8 ms·
How underwhelming. At 7.9 inches, it’s perfectly sized to deliver an experience every bit as big as iPad What does that even mean? Either it's perfectly size
by AlexMuir 14y ago
How underwhelming.
At 7.9 inches, it’s perfectly sized to deliver an experience every bit as big as iPad
What does that even mean? Either it's perfectly sized, and the iPad is the wrong size. Or it's not. There can surely only be one perfect size to deliver an iPad experience??? Either it's 10" or it's 7.9".
I think Apple's marketing has always been the same - it's just that for a while they were ahead of the curve and so their hyperbole was justified. The iPhone was amazing. The Macbook Air is still amazing. But there is absolutely FUCK ALL amazing about a smaller fucking iPad.
- akavi 14y agoI say this with absolutely no judgement regarding the value of the iPad Mini, but I'm struck by the similarity between this criticism and the criticism leveled against the original iPad ("it's just a giant iPod Touch!").
- nirvana 14y agoThis is what apple haters say about every Apple product. They said the iPhone would be a total flop and never sell the 10 million units Steve Jobs said they hoped to sell-- because it didn't have a hardware keyboard. They said it about the iPod too- claiming that having less capacity than the creative nomad and no built in radio made it "lame" (CmdrTaco famously said this.) They said it about the iMac as well, calling it a toy computer that looked like candy. Funny how in 2 years all the other manufacturers were making their computers colorful, and the bondi-blue design aesthetic was adopted by a wide variety of products around the world. Now I'm sure somewhere there are people who were not even 10 years old when the iMac was being put down are saying the iPad mini is lame. For the same reasons. Then when the product strikes a nerve with the public, and sells 100 million units, they decide that the people buying it must be stupid and persuaded by slick marketing, because obviously its "lame" or "doesn't have the specs" of the competition (though they never detail how it lacks specs and usually they're completely wrong and ignoring the terrible usability of the competition.) It's the standard issue mythology of the apple hater: Apple products are inferior (even when they aren't.) Apple products are more expensive (even though they aren't.) Apple buyers are stupid and easily persuaded by slick marketing (even though it should be obvious that people buy Apple products because they work better for them.) Consequently, EVERY Apple product introduction is "underwhelming".
- untog 14y agoAny discussion involving the terms "apple hater" or "apple fanboy" immediately disappears into a hole of stupidity. That said, Apple are inviting some of these comparisons. "More expensive", for example. The iPad Mini is more expensive than a Nexus 7, by a significant margin. Apple invited the comparison by comparing the two devices themselves on stage.
- jpxxx 14y agoGoogle should be delighted. I've yet to find a "normal" who is aware that anyone else sells "iPads". And Amazon doesn't count, they sell "Kindles". No amount of competitive marketing seems to have brought the two product families into competition beyond "well I heard the iPad has books too but my friend loves her Kindle".
- untog 14y agoI'm yet to find a "normal" that watches Apple Keynotes, though.
- jpxxx 14y agoGood point. :)
- bennyg 14y agoYou aren't on my Twitter timeline then.
- bruceboughton 14y agoNo but the iPad Mini was above-the-fold breaking news on the BBC news website before the keynote was even over.
- jiggy2011 14y agoNobody else could sell a product called iPad without getting sued.
- samstokes 14y agoHe's not criticising the product, he's criticising the marketing.
- Flow 14y agoRead the front of an Everglade spray can. I think it says "The Essence of Nature". Then read the back. The back is full of skulls... While I agree some of the texts on the iPad mini page could have been better written, it's as usual just marketing speak designed to push interested customers that extra cm they need to do a purchase.
- jiggy2011 14y agoWell that sounds about right, the essence of nature is that everything dies.
- StavrosK 14y agoPlus, you know, hemlock, poisonous animals and plants, cyanide, etc etc.
- freehunter 14y agoAnd also everything is poisonous when condensed enough. Essence usually means condensed to a high content.
