It's amazing how many of my friends dismisses the retina display, saying either it's not important or it's just a marketing hype. I guess it's really hard to put into words how good those displays are, it's really something they'd have to see.
It's pretty genius of Apple to dominate the most tangible spec: the display. And not just dominate it, but by all accounts, practically own the world-wide inventory. All of the other devices which continue to try [and fail] to out-RAM/CPU/GPU/battery the iPad just don't get it.
When you are holding the device and just looking at it, maybe trying a few apps - whether at the store, or trying out your friends - the display is the only constant that'll matter and it's the only thing that you can definitively and objectively compare.
I think that this is an area where Apple's retail presence is a big strength for them. The benefits of the new display are hard to get across in marketing, especially to consumers who are not tech-savvy and don't understand how a higher resolution display would improve the iPad. Apple Stores let people experience the product firsthand, and I expect a lot of these people will be very impressed after they see the screen with their own eyes.
Damnit, I accidentally downvoted you. Your old links just got some extra love to make up for it.
Anyways, I was attempting to upvote your comment because I've noticed the same. I'm sure it will change once they see the display in person, and then see an iPad 1 or 2 again. I stare at pixels all day and it was an incredible upgrade to go from a standard Dell to a MBP with a high res display a few years back. Looking forward to this next step as well.
My big question is: Is 2K by 1K5 actually an improvement over the best of the competition (1920x1200)? Obviously 1024x768 is way too low. Bumping to exactly 4 times the number of pixels made the transition seamless, but is there a significant visual difference between the 3 megapixel screen of the new iPad versus the 2 megapixel screen of the ASUS Transformer Infinity? At some point you are going to hit the limit of what the human eye can distinguish. Perhaps a different way of phrasing the question is: at what distance do you have to hold the tablet from your eyes to notice a significant difference?
Around the office, when discussing the new iPad, many people have said "but it's just a higher resolution display," to which I replay "exactly, and it's a darn fine $500 display."
I'm in the market for a tablet right now and I wanted to choose the new iPad for its superior resolution, high quality app store and great pedigree.
But I can't. When I put aside any internal biases I realize that I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards. I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto without jailbreaking or going through time-consuming video conversions. I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive, free of the Apple ecosystem and its bloated iTunes client.
The iPad would be a great device for someone like my mom, but I can tell I'd forever regret its limitations and barriers.
I think you are imagining features you'll never need in practice, and passing on a great tablet with amazing software, in favor of something you'll find far less satisfying than your laptop, and probably never use.
If you're curious though here's how I deal with your limitations & barriers. Not sure if it will work for you or not or if you want to change the way you do things.
I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto
Rip to H264. Even the piracy groups have switched to it. If you encode your ripped movies to H264 they will play on almost any device. Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc. Even OS/2 Warp has support via VLC. (though good luck getting OS/2 installed on a machine with the guts to play H264 video) With all my files in H264 I don't have to worry about this at all.
I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards.
With cloud storage/services I feel like my iPad has unlimited storage. The one area I think this is an issue is transferring photos or videos from another camera into the iPad which is what the Camera Connection Kit handles for now. I suspect in the near future it will all be handled wirelessly. Looking back into history as soon as the local area network appeared people didn't really bother walking floppy disks around anymore. The same is going to happen with SD cards. I haven't owned an SD card in probably 6 or 7 years. I'm not really sure what I would do with one at this point.
I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive
There are a number of applications that just create a writable network share on the iPad. Seems easier to me than finding a cable and plugging it in. This also goes back to cloud storage/services that just sync the data for you automatically. I rarely find that I actually need to use these apps. I just put the file onto Dropbox and let it sync. Done.
bloated iTunes client.
I don't sync my iPhone or iPad to a computer anymore. Works fine without it.
This wont change your mind, but there are a few apps that you can throw any format video at. The downside is that you're limited to the internal storage and you have to manage it through iTunes (however, there is one that I have that will allow you to wirelessly manage your files).
It might still be worth a try. Specs and capabilities are easy to judge something by when you're looking to buy it (since they're all that you can really see without owning the device), but they sometimes matter less than the holistic experience once you actually own it. Basically: optimise for the common case. If 90% of the time you'll want to use your tablet as a tablet, not an SD card reader or portable drive, then it makes sense to pay more attention to the tablet experience than whether it can function as an SD reader or drive.
