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Why Apple announced its new, low-priced iPad with such little fanfare
MacDailyNews ^ | March 21, 2017 -- 3:30PM

Posted on 03/21/2017 1:58:01 PM PDT by Swordmaker

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To: Swordmaker

Well, it looks like this will be the next acquistion by wifey. She’s a long time apploid but I tolerate her and her iPod, iWatch, Iphone, except when she asks for help using the darn stuff..

For being designed for ease of use, apple engineers must be stoned when they brainstorm,, which has induced some pretty intense discussions with wifey as I tell her to go to an apple store, they will help you, or at&t’s store , actually more patient than you would expect, .

My LG tablet works just fine, and cost a lot less than the newest iPad.. but price has never stopped wifey from taking another bite of the apple.


41 posted on 03/21/2017 3:14:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!!)
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To: Swordmaker

Okay....just WHAT are all of these “many uses” does the iPad have? Please name them them ALL, that are NOT a replication of all of the other things, such a a computer, laptop, cell phone do and WHY they are SOOOOOOOOOOO “necessary” for EVERYONE to have.


42 posted on 03/21/2017 3:16:33 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: adorno

You’re correct!


43 posted on 03/21/2017 3:17:44 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: Swordmaker

Can I ask you a question about which Apple product to buy my wife?

I am DONE with Microsoft with their built in crap ware and virues. Besides our smart phones, the only computer we have is a 4 year old Chrome Book. That thing is a cockroach. I love it. It never gets a virus and for $250.00 it still works fine.

But my wife wants MS Word. I’ve tried to get her to interface with Google Docs but no.

So now I see iPpads with MS Word? Any Apple laptops with Word? One having a keyboard and ability to print is essential.

Thanks in advance.


44 posted on 03/21/2017 3:18:54 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: Blue Jays

One technique I use is to take pics of things as I disassemble...so I know how to put them back together.
If doing the project in the backyard it is nicer to have that disassembly snapshot on something bigger than a cellphone.
When done with the maintenance task, the pics just get tossed. Works like a charm.


45 posted on 03/21/2017 3:19:26 PM PDT by Blue Jays ( Rock hard ~ Ride free)
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To: philled
Some "fad," Adorno.

It was a fad, and it doesn't matter how many were sold. Time and practicality proved that it was a fad. Sales volume is not an indicator of usefulness.

Sales have been going down, year after year, and even those that fell for the fad initially, are not coming back for more of the useless device. Yeah, except for the blind loyalists, like the iZombies.

My son-in-law has had one for 4 years, the only use he's had for it is as a "broadcaster" of movies to the Chromecast attached to his TV. Otherwise, he never uses it, and in fact, he's discovered that he doesn't even need the iPad for the "broadcasting", since any smartphone can serve the same purpose. So, he'll leave it to his 2 4-year old daughters to play games with. Other than that, not really a useful device.
46 posted on 03/21/2017 3:20:24 PM PDT by adorno (w)
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To: nopardons

I like the iPad for those long international flights. I see a lot of tablets in use on planes (I fly often). Much easier than digging out a laptop, and larger screen for movies/games than a phone provides.

However, I almost never use it at home. :^)


47 posted on 03/21/2017 3:29:22 PM PDT by Hard Way (Razor nothin'. I'm firing up Occam's Chain Saw)
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To: Swordmaker

“The iPad Air 2 was very slender; 6.1mm and 0.96 pounds,” Mayo reports. “The new iPad is relatively bulky, measuring at 7.5mm thin and weighing 1.03 pounds.”
http://macdailynews.com/2017/03/21/apples-new-329-ipad-is-thicker-and-slightly-heavier-than-ipad-air-2/

Really?! A few ounces more and less then a few mm more and it is “bulky”!

The price is much better.