- lukifer 14y agoIn fairness, that specific marketing line is more than a little silly: it can't be both smaller than an iPad and as big at the same time; both devices can't be the "perfect" size when they are different. Like all tech companies, Apple needs to be able to do subtle iterations and improvements, and their marketing teams are left to try to add an "r" to every evolution.
- Flow 14y agoThe experience can be perfect no matter what size it is :)
- rbanffy 14y ago> both devices can't be the "perfect" size when they are different. Unless they are designed for different usage scenarios.
- ColinDabritz 14y agoIt's certainly a marketing line with plenty of exageration, but I don't think it's particularly unusual. "At 7.9 inches, it’s perfectly sized to deliver an experience every bit as big as iPad" It's "perfectly sized" for the role it's filling (one hand, more mobile, like a pulp novel, whatever), and iPad is "perfectly sized" for it's own role (around the house, larger games, magazine reading, whatever). They can both be "perfectly sized" in a marketing world, and I'm sure the design team fussed over the exact dimensions for a LONG time. It's "an experience" "as big as the iPad" to emphasize that it will run all the existing apps, vs their comparisons to a "scaled up phone experience". The marketing here emphasizes that the compact experience is 'just as good'. I do wonder how well UI elements will scale down, but in a marketing world it makes a certain kind of sense to me. Yes, these claims are a bit silly, especially in a literal sense, but recall that the original iPad was "magical". It's pretty typical marketing phrasing, especially for Apple. That said, I frequently find the phrasing funny too.
- msbarnett 14y agoTo crib from Andrew Plotkin, there are only two reviews of Apple products: "Nothing new, no one will buy it" and "It's too radical, no one will buy it"
- hnriot 14y agoI guess it opens the market to more people (by being less expensive,) but absolutely underwhelming. A desktop computer that's thinner (who cares how thin the desktop is?) and a smaller iPad. It's getting confusing know just what to buy anymore, each variant of iOS device has a myriad options, it's getting more like the old Dell customize your PC selection, memory, network type, display size. I guess Apple are trying to recreate the whole PC ecosystem, just around tablets instead. Good for their bottom line, which is, after all, Apple's goal here.
- fudged71 14y agoI also like in their video how they say that it's perfect to use with one hand. With the iPad mini and the iPhone 5, have they completely forgotten how small thumbs are? It's marketing BS.
- tobych 14y agoI recall he said it can be held in one hand, not "used" with one hand.
- cpeterso 14y agoIn the promo video, they say "it's small enough to fit in one hand" at time 0:49, but later at 2:29 Ives says, "you can still pick it up and easily use it with one hand." https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/overview/#video-ipad-mini-features https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/overview/#video-ipad-mini-fe...
- gfodor 14y agoClearly he meant that you can pick it up with one hand, and use it with the other. Nobody thinks you can physically operate the ipad mini with a single hand.
- cookingrobot 14y agoYou can probably scroll or flip pages with your thumb, so it might be comfortable to read long content with one hand (like a kindle).
- podperson 14y agoIt's the same size an a Kindle Fire / Nexus 7, but lighter, with better battery life, a bigger display, better battery life, and a faster processor. Oh, and it's an iOS device so you can actually use it for something other than bragging about how cheap it was and propping up wobbly tables.
- hahainternet 14y agoThis is the type of low quality comment we should avoid on HN. Ignorant, prejudicial and irrelevant.
- joahua 14y agoOh, come on. As someone who's developed for both platforms, and worked with plenty of other devs (who ought to neither be ignorant nor prejudicial about the situation at hand as their job depends upon it) make quips of this sort all the time. Android is near-exclusively the target of their mirth. This leaves irrelevance, perhaps, but given the context of this thread I'd argue it's not that either.
- hahainternet 14y agoThe beauty of Hacker News is that it isn't filled up with irrelevant quips that tend to polarise discussions. We can actually learn from each other despite our differences.
- taligent 14y agoPot calling the kettle black.
