7 ms·

A week ago, people talked about 7" tablets as though they weren't that different from 10" tablets. Yesterday, Jobs injected a (by all appearances extremely succ

A week ago, people talked about 7" tablets as though they weren't that different from 10" tablets. Yesterday, Jobs injected a (by all appearances extremely successful) meme that they're a very different, vastly inferior thing. This, right before the holiday season in which Apple hopes to sell a ton of 10" tablets and hopes that not many competing 7" tablets will be sold. Hey, they've got a soapbox, why wouldn't they use it?

andreyf 16y ago
A friend pointed out that Jobs spoke as one of the few people in the world who's used 7" and 10" iPad prototypes side-by-side, and thought hard about which is better, so that his memes catch on is probably a good thing ;)
achompas 16y ago
Let's go one step further. Instead of interpreting his comments as shots against Android tablets, let's interpret them as shots against rumors of a 7" iPad. By speaking out adamantly against 7" tabs, he pushes consumers waiting for that 7" iPad toward the 10" instead. This increases market share (and mind share) in the near-term, so that Apple will further entrench themselves as the tablet leader. Then, next year, Jobs says "you've heard about those 7" tablets...we've figured out a great way to make it work!" at WWDC, and releases a 7" iPad. I don't buy into this idea fully, but it wouldn't be the first time he says one thing and does another (iBooks).
code_duck 16y ago
He kept mentioning price as if it was the only reason that someone would want a 7" tablet - 'because it was $50 cheaper'. I saw that as totally manipulating the listener. I think it would be a great size, personally. I'd love something bigger than my iPhone but smaller than an iPad, and that's what my mother described she wanted, too.
- glhaynes 16y ago
  He talked way more about his opinion that 7" tablets didn't provide enough usable area for real tablet apps than he did about price.
  - code_duck 16y ago
    Hmm, I suppose I must have just read a selection of his comments. As others have noted, the 'no usable area in 7 inches' idea makes absolutely no sense, considering the size of the iPhone and iPod Touch. I think that mainly, they don't want to saddle developers with an in-between device as it would be onerous, costly and confusing for us. As much as I'd like a 7" tablet, it's smart of Apple to keep things as simple as possible for now.
    - chc 16y ago
      > As others have noted, the 'no usable area in 7 inches' idea makes absolutely no sense, considering the size of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Jobs is talking about tablets, not phones. The iPod Touch is not merely a small iPad. If you look at an iPhone app and an equivalent iPad app, you'll see that they often have radically different interfaces. Jobs' point, as I take it, is that a seven-inch screen is too small for the kind of apps the iPad runs.
      - code_duck 16y ago
        Exactly, and I think that's what he said, that it would be a nether region in between a tablet and a phone. However, I don't agree that this size would not be desirable and useful. I want one. If I had an iPad, I'd use it for the same things I use my phone for - web browsing, skype, music, reading books, email, photos and games. Why would this size not be appropriate for those tasks? What is it that Steve Jobs thinks people do with iPhones and iPads, if not the aforementioned?
  - crassauto 16y ago
    I find the only time I wish the iPad were smaller would be for reading, though I think I would rather have a separate device like a Kindle than a smaller iPad. I find that I more often wish it were a little larger so that art+sound apps could have more tools onscreen at once.

andreyf 16y ago

A friend pointed out that Jobs spoke as one of the few people in the world who's used 7" and 10" iPad prototypes side-by-side, and thought hard about which is better, so that his memes catch on is probably a good thing ;)

achompas 16y ago

Let's go one step further. Instead of interpreting his comments as shots against Android tablets, let's interpret them as shots against rumors of a 7" iPad. By speaking out adamantly against 7" tabs, he pushes consumers waiting for that 7" iPad toward the 10" instead. This increases market share (and mind share) in the near-term, so that Apple will further entrench themselves as the tablet leader. Then, next year, Jobs says "you've heard about those 7" tablets...we've figured out a great way to make it work!" at WWDC, and releases a 7" iPad. I don't buy into this idea fully, but it wouldn't be the first time he says one thing and does another (iBooks).

code_duck 16y ago

He kept mentioning price as if it was the only reason that someone would want a 7" tablet - 'because it was $50 cheaper'. I saw that as totally manipulating the listener. I think it would be a great size, personally. I'd love something bigger than my iPhone but smaller than an iPad, and that's what my mother described she wanted, too.

glhaynes 16y ago
He talked way more about his opinion that 7" tablets didn't provide enough usable area for real tablet apps than he did about price.
- code_duck 16y ago
  Hmm, I suppose I must have just read a selection of his comments. As others have noted, the 'no usable area in 7 inches' idea makes absolutely no sense, considering the size of the iPhone and iPod Touch. I think that mainly, they don't want to saddle developers with an in-between device as it would be onerous, costly and confusing for us. As much as I'd like a 7" tablet, it's smart of Apple to keep things as simple as possible for now.
  - chc 16y ago
    > As others have noted, the 'no usable area in 7 inches' idea makes absolutely no sense, considering the size of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Jobs is talking about tablets, not phones. The iPod Touch is not merely a small iPad. If you look at an iPhone app and an equivalent iPad app, you'll see that they often have radically different interfaces. Jobs' point, as I take it, is that a seven-inch screen is too small for the kind of apps the iPad runs.
    - code_duck 16y ago
      Exactly, and I think that's what he said, that it would be a nether region in between a tablet and a phone. However, I don't agree that this size would not be desirable and useful. I want one. If I had an iPad, I'd use it for the same things I use my phone for - web browsing, skype, music, reading books, email, photos and games. Why would this size not be appropriate for those tasks? What is it that Steve Jobs thinks people do with iPhones and iPads, if not the aforementioned?
- crassauto 16y ago
  I find the only time I wish the iPad were smaller would be for reading, though I think I would rather have a separate device like a Kindle than a smaller iPad. I find that I more often wish it were a little larger so that art+sound apps could have more tools onscreen at once.