Matt Burns Bored With The iPad 3

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Matt Burns:

The iPad 3 is coming next month. Or so says the endless rumors. These rumors also state the next iPad will have higher resolution screen and high-speed data connection. But I couldn’t care less. The iPad 3, if that’s really its name, sounds like a stop-gap upgrade to me.

Stop-gap, eh? Continue.

You see, I’m perfectly happy with my iPad 2. Save the addition of an SD card slot, there isn’t a single feature I can imagine that will make me trade up to Apple’s new hotness.

Faster connectivity, better cameras, vastly superior display = Meh. SD card slot = the own!~!1. Got it.

I guess the iPad 3 sounds great, but it also sounds boring.

Totally makes sense to me.

That’s not saying Apple won’t sell a zillion iPad 3s. It will.But it’s going to take more than a spec bump for me (and likely many others) to upgrade from the iPad 2.

That what I've been saying about laptops since the PowerBook 100 came out. I mean, it's been 21 years - are they ever gonna revolutionize these things?

Prior to most Apple events, rumors swirl, promising a revolutionary device that will change life on planet Earth forever. But then the iPhone 4S launches. A fine piece of hardware, sure, but far from spectacular.

Best-selling phone of all time. Go on.

But there hasn’t been any wide-eyed iPad 3 rumors but rather just predictable leaks stating there will be a slight hardware bump.

Again, see my note regarding the PowerBook 100.

Part of my dystopian outlook is that I’m pretty damn happy with the iPad 2. I passed on the original iPad, annoyed over the lack of external storage and USB support.

Which they never added to the iPad 2, which you are "pretty damn happy with". I see.

I instead waited for the Android tablets…

And…?

…but quickly discovered Honeycomb’s main fault involves trying to replicate a desktop environment rather than creating a mobile one.

You didn't like that? So many others did.

I have a dozen notebooks for traditional mobile computing.

Oh! So people want a tablet to be different from a traditional desktop experience?

So I got a 16GB Verizon iPad last summer. I’ve never been so happy with a device. I’ve had it since July 2011 and still use it hours a day. Apps make up 95% of my usage — the majority of which are not available on Android. I fire up Safari just to check TechCrunch and Techmeme.

So you totally love your iPad? Okay.

A prettier screen is not going to change or increase my usage unless Apple backsteps and includes a SD card slot — which it won’t.

So that only thing that will make a Retina Display screen better is an unrelated port on the side of the machine? I'm totally tracking with you.

When the original iPad launched, I dreamed of using it as a on-location photo viewer. I imagined using the tablet in conjunction with a cloud service for iPhoto. But instead Apple released a lame Dock Connect adapter which falls short of my expectation.

An SD card slot is the most important thing in your life, but investing $30 to have one on your iPad is out of the question. Makes sense.

The current screen looks great. Have you played Infinity Blade 2 or Rage? Awesome.

This screen is awesome, so a more-awesome screen would not be as good. Understood.

It’s important to remember that Apple doesn’t need to reinvent the iPad.

You just said, "The iPad 3, if that’s really its name, sounds like a stop-gap upgrade to me" which sound to me like you think they do, but… okay.

The company makes piles of cash by outing successful products and keeping them on the market as long as possible.

You're talking about Apple? Is that right? The same Apple that killed the iPod Mini in 2005 — when it was selling very well — to introduce the iPod Nano? The same company that killed it's best-selling white MacBook and replaced it with a MacBook Air? The same company that risked the entire iPod brand when they incorporated a best-of-breed iPod into their iPhone in 2007? Revisionist history, but sure.

The iPad 3 will likely be just a spec bump to stay competitive for 2012 and 2013.

Stay competitive because of all the competition from those Android tablets… I think about 6 of those sold. Or the pseudo-Android Kindle Fire which sold an undisclosed amount. Yeah, sounds like Apple really needs to pull up it's socks.

It will match (and outsell) future Android tablets, causing companies like Samsung, Asus and Motorola to quickly redesign and release an even more “powerful” tablet just to get a bit of an edge.

Well, they're all doing splendidly so far.

Apple didn’t need to release the iPhone 5 in 2011 because the iPhone 4 was still outselling most other phones. Instead, Apple released the iPhone 4S, which while packing some new innards, is mostly a stop-gap solution allowing the company to milk additional revenue from supply contracts on aging components.

Sounds like a flop to me. If only we knew the sales numbers.

It worked. Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones in the last part of 2011 on its way to be the most valuable company. The iPhone 4S gives Apple even more time to refine the iPhone 5 while negating more favorable manufacturing and supply deals.

Oh.

The same thing could happen to the iPad 2. Apple could release the iPad 2S. It would be faster, packing LTE data and a quad-core A6 CPU along with featuring a higher-res screen. Of course there would probably be a new camera and new software to take advantage of the quad-core CPU — the software would likely be exclusive to just the new model, though.

Yup. The name matters more than the product. That's important to remember. Also, Apple is historically TERRIBLE for supporting older devices with late and non-existent software updates.

The WSJ reports that Apple is playing with an 8-inch iPad. But once again, Apple doesn’t need to release an 8-incher right now. Sure, the Kindle Fire is scooping up plenty of marketshare but the tablet scene is far from saturated and the Fire helps bring attention to the product type.

I talk to people all the time who say, "iPad? What's that.. oh, you mean iPod!"

If Apple releases a stop-gap iPad in the coming weeks, I fully expect the company to completely reinvent its mobile line before the holiday season including a smaller, cheaper iPad.

Apple has always been a very reactionary company. And considering not a single one of iPad's competitor's will release actual sales numbers that can only mean dooooooooooom for Apple.