- recursive 14y ago> Oh, and it's an iOS device so you can actually use it for something [citation needed]
- sswezey 14y agoYou should have some citations there: (I'm assuming Kindle Fire HD) * Lighter - that is correct, it is ~75g lighter than KF & N7 * Better battery life - citing the tech specs, it gets 10h browsing, surfing etc. the same as N7 and 1h less than KF's (these are all advertised) * Bigger display - Yes it is bigger in inches, but it is lower resolution than both KF and N7 - meaning pictures are going to look worst. And the mini won't be able to do true 720p. * Faster processor - Comparing apples and oranges here, provide a citation.
- sixothree 14y agoI have a Nexus 7 and an iPad. I find myself using the Nexus almost exclusively. This is probably because it's easier to carry around and if I'm going to carry something as big as the iPad I may as well just carry laptop.
- MartinCron 14y agoSame here. The fact that I can slide the Nexus into an inside jacket pocket makes it so much more practical than the iPad, which you have to explicitly carry.
- GuiA 14y agoI feel the same, and was excited when the Nexus 7 was released. But no LTE on a portable device is just ridiculous. I'm going to jump on the iPad mini as soon as it releases. I'm not sure how representative of any market I am, but Google could have had me as a customer from day 1 if they had had LTE on the Nexus; instead, I'll be giving more money to Apple.
- bryanlarsen 14y agoThere are rumours that one of the devices to be released on October 29th will include a 3G Nexus 7.
- GuiA 14y agoYeah but by October 29th I'll have an iPad mini pre-ordered :)
- MartinCron 14y agoI manage to rely on the fact that there's a wi-fi enabled coffee shop every few yards or so, but I guess not everyone lives in Seattle.
- wvenable 14y agoDon't you also have a phone? I can 1-click tether my Nexus 7 to my iPhone (which is always on me). In fact that is how I'm composing this reply. It doesn't seem necessary for every device to have its own cellular connection when they're so easy to network.
- Joeri 14y agoUnderwhelming is the operative word. Apple's product iterations get more boring with each upgrade. Classic innovator's dilemma. The iDevice line-up sells too well to change the formula, but there's no wow factor anymore. I always figured at some point they would slap a proper navigation UI on the ipad (the icon grid offers a really poor ux), but i suspect they'll stick with evolutionary steps for years to come. I'm probably still buying the mini. It may be boring, but its still the best of its competitors. Only microsoft's stuff might make me reconsider. I've been really impressed by the lumia phones, which have a better UX than the iphone in my opinion. I can imagine a tablet with windows rt being a joy to use as well.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- bane 14y agoIt doesn't help that they are clearly playing follow the leader now too. Bigger phone, smaller tablet...yawn.
- ryanwaggoner 14y agoWho is the leader exactly?
- JakeSc 14y ago> I always figured at some point they would slap a proper navigation UI on the ipad (the icon grid offers a really poor ux) Do you have any suggestions for something better than the canonical icon grid?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jjtheblunt 14y agoExcept it's evidently sexually active, from your eloquent description.
- willchang 14y agoAgreed that the copy is cloying, but surely you realize that the point is that some people prefer a smaller device? When I showed my wife this link, she immediately requested one for Christmas. This was surprising, as she had never before shown the slightest interest in an Apple offering. Then she said that this was going to sell like hotcakes, because at this size, it's not too big to fit in a lady's purse.
- telcodud 14y agoWhat did she say when you showed her the Nexus 7 a few months ago? (I'm only asking this because you wrote "... never before shown the slightest interest in an Apple offering.")
- supercanuck 14y ago>What does that even mean? it is saying you are too cheap to buy an bigger iPad, so you should buy this instead.
- uvTwitch 14y agoIt's almost as if all apple marketing is emotionally targeted bullshit that has no basis on reality whatsoever.
- gfodor 14y agoIt's almost as if people buy devices because of the emotional response they elicit when they use them, not because of hardware specifications. Apple's marketing simply aligned more with what consumers look for in a device.