Posted on 03/21/2017 1:58:01 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Apple just dropped a new iPad with all the excitement of an IRS audit,” Daniel Howley writes for Yahoo Finance. “That is to say, there was none. It feels like the company just woke up Tuesday morning and decided, ‘Hey, let’s announce a new iPad.’ Instead of a flashy event like Apple usually holds when it debuts a new product, we simply got a press release. I’ve had dentist appointments that were more thrilling than Apple’s latest announcement.”
“So why did Apple, the company that basically owns the tablet market, debut a new iPad without making a big show of it?” Howley writes. “Well, because the iPad isn’t that exciting anymore. It simply doesn’t warrant a lot of fanfare.”
“The tablet market isn’t hot anymore and Apple knows it,” Howley reports. “To sweeten the pot for prospective consumers, Apple has moved the iPad into the budget market. Whereas the iPad Pro 9.7 starts at a pricy $599, the new iPad starts at $329. That’s pretty reasonable for a new iPad.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dan is going to feel mighty silly when Apple unveils their new iPad Pro lineup at a special event within weeks. Today’s iPad was merely part of a press release dump of all of the things that wouldn’t fit, or merit inclusion, into the event’s schedule.
BTW, we told ya so:
iPads are too expensive relative to the perceived competition and Apple has obviously done a piss-poor job of marketing the iPad family (read: clearly explaining to the hoi polloi why they want an iPad over an Amazon or other Android tablet).
Sticker price is the biggest reason why iPad sales struggle to return to growth (the next biggest reason is that iPads’ useful lives last so damn long, they’re not rapidly replaced).
We would have purchased iPads for family members this year if they had been updated as they should have been for the holiday season and if the prices were a bit more palatable. Yes, we know what an iPad offers. Yes, we know they’re worth the money Apple’s asking for today; even being last year’s models. But, Apple should really do the math and consider making certain hardware more affordable in exchange for the backend revenue and increased mindshare and market share that will deliver.
For the same reason – mindshare – Apple should make their own Apple displays, even to the point of taking a loss of each and every one, so that other companies’ logos on frankly ugly products that do not match Apple design sensibilities are not in users’ faces all day long. That’s not a difficult concept to grasp; even an inveterate beancounter might be able to get it. — MacDailyNews, January 6, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new $329 iPad is thicker and slightly heavier than iPad Air 2 – March 21, 2017
Apple unveils new 9.7-inch iPad starting at new low price of just $329 – March 21, 2017 – March 21, 2017
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.
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.
You’re correct!
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.
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. :^)
“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 : )
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).
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
I like my iPad more than life itself.
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.
Wow, very interesting info to tuck away. I had no idea. Thanks.
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.
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.
Yup. Love my little IPad.
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! :-)
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?
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.
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