Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
I don't think you can really extrapolate anything from Amazon's issues.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
|
*blinks*
Quote:
Originally Posted by thegeriatric
I recently picked up a kindle and it weighed next to nothing, I could happily hold this for a long time.
|
Again, though, e-ink readers weigh next to nothing because they can use much smaller batteries than LCD tablets. Most 7" tablets weigh about a pound — they're closer in weight to the full-size iPad than they are to their six-ounce, e-ink brethren.
Quote:
Originally Posted by screensaver400
I think a 7.85" would certainly sell, but if it's a choice between a 7.85" model and a 9.7" model at $299 (which is entirely possible by this time next year), I think most would choose the larger model.
|
Pretty much this.
Nobody is saying that nobody ever would ever be interested in a smaller iPad. Nobody
needs to say it, because it's A) obviously wrong (some people like the Galaxy Note!) and B) irrelevant. Some people were interested in the white MacBook, for example, and Apple killed that. For Apple, the burden of proof would be entirely on the other side, and nobody has proven that Apple
needs to make an iPad mini. They've just given reasons why Apple shouldn't not make it. It'd sell! Of course it'd sell, but would it just sell to people who would buy any $299 iPad?
Apple isn't the type of company that just makes any product because some people might be interest in it. Apple works tirelessly to deliver as
few products as they can, because they know their app ecosystem thrives in part due to the lack of fragmentation, and because they know
they thrive in part due to economies of scale. They were able to get such a good rate on all those retina displays — that their competitors can't put into any tablets at any price — precisely
because they knew they were going to put them into every iPad going forward, not just the luxury models. They also know that the fewer models they offer, the less they have to explain the differences to users. What do you think Apple would rather do: attempt to explain to the world that the iPad mini ran full-size iPad apps, or just keep selling the iPad 2 at the same price and have that be self-evident?
Finally: when would Apple actually introduce this theoretical $299 7" iPad? This holiday season? The iPad hasn't even had a holiday season at $399 yet — I think Apple would be leaving money on the table by slashing the entry price so dramatically this year. (It's not like Android tablets are a threat.) And come next spring, they could probably just keep selling the iPad 2 at $299, which would I think be a more desirable offering to most buyers anyway. It'd be the full-sized iPad experience, and you could actually type on it.