I'd recommend seeing if you can check out an iPad and whatever alternative you're looking into at a local store, and spend some time using them how you anticipate you would on a day to day basis.
While I hear there are some good android tablets, some are laggy (Kindle Fire, I'm looking at you), which gets incredibly frustrating over time. There are also other potential limitations, such as the app store (not to say Android isn't doing well there, but a lot of mobile apps still seem to start with iOS first, although this could change).
Disclaimer: I own an iPad, and I like it. I also have friends with both Android tablets and iPads who love their choice. If you feel that the features lacked by the iPad are important, then go for it and get something else. Good luck in your search!
(Side note: I totally agree about iTunes, especially on Windows.)
To use SD cards, use Camera Connection kit. To play common video formats, use apps, such as AVPlayerHD. To use your iPad as a removable drive, use iExplorer (no jailbreaking required). If you don't want to use iTunes, you can completely avoid using it as well. The only thing that requires iTunes is to put your music on it. iTunes can be optional if you don't need to do this.
Regarding repurchasing apps, it may be a good thing. There are plenty of good iPad apps, which fully take advantage of the tablet form factor. Although I have not used many Android tablet apps to prove it, Tim Cook should have good reasons to criticize about tablet apps on Android.
Out of curiosity- is this wanting due to your need for expandable space, for example, or your desire to tinker with the device?
The iPad certainly isn't for everyone, just like most consumer technology products are for certain types of people. But I think Apple's hit the sweet spot where for 99% of their customers, 16, 32, or 64GB of space is plenty and customization isn't really needed.
Well, the SD card simply isn't going to happen on any Apple iOS device, but what are your objections to jailbreaking? It's easy and addresses all of your software concerns. Yes of course it would be great not to have to do it at all, but how is it different than the rooting process you have to go through with most Android devices?
As per footnote #2, the text on the Kindle application is not rendered by iOS and, as a result, the text is not rendered at a retina resolution for free.
damn I was actually thinking about how awesome the Kindle app would look on PDFs, do you know if Adobe Reader or any other PDF reader will use the new retina resolution right off the bat?
I think the key thing to take away from this post is how many lightyears ahead the third generation iPad is from its competitors, or current consumer technology in general.
> Going back to the iPad 2 after reading for a few hours on the iPad 3 is jarring.
> ...most graphics and images on the web are behind the curve, as of today
> The iPad display is so good that it shows, like no device before it, just how crummy most images on the web are.
It's like using a product from the future. Except Apple has engineered it now, and everyone can have one for a (relatively) decent price: $500. The new iPad is the poster child of everything that Apple does really well, and why it has been so successful over the past couple of years.
My biggest problem with the iPad has always been the 4:3 ratio when it comes to watching widescreen movies. It seems a waste to watch a movie on the ipad when most of your screen is black bars (and the zoom to fill is just a slap in the face because it cuts off a lot of video).
This is annoying, but I think using a 16:9 or 16:10 device as a tablet would make it so you could only comfortably use it one way. Not good news if all you do is watch video on it though.
It is a waste, but why are you watching movies on an iPad? That's what a tv is for.
When you're surfing the Internet, a vertical 4:3 screen is awesome. The reason I sold my android tablet and bought an iPad was because the 16:9 screen sucked for anything other than movies.
I'm really annoyed with ad hominems like "Anyone who thinks Apple only makes high-priced products has completely lost sense of reality." Statements like this basically amount to "everybody who disagrees with me is an idiot" and add nothing. All they do is annoy the reader.
I really wish people would avoid them both in blog posts and comments. I've been seeing some here on HN as well and really wish they would go away.
It's not an ad hominem, it's a statement of fact. Apple has a reputation for producing expensive products which are distinguished mostly by industrial design and software rather than specs. It remains absolutely true of their peripherals and accessories, and true, though to a lesser extent, of their computers; however, in smartphones and tablets, Apple is the company that releases best-of-class hardware year after year at retail prices that their competitors have a hard time matching, let alone beating.
And anyone who can't admit that is ignoring reality, yeah.
>I'm really annoyed with ad hominems like "Anyone who thinks Apple only makes high-priced products has completely lost sense of reality." Statements like this basically amount to "everybody who disagrees with me is an idiot" and add nothing. All they do is annoy the reader
Agreed, and most of the people who say that live in Silicon Valley sipping a $5 latte in a Starbucks with a Macbook in tow.
