tablets

Showing 115 posts tagged tablets

"I wonder if that is how it begins"...

Michael Lopp:

Apple is eventually doomed. Yes, the most valuable company on the planet will slowly fade into stagnant mediocrity. It will be replaced by something that they will not predict and they will not see coming. This horrifically efficient culling is a fact of life in technology because it is an industry populated by a demographic intent not on building a better mousetrap, but who avidly ask, “Why the hell do we need mousetraps?”

That’s exactly right. Yes, Apple will eventually fall because guess what? All companies do. But it won’t be because someone like Microsoft or Google builds a better tablet or smartphone. It will be because another company you’ve never heard of builds something that makes tablets and smartphones obsolete.

This is the main problem I have with all of the recent “Apple is failing” stories. All seem to imply that missteps will allow their big rivals to take over Apple’s position of power. That’s not going to happen.

That’s why Lopp’s last point is so important: while the ouster of Scott Forstall makes a ton of sense from an org perspective as it seem to make Apple more stable, maybe that’s not the best thing in the world for Apple going forward. If they’re going to defeat these unknown assailants with unknown products in the future, maybe Apple (and really, any company) needs some level of instability to keep the creative juices flowing. At the very least, it makes it hard for anyone to know what and how to attack.

Xbox Surface: Microsoft's 7-inch gaming tablet

Tom Warren:

Microsoft is building its own 7-inch gaming tablet. Multiple sources familiar with plans within Redmond have confirmed to The Verge that initial hardware planning for an Xbox Surface is underway.

This makes a lot of sense. The iPad mini is a killer gaming device — to the point that I believe it’s going to alter console sales. Microsoft needs to be in this space with Xbox.

Though I’m not sure if marketing it as just a gaming device will be a good or bad thing. Could go either way.

When Two Comes Before One

John Gruber remarking on Dan Frommer’s post on the iPad mini being the “real iPad”:

I think the 9.7-inch size was better to start with conceptually, to establish the iPad in consumers’ minds as something they might want to own. The biggest complaint about the original iPad upon its unveiling was that it was nothing more than a “big iPhone”. That would have been an even bigger complaint if they’d launched with the smaller 7.9-inch display instead. The bigger difference in physical size made it even more likely that developers would do the work to create iPad-optimized versions of their iPhone apps, too.

Had Apple initially launched a 7.9-inch iPad, I actually think it may have failed. It simply would have been deemed too close in size to the iPhone/iPod touch. “Tablets make no sense” yadda yadda.

It took the 9.7-inch as a sort of proof-of-concept and perhaps just as importantly, a catalyst to get developers thinking about the tablet as different from the smartphone. The iPad mini directly benefits from both developers and consumers now willing to think differently.

The iPad Mini Is The Ideal Second Screen Companion

Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch:

In reality, the iPad mini is better for a number of use cases than its larger predecessor, but it seems like the perfect couch companion after a few days of thorough testing of that theory. With mobile tech moving steadily toward a place of prominence in the family living room, watch for the iPad mini to become the pace setter in this key changing facet of home entertainment.

Yup.

It Costs Microsoft Just $83 More To Make A Surface Than It Costs Apple To Make An iPad Mini

While we’re on the topic of teardowns, this is also interesting from Arik Hesseldahl:

With a base price of $499 for a 32 gigabyte Surface without the Touch Cover accessory, IHS estimates that the cost of components used to build it amount to $271 for a starter 32GB model, without the cover.

Simple math: if these estimates are correct, the base-level Surface costs only $83 more to make than the base-level iPad mini. Still think $329 isn’t a good deal?

Put it this way: Microsoft is selling a product that costs $83 more to make for $170 more. In pure economic terms, it sure looks like the iPad mini is a great deal.

As for the Kindle Fire HD:

Like the old one, the new Kindle Fire HD sells for a starting price of $199, and carries a combined cost of components of $165, according to IHS estimates.

So the Kindle Fire is cheaper to build than the iPad mini — no surprise there, despite the “HD” screen. But Amazon is selling it at a tiny profit, so it’s technically the best “deal”.

$188 to Build

Arik Hesseldahl for AllThingsD:

Previously known as iSuppli, and widely known for its so-called “teardown” analysis reports, IHS has just completed its teardown report on the Apple’s newest iteration of the tablet. The verdict: The base model, a Wi-Fi-only 16 gigabyte iPad mini, which sells for a starting retail price of $329, costs about $188 to build.

Why is Apple not selling the iPad mini at $199? This is why. That would be $11 of profit — and that’s not taking into account marketing, etc. That’s just not the game Apple plays.