Specs: 9.7-inch 2048×1536 screen as previous iPads of this size, an 8MP rear camera with no flash, TouchID, and a headphone jack. 32GB and 128GB capacities are available in both Wi-Fi and cellular configurations; 32GB models cost $329 for Wi-Fi and $459 for cellular, while 128GB models run $429 and $559 respectively. Space grey, silver, and gold colors are all offered, but no rose gold.
https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/03/apples-new-329-9-7-inch-ipad-replaces-air-2-has-no-pro-features/

No Rose Gold! Darn!
32GB models cost $329 for Wi-Fi
128GB models run $429

I can get for $31 a 128gb SanDisk usb device about the size of a thumbnail.
Apple has to pay for that spaceship of theirs : )

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-SDCZ43-128G-GAM46-Newest-Version/dp/B01BGTG2A0/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1490134785&sr=1-6&keywords=128gb+usb+memory


48 posted on 03/21/2017 3:29:32 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: nopardons

I find the iPad great for reading books and pretty good for watching movies on an airplane, etc. It is also much better for email and internet than using a phone (to be honest, I don’t have a ‘phablet’ phone).


49 posted on 03/21/2017 3:30:15 PM PDT by hanamizu
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To: avenir
Jealous much? (Heehee...)

YOu sound like a 5-year old.

No wonder you find that toy useful.
50 posted on 03/21/2017 3:30:26 PM PDT by adorno (w)
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To: nopardons

I think that people get comfortable with a gadget and then it works for them. I use a macbook exclusively, no smart phone, no ipad, not even my kindle anymore, easier to just read on the computer. But I have a laptop table that angles into my couch so its convenient that way. We don’t use live TV but watch movies and some shows via Amazon prime.

I gave up buying physical books and movies at least 5 years ago. They take up so much space and get yellow. We used to have to ship home books on vacation because we would run out & buy more than we could carry home in our suitcases.

Now I can have hundreds along in just a kindle & I can adjust the type size and lighting. I find it a bit less convenient to scan back to look for something earlier in the book that I want to revisit but it’s doable and I don’t do it often. I love that I can get the next book in a series wirelessly right when I finish the one before.

Giving away my books to the vets has freed my bookshelves for jigsaw puzzles. I was unsuccessful adding an ipad mini because it wouldn’t do anything for me that the laptop doesn’t but for my nieces & nephews it’s huge. They can play games, listen to books and read them. They can face time with family and store pictures. It’s a great size for little hands.
De gustibus non est disputandum


51 posted on 03/21/2017 3:34:04 PM PDT by JayGalt
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

I like my iPad more than life itself.


52 posted on 03/21/2017 3:34:18 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: Sans-Culotte
My iPad mini has started failing on me. It will work for 10-15 minutes, and then apps start opening on their own, screen resizes itself, etc. It's like it is possessed. I took it into an Apple Genius store to see if it could be repaired. All they could offer was to sell me a replacement (that was their advice to almost everybody there. I don't think they repair very many things at all). I only use it for browsing and reading Kindle books, and my old original iPad 1 still works. I told them that rather than pay a lot for a replacement that I'd just get a Kindle Fire. The Apple dude said "that's what I'd probably do".

With the introduction of the iPad mini, and the iPad 2, as well as the iPhone 6, the EPA started demanding the use of leadless solder so that landfills would be lead-free when the devices were later disposed of and toddlers would not be exposed to lead if they ate the device.

The lead in solder was an essential means of keep the other component in solder from growing crystal "whiskers" with age as well as a eutectic metal to lower the melting temperature of the alloy.

Combine the leadless solder with the advances in making electronics smaller and smaller, especially the distances between wires called traces on microcircuit ICs, these whiskers can grow long enough to reach out and touch the traces in microcircuitry, causing shorts and erratic operation. That is what you are experiencing with your iPad mini.

No one was aware of this result of the "Law of Unintended Consequences" from the political decision of the EPA because it takes time for these crystal whiskers to grow. A good many of these devices, as they get older, have these whiskers growing and then touching other electronic components or electronic traces. This problem will effect every device that has this type of solder in it.

They have now formulated new solders that will inhibit Tin Whiskers without the use of lead. But such devices, while repairable, will eventually have more such whiskers growing in other places. The problem comes from having this solder foisted on the manufacturers by the political decision of know nothings doing what SOUNDS GOOD rather by making a decision based on pleasing environmental wackos rather than good science.

There are Amazon Kindles and Samsung tablets as well as many others of the same vintage showing the same symptoms. Google Tin Whiskers and you can see some of the micro photos of the problem. I know this doesn't help with your immediate problem, but you'll understand the roots of your issue better.

53 posted on 03/21/2017 3:38:17 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

Wow, very interesting info to tuck away. I had no idea. Thanks.