Whereas, in countries like India, you could be working a great job, have all luxuries, even have a housemaid and the iPhone will easily set you back a months salary. Whereas, in the US, you can buy around 7 unlocked iphones with a month's salary. People's perspective is screwed up when they don't understand why everyone doesn't rush to buy Apple products. How many in the US or Europe would buy the iPhone if it was $5000 ?
I am not implying Apple should lower the prices but I think the people making that claim about them not being high priced products have completely lost their sense of reality.
Why was Gruber's review of the iPad the one chosen by the Hacker News mob? There are lots of other reviews out there, all pretty much as glowingly positive as Gruber's was, but most of them have two significant advantages:
1) some semblance of impartiality
2) the comments will be about the iPad rather than about Gruber
Do you have a point or are you simply taking the obligatory ad-hominem cheap shot at Mr. Gruber? His reviews have, as you might recall, correlated quite well with customer satisfaction ratings and market performance of the products under discussion, and he gives considered reasoning for his viewpoints. If he's wrong about something, let's by all means discuss it.
I wouldn't mind that so much but Microsoft/Windows observer (sometimes insider) Paul Thurotts' http://winsupersite.com is hellbanned on HN.
Can't have a Microsoft enthusiast site even be seen or the submitted on the site right? Who knows, it might get some upvotes on the new page and not enough flags from the haters to kill it, it's better to squelch his articles and not take any chances of them hurting the anti-MSFT, pro Apple and Google sentiment on here, right? Bring on the anti-MS articles though, they're surely welcome on the front page.
"The retina display is amazing, everything in the UI feels faster, and the price points remain the same. What’s not to love? It’s that simple."
Sadly, it's not enough for me to switch from the ipad1 to the ipad3. If there was a way to have a reduced prize by trading it with your ipad1, then maybe.. :) Still, I wish there was something more to it..
It turns out that people aren't all te same. I happily upgraded from my iPad 2 solely because of the display. People upgrade their computer monitors all the time, so why shouldn't I upgrade the display on a device I use for at least an hour every day (with some days topping 3 hours)?
[+] [-] esusatyo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] latch|14 years ago|reply
When you are holding the device and just looking at it, maybe trying a few apps - whether at the store, or trying out your friends - the display is the only constant that'll matter and it's the only thing that you can definitively and objectively compare.
[+] [-] nealyoung|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryanwhitney|14 years ago|reply
Anyways, I was attempting to upvote your comment because I've noticed the same. I'm sure it will change once they see the display in person, and then see an iPad 1 or 2 again. I stare at pixels all day and it was an incredible upgrade to go from a standard Dell to a MBP with a high res display a few years back. Looking forward to this next step as well.
[+] [-] bryanlarsen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baddox|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cobychapple|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JS_startup|14 years ago|reply
But I can't. When I put aside any internal biases I realize that I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards. I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto without jailbreaking or going through time-consuming video conversions. I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive, free of the Apple ecosystem and its bloated iTunes client.
The iPad would be a great device for someone like my mom, but I can tell I'd forever regret its limitations and barriers.
[+] [-] andrewljohnson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jsz0|14 years ago|reply
I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto
Rip to H264. Even the piracy groups have switched to it. If you encode your ripped movies to H264 they will play on almost any device. Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc. Even OS/2 Warp has support via VLC. (though good luck getting OS/2 installed on a machine with the guts to play H264 video) With all my files in H264 I don't have to worry about this at all.
I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards.
With cloud storage/services I feel like my iPad has unlimited storage. The one area I think this is an issue is transferring photos or videos from another camera into the iPad which is what the Camera Connection Kit handles for now. I suspect in the near future it will all be handled wirelessly. Looking back into history as soon as the local area network appeared people didn't really bother walking floppy disks around anymore. The same is going to happen with SD cards. I haven't owned an SD card in probably 6 or 7 years. I'm not really sure what I would do with one at this point.
I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive
There are a number of applications that just create a writable network share on the iPad. Seems easier to me than finding a cable and plugging it in. This also goes back to cloud storage/services that just sync the data for you automatically. I rarely find that I actually need to use these apps. I just put the file onto Dropbox and let it sync. Done.
bloated iTunes client.
I don't sync my iPhone or iPad to a computer anymore. Works fine without it.
