Apple releases the iPad Mini

[Zet]

It's rumored that Steve Jobs mapped out the future of Apple for them for at least the next four generations, and I believe it, considering it's Steve Jobs we're talking about, so I think that he had a hand in the iPad mini's development.

I also believe it to be true, he really did hate Android with a fiery passion.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

It's rumored that Steve Jobs mapped out the future of Apple for them for at least the next four generations, and I believe it, considering it's Steve Jobs we're talking about, so I think that he had a hand in the iPad mini's development.

Except that he said this two years ago:

I'd like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months. First, it appears to be just a handful of credible entrants, not exactly an avalanche. Second, almost all of them use seven-inch screens as compared to iPad's near 10-inch screen. Let's start there. One naturally thinks that a seven-inch screen would offer 70% of the benefits of a 10-inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The screen measurements are diagonal, so that a seven-inch screen is only 45% as large as iPad's 10-inch screen. You heard me right; just 45% as large.

If you take an iPad and hold it upright in portrait view and draw an imaginary horizontal line halfway down the screen, the screens on the seven-inch tablets are a bit smaller than the bottom half of the iPad display. This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps in our opinion.

And

Apple's done extensive user-testing on touch interfaces over many years, and we really understand this stuff. There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touch screen before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps.

No tablet can compete with the mobility of a smartphone, its ease of fitting into your pocket or purse, its unobtrusiveness when used in a crowd. Given that all tablet users will already have a smartphone in their pockets, giving up precious display area to fit a tablet in our pockets is clearly the wrong tradeoff. The seven-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad.

 

[Nick]

Except that he said this two years ago:

I'd like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months. First, it appears to be just a handful of credible entrants, not exactly an avalanche. Second, almost all of them use seven-inch screens as compared to iPad's near 10-inch screen. Let's start there. One naturally thinks that a seven-inch screen would offer 70% of the benefits of a 10-inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The screen measurements are diagonal, so that a seven-inch screen is only 45% as large as iPad's 10-inch screen. You heard me right; just 45% as large.

If you take an iPad and hold it upright in portrait view and draw an imaginary horizontal line halfway down the screen, the screens on the seven-inch tablets are a bit smaller than the bottom half of the iPad display. This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps in our opinion.

And

Apple's done extensive user-testing on touch interfaces over many years, and we really understand this stuff. There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touch screen before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps.

No tablet can compete with the mobility of a smartphone, its ease of fitting into your pocket or purse, its unobtrusiveness when used in a crowd. Given that all tablet users will already have a smartphone in their pockets, giving up precious display area to fit a tablet in our pockets is clearly the wrong tradeoff. The seven-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad.

Oh. Okay.

Well then, I'll amend my statement to: It's rumored that Steve Jobs mapped out the future of Apple for them for at least the next four generations, and I believe it, considering it's Steve Jobs we're talking about. Deterring from his plan like they did (especially when he was so adamantly against it) just makes me angry. I find it incredibly disrespectful to his vision and makes me think less of Apple as a company.

 

[Autophobic]

I don't think the price is an issue. Tons of people that use Apple products will get it just because it's the newest product out.

 

[SamuJake]

I'm an apple fan, I like their products a lot. But I don't think the iPad mini was really worth making. I get it how it could be a bit more portable, but, eh.. it just doesn't appeal to me. If I want something portable that can use apps and take decent pictures and make FaceTime calls, I'd use an iPhone. If I want something that is portable but a bit bigger to really look at things, I'd get an iPad. I usually love seeing their new products and seeing what they did and added, this one just eh, just to get more money.