54 posted on 03/21/2017 3:40:59 PM PDT by JayGalt
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To: Hard Way
What's wrong with reading a good book?

I don't fly much, anymore, I don't play games, I'd rather eat broken glass pieces doused with strychnine, than read a book a machine, watch a movie on an iPhone or iPad, have even MORE trouble using a touch screen, than I had using a mouse ( which was by bete noir, until I could do without one ), and frankly, these aren't really all that good for children. It ruins their eyes, makes them never use their memories, halts some of their other abilities, but it does work as a babysitter.

55 posted on 03/21/2017 3:42:07 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: Swordmaker
Got the iPad Pro last year. It has proven to be absolutely indispensable in my line of work. With the Apple Pencil I once accomplished in less than two minutes what would have taken the better part of an hour without it.

No, I'm not an Apple employee and I don't own Apple stock. But I do appreciate how much productivity can be had with the thing.

56 posted on 03/21/2017 3:55:54 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain (The choice to be stupid is not a conviction I am obligated to respect.)
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To: Swordmaker

Yup. Love my little IPad.


57 posted on 03/21/2017 3:57:10 PM PDT by jazminerose (Adorable Deplorable)
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To: JayGalt
From many of the posts, on this thread, I think that many people just want to be "with it", "cool", "in", have the latest gadget, and then try to convince themselves and others that EVERYONE needs thus and so, sneer at those who choose to NOT have them/find the thing useless!

I LOVE books, always HAVE loved books, got rid of some when I got married and have, ever since, regretted doing that. There is NO way that I'll EVER read a book on a machine! Reading anything on line ( on a screen ) changes the way the brain works.

I STINK ON ICE using a touch screen, so the usefulness of using a product that is geared toward ONLY that, is something I abjure. Also, yes, as you said, reading a footnote or going back to reread something you read earlier, doesn't work well on a tablet of any kind.

Yes, books take up room, lots and lots of room, but I'd rather put up with that, that not. :-)

OTOH....because I have inherited a lot of old books, have bought old, first editions on my own, also have books that are from other countries, many of the things I have read/read, aren't available on a machine and it is doubtful that they ever shall be in my lifetime. And then there is the things about books all of a sudden being taken out of availability and the possibility of things being removed, rewritten, added to a book that one reads on a machine. And yes, a few years ago, several books ( 1984, IIRC and others ),all of a sudden were removed.

I NEVER listen to books and don't want to. Neither do I want my grandson to do that...I want him to READ A HARD COPY OF A BOOK! :-)

58 posted on 03/21/2017 3:59:31 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: BestPresidentEver
Business-wise the problem with tablets is people buy them and use them until they break. They feel no need to get the latest-and-greatest. So its not really a good business to be in. Eventually everything involving computers will be like this. The gravy train won’t last forever.

You've hit the problem right on the proverbial nail head. Apple makes excellent products that don't wear out. (well, except for a short period where the EPA insisted on a leadless solder that is now growing tin whiskers on a few models, which is not Apple's fault). My original iPad 1 is still going strong even with the original battery seven and a half years later, with my five year old granddaughter using it for her play and educational uses. ALL five of the various iPads I've acquired over the past seven or so years are all working great. The original iPad cannot be updated beyond iOS 6 (IIRC) because it lacks the hardware capability but otherwise it still works great.

The problem for Apple selling more iPads is, if it ain't obsolete, why replace it? Replacing iPhones on a two year cycle worked because new functions were released on a yearly schedule and the carriers subsidized the purchase (or appeared to), at least they lightened the pain of purchase. Apple has stepped into the void by allowing financing of both iPhones and iPads, but the iPad bells and whistle upgrades don't make that big an impression on the consumers who just want to surf and answer email. Why upgrade if you don't see a reason to do so when your iPad you currently own is doing a great job already?

59 posted on 03/21/2017 3:59:51 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

Maybe that’s why my old iPad 1 is still going strong even though it’s a few years older than the Mini. Thanks for the info. At least Kindle Fires don’t cost too much to replace when they crap out. Makes me not want to waste money on iPads ever again.


60 posted on 03/21/2017 3:59:58 PM PDT by Sans-Culotte (Time to get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US!)
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