[+] [-] emehrkay|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jacktoole1|14 years ago|reply
I'd recommend seeing if you can check out an iPad and whatever alternative you're looking into at a local store, and spend some time using them how you anticipate you would on a day to day basis. While I hear there are some good android tablets, some are laggy (Kindle Fire, I'm looking at you), which gets incredibly frustrating over time. There are also other potential limitations, such as the app store (not to say Android isn't doing well there, but a lot of mobile apps still seem to start with iOS first, although this could change).
Disclaimer: I own an iPad, and I like it. I also have friends with both Android tablets and iPads who love their choice. If you feel that the features lacked by the iPad are important, then go for it and get something else. Good luck in your search!
(Side note: I totally agree about iTunes, especially on Windows.)
[+] [-] bchen|14 years ago|reply
Regarding repurchasing apps, it may be a good thing. There are plenty of good iPad apps, which fully take advantage of the tablet form factor. Although I have not used many Android tablet apps to prove it, Tim Cook should have good reasons to criticize about tablet apps on Android.
[+] [-] Archio|14 years ago|reply
The iPad certainly isn't for everyone, just like most consumer technology products are for certain types of people. But I think Apple's hit the sweet spot where for 99% of their customers, 16, 32, or 64GB of space is plenty and customization isn't really needed.
[+] [-] noisebleed|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philwelch|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] badhairday|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sosuke|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Archio|14 years ago|reply
> Going back to the iPad 2 after reading for a few hours on the iPad 3 is jarring.
> ...most graphics and images on the web are behind the curve, as of today
> The iPad display is so good that it shows, like no device before it, just how crummy most images on the web are.
It's like using a product from the future. Except Apple has engineered it now, and everyone can have one for a (relatively) decent price: $500. The new iPad is the poster child of everything that Apple does really well, and why it has been so successful over the past couple of years.
[+] [-] Jimmie|14 years ago|reply
Honestly I'm shocked.
[+] [-] hahainternet|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] darrenkopp|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MrEnigma|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notatoad|14 years ago|reply
When you're surfing the Internet, a vertical 4:3 screen is awesome. The reason I sold my android tablet and bought an iPad was because the 16:9 screen sucked for anything other than movies.
[+] [-] chj|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tikhonj|14 years ago|reply
I really wish people would avoid them both in blog posts and comments. I've been seeing some here on HN as well and really wish they would go away.
[+] [-] Cushman|14 years ago|reply
And anyone who can't admit that is ignoring reality, yeah.
[+] [-] siglesias|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] user-id|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seiji|14 years ago|reply
If you get annoyed by words online, you have a very unhappy life ahead of you.
[+] [-] recoiledsnake|14 years ago|reply
Agreed, and most of the people who say that live in Silicon Valley sipping a $5 latte in a Starbucks with a Macbook in tow.
Whereas, in countries like India, you could be working a great job, have all luxuries, even have a housemaid and the iPhone will easily set you back a months salary. Whereas, in the US, you can buy around 7 unlocked iphones with a month's salary. People's perspective is screwed up when they don't understand why everyone doesn't rush to buy Apple products. How many in the US or Europe would buy the iPhone if it was $5000 ?
I am not implying Apple should lower the prices but I think the people making that claim about them not being high priced products have completely lost their sense of reality.
[+] [-] bryanlarsen|14 years ago|reply
1) some semblance of impartiality
2) the comments will be about the iPad rather than about Gruber
[+] [-] zem|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philwelch|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AllenShi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smacktoward|14 years ago|reply
(Now let's all take a moment to recover from the shock of hearing this.)
[+] [-] siglesias|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philwelch|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] cooldeal|14 years ago|reply
Can't have a Microsoft enthusiast site even be seen or the submitted on the site right? Who knows, it might get some upvotes on the new page and not enough flags from the haters to kill it, it's better to squelch his articles and not take any chances of them hurting the anti-MSFT, pro Apple and Google sentiment on here, right? Bring on the anti-MS articles though, they're surely welcome on the front page.
[+] [-] jsnk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qwe123_troll|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] phzbOx|14 years ago|reply
Sadly, it's not enough for me to switch from the ipad1 to the ipad3. If there was a way to have a reduced prize by trading it with your ipad1, then maybe.. :) Still, I wish there was something more to it..
[+] [-] baddox|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] derefr|14 years ago|reply