I’m sitting the next iPad out. My iPad 2 works just fine and none of the rumored iPad 3 features justify upgrading to me. Apple will likely hype a meaningless feature during the keynote, deeming it a game changer. But I’ve learned my lesson. Heads will stop spinning shortly after the event and reality will set in. Avoid the Apple spin zone. It has a tendency of sucking credit cards towards pre-order buttons.

Just look at iPod, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, and MacBook Air — their sales numbers all trailed off into oblivion within weeks of launch. At least — I'm pretty sure that's what happened… right?

Apple Working with Suppliers on 8-Inch iPad

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Eric Silvka:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is working with suppliers on a smaller iPad carrying a display in the range of 8 inches in diameter, down from the 9.7-inch display in the current iPad but still larger than the 7-inch display found in the Kindle Fire.

At the risk of having to eat crow… there will be no iPad Mini.

15-Inch MacBook Air?

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Kasper Jade:

This will include new, ultra-thin unibody enclosures that jettison yesteryear technologies like optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favor of models with lightweight chassis that employ flash-memory based solid-state drives, instant-on capabilities, extended battery life, and rely on digital distribution for software and media.

Steve Jobs said when introducing the redesigned MacBook Air that he felt this was what all notebooks would be in the future. Hard to be surprised when Jobs tips his hand like that.

(Via MacRumors)

More Android Fragmentation Non-Issues

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Josh Ong:

A Motorola Mobility executive has said Google's practice of creating a flagship model for each software update for its Android mobile operating system is the reason that vendors have a hard time keeping their devices up to date.

For the last time: fragmentation is not an issue for Android.

7-Inch iPad Mini

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Killian Bell:

[A] Technology Business Research analyst said Apple will launch two new products at its upcoming iPad event. And when we say “new,” we don’t mean a next-generation refresh — we mean something brand new

….

a smaller 7-inch iPad.

There is no chance. They may discount the iPad 2 (a la iPhone 4) to compete with cheaper devices, but there will not be an iPad Mini.

Especially For Apple

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Mark Shields, of Change.org:

At Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest manufacturers, there is a history of suicides, abusive working conditions, and almost no pay. These working conditions are appalling, especially for Apple.

I suppose we can infer that such practices are okay for Microsoft and Nintendo (among many, many others at Foxconn and, elsewhere in China).

(Via Cult of Mac)

IE On ARM Will Be Flash-less

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Alex Wilhelm:

Also announced today: Internet Explorer on ARM machines will not have Flash support.

Ryan Kim, reporting Adobe's optimism 1 year ago:

This year, the company expects more than 132 million smartphones to have Flash Player installed, including 40 percent of all smartphones shipped in the first half of the year, while more than 50 tablets will ship or be able to download Flash Player.

Danny Winokaur, Adobe's Official Blog, four months ago today:

We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations.

Anyone know any good Flash developer courses?

Kodak Changing Forever

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Matt Brian:

Kodak will cease production and stop selling all digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames in the first half of 2012 and seek to expand its licensing business, which may well include a number of patents that it attempted to use against Apple and other technology companies in the past.

Amazing how the world can blow past once mighty companies that don't see and adapt to the future quickly enough.

iPad 3 Will Probably Suck

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Killian Bell:

Images of leaked iPad 3 components hot off the Foxconn factory floor have been provided to Cult of Mac. They reveal that the internal components of Apple’s third-generation iPad are significantly different to those features in its first- and second-generation tablet. However, its design seems to remain almost the same.

It's going to be a huge disappointment, just like the iPhone 4S.

Steve Jobs' Philanthropic Efforts

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For those of you who think Steve Jobs never did anything philanthropic. This whole video (embedded below) is fascinating, but this section (starting at 44m27s) is especially interesting. The lengths to which Steve and a young Apple Computers went to in an attempt to help American schools is amazing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=121ofj_l6vM&t=44m27s]

iPad Doesn't Have It, So It's Better!

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Matt Brian:

Amazon has targeted the iPad in previous commercials, highlighting the difficulty some face when using the device in direct sunlight, but the company has just released a new advert, going for Apple and its iPad over pricing.

The message here seems to be "cheaper is better" — not sure that's true. Also, it doesn't matter what a given product has, if Apple's equivalent (or competing) product doesn't have it, it's better.

  • It has a pen! (Already died - it was called the 90s)
  • There's a 5-inch screen! (Already tried, and failed)
  • 3D! (We'll see - hasn't been doing so great for Nintendo)

People who have a Kindle love it. People who've used a Kindle Fire usually agree with Matt Brian:

appreciate the Kindle Fire delivers an incredible amount of content for the price, but it’s still a long way from being the finished product, especially when compared to the iPad.

Address Book Permissions

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Marco Arment:

Apple needs to change the Address Book API to require user permission first, like Core Location and Push Notifications do. I don’t care how many applications break as a result. Not requiring user permission to date should be treated as a security hole and patched promptly.

I agree. If any app wants access to my personal data it should ask me. I'm actually surprised this hasn't been addressed before.

 

It's Not Called iMatch

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Jeff Price:

Apple charges consumers a fee of $25 a year to subscribe to the iMatch service.

Okay, this may seem nit-picky to some of you, but there is no such thing as iMatch, well there is, but Apple has nothing to do with it. Jeff is happy that copyright holders and artists are getting paid money they might otherwise never see. Great. You'd think someone so happy about a service would at least know that service's name! It's iTunes Match not iMatch. It's the same thing with iTouch. There is no such product. And, frankly, it sounds kind of creepy.