so setting up a local network won't work. connecting a wifi enabled drive is blocked as well. the only way that is not cumbersome is connecting my nexus 7 via usb cable and i'm good to go. all apple would have to do is allowing a usb to lightning connection between a pc and the ipad and all would be good. no hardware required. without that capability I find myself needing to jump through hoops just to read a few PDF's and power points. that is just too cumbersome and so I'm not using the iPad much. overall the iPad and iOS are the better solution but for my needs the nexus works better. would be interesting to know how many customers really choose a non apple tablet because of this. probably only a few percent or less so apple won't bother to change their stance on connectivity anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Can you not use a solution like Dropbox?
 
troy14 said:
Can you not use a solution like Dropbox?
Click to expand...

Dropbox only works where there is an Internet connection. I can imagine any number of scenario where a user might want extra storage in places where there is no Internet.

That said, I still think wireless is the future. More and more places will have Internet connections, and external storage devices with wifi built in will keep improving, until we have something the size of current USB sticks with batteries that last for days or weeks. We are not there yet, but Apple has always had a tendency to ditch old technologies early, before their replacements were quite in place.
 
troy14 said:
Can you not use a solution like Dropbox?
Click to expand...

and how do I get the files on drop box? putting them on an USB stick, going home, uploading them to my mac, uploading them to dropbox, violatoing company policy by uploading confidential data to drop box, getting fired, having lots of free time to download the files to my iPad? sounds fun.

more serious: it's not allowed to upload the data to websites of any kind and they sites are blocked on our network. most companies don't allow you to upload their data to websites but I'm in R&D so they actually enforce it.

i tried all of this and really, USB is the only choice. a lot of my colleagues and friend in similar jobs have iPads and have the same issue.
 
Irishman said:
Apple began selling the iPad in the 3rd quarter of 2010, so it only saw a half year of sales. 2010, that came to 7.5 million units sold.

In 2011, it came to just over 40 million for the year.

In 2012, it grew to 58.31 million sales.

So far, 2013 is looking to break the units sold of 2012. First Quarter - 22.9 million. Second Quarter - 14.2 million. Third Quarter - 14.6 million (51.7 from just the 3 quarters so far). If they maintain their third quarter numbers for Q4, it will end the year at 66.3 million. Apple's seen their 3rd quarter sales drop in previous year (2012), and keep pace with Q3 (in 2011), so it could go either way. If 4th quarter number dropped to 10 million sold, that still finishes the year at 61.7 million sold.

Nothing to sneeze at. So, I would suggest this means the tablet market is growing. Apple's part of it isn't shrinking as desperately as some writers would have us believe. Apple's ipad sales are growing, just not at the same rate that the overall tablet market is growing.
Click to expand...


What's the unit sales of non Apple tablets?
 
I think that Apple has been very clear that the two PC legacy issues that they are going to stay away from with iOS devices are file system access and third-party device drivers.
 
My HTC One phone uses its micro USB charging port to allow additional storage via an OTG cable and thumb drive. I never used this feature until yesterday, and it's quite slick. Download a file manager app, plug in the OTG cable and thumb drive, and all my pics, docs, videos, files appear on one screen. I got it mostly for movies, and they play very well.

It's my understanding that Apple doesn't use SD cards because it could cause conflicts when synching to iTunes: synching up with one SD card, pulling it out, and then connecting to iTunes wouldn't work well. Makes sense to me, although Apple does make money from selling additional space on their devices. It stinks, but I get the max storage for iOS devices. My rMBP was the exception. I settled for 256 GB on that purchase.
 
Apple's iOS does not expose the files system to the users. This is an attempt to keep things simpler for the user. Photos are one exception, but they are well understood by most users. So without a files system exposed why have usb drives hooked up to an iPad. On the other hand there is the camera kit that does provide sd and usb support for the iPad and look how well that has sold.
 
bidoof01 said:
Anybody that cares for their privacy should never host their private files online.
Click to expand...
That wasn't an online file storage solution that he linked. That was a wifi equipped flash drive to act as a mobile NAS.

Edit: i see night spring beat me to it...
 
Ppl saying they want sd card ----> it's not going to happen . SD cards are slow and its just not going to happen
USB port not gonna happen.
There are some OTG solutions that exist though.
 
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