Apple steps up iPad 2 campaign to push functionality over hardware specifications - Page 3

Agree.

One thing that many are not considering is the added file size and bandwidths that a larger format utilize.

True the iPad's Wi-Fi feature tends to make everyone feel safe. But video conference via 3G would be expensive. In addition most countries are now putting caps on bandwidth.

My service was offering 60Gbs/month @ 10Mbs/sec download and I have had to go up to 80Gbs @30Mbs/sec since we add a couple of iPads and Netflix to go with our 5 Mac and 3 iPhones at home.

lol on top of that iPad2 beats Xoom in every possible benchmark

Actually Xoom has 4x the RAM of iPad1. 1GB vs 256MB. Now your point is twice as good. lol

Four if you count the OS X 32 bit to OS X 64 bit transition - which was almost 100% transparent to users, unlike Windows, for example.


You've inadvertently pointed out a major factor that the Apple haters so often fail to admit:

Most Mac users have experience with one or more other operating systems and made a conscious decision to use Macs. They have evaluated the strengths and weaknesses side by side and made a rational decision.

OTOH, the majority of Mac bashers have never used a Mac (or an iPhone or an iPad) and seem proud of that fact (2 minutes of pretending to use someone else's doesn't count). They insist that their way (Windows, Android, Linux, whatever) is better, but have absolutely no basis to make that comparison (there are certainly exceptions, but they're rare).

I think that most of the Apple bashers have an inherent personality flaw. They feel that they must bash anyone who uses anything different than what they use and believe that whatever is most popular must be best - apparently due to the inability to evaluate options and rationally compare one product to another. That's why you get so many mindless idiots frothing at the mouth against Apple products when they clearly don't understand them. You also get so much noise about how Android outsells iPhone [sic] or, years ago, how few people bought Macs. Apparenlty, if you're incapable of logical comparison, the only thing you can do is fall back on "more popular" arguments.

Not true.

Xoom wins the ever-popular power consumption benchmark (using more power per hour than any iPad).

Xoom also wins the ugliness benchmark.

Personally I want a sub-woofer!

the iPad 2 camera reaction is a perfect example of the stubborn and narrow-thinking spec head/gadget people/geek orientation of the blogsphere.

Apple added the cameras for the obvious purpose of video phone/web cam use - communication tools. of course the iPad's bigger screen provides much better viewing for this than a smaller smartphone can. so even if you have a phone with you, you'll use the iPad for it. they also are emergency backups for snapshots and video recording if you don't have anything else to use with you at some moment you need to ("the best camera is the one you have when you need it").

that's what they are. a good review would assess how good a job they do for that intended purpose. as such, they are mid-range quality:

- the VGA FaceTime camera is basic - obviously to conserve data plan use, which you have to pay for! (the review dummies almost never mention that overriding and crucial consideration).
- the 720p video cam is decent, but needs good lighting, which limits when it can be used.
- its still photos are low quality, to have quick fun with for texting/FaceBook and the new PhotoBooth app.
- FaceTime works good within the Mac ecosystem (other options? i dunno) which is still limited in number, but growing.
- the new iMovie app has an excellent UI and a lot of potential for broader use, but is not well integrated yet with the desktop iLife iMovie and importing video files from other hardware via the Camera Connection Kit dongle.

Overall, the cameras add a lot of potential enjoyment to the iPad - that's why they are there. iMovie may also grow into a powerful mobile tool for videophiles, allowing them to leave their laptop behind.

but instead of such a rational assessment, the blogsphere reviews carry on about what the iPad 2 cameras are not. it is a lousy snapshot camera - even though almost everyone has a phone with a decent snapshot camera with them all the time anyway, and that is much easier to use. it is not a good camcorder, even though those of us who really want to take video already have other very good equipment for that, and they are much easier to use too. and of course - megapixels! that's all that matters!

the new Apple ad opens with a video clip of kids at the seashore, presumably taken with the iPad's video camera. which moment Apple realizes is a million time mores important than a megapixel.

To hopefully shut-up people who whine, like you.

Shit, don't give them ideas! They're already screaming for "stereo" speakers in a unit <6" across!

Heard about video calls? In my family we use it all the time to keep contact with our family at the other side of the Atlantic. Only reason we don't have any iPads in our household is that the original iPad had no camera, personally I am much better off with my MacBook Air and MacBook pro, but the iPad 2 can fully replace my wife's white MacBook, and soon will.

Ask not what you can do for your device - ask what your device can do for you.

It's all about your experience. The less there is between you and your apps, the better for you. That's iOS' great strength. It gets out of the way and iPad just becomes the app it's running. And guess what. Apple and thousands of other developers have some incredibly good apps.

Interesting ad. I get the impression this is aimed squarely at an older generation which surely would a first for Apple. Most average users don't care about specs much but this seems to go beyond that. It addresses the more techy elements but tells you its not important. The voice was that old reassuring one that makes you feel you are in safe hands (grandpa) There was nothing to wow you, nothing fancy or playful. Family and grand child related imagery mixed with what? medical looking images. It tells the viewer who no doubt has heard about the iPad but may not know what the hell it is - "The ipad, its a safe bet"

More like Apple shouldn't focus on hardware because it's a meaningless issue. You need software that can take advantage of the specs

I can put 64 GB of ram in my computer but if the software only knows how to read 8GB then I wasted my time and money.



The issue isn't getting one. It's getting exactly the one you want at the time and place you want it.

And compared to the non iOS tablets that haven't even given a release date but just say "later this year" , waiting 4 weeks for one to be shipped isn't really that bad



Given that none of us, yourself included, were there when it was written, cast, film or edited, how do you know that Jobs didn't. Or at least had final veto on all aspects. Which isn't much different than being the literal director when it comes to ads (and even sometimes movies)

You will appreciate iTunes when your iDevice gets lost, stolen, or when you upgrade. My nephew dropped his iPhone at sea and when he got new one the next day the device restored to where the old one last synced. The same thing happens when you upgrade or buy new iDevice. Maybe there will no need to use iTunes when the iPad, iPhone, iPod can self backup to the cloud automatically. But until then, I think it is a plus not a negative.

If only this worked in reverse...

But how many USB/CF/SD/PS-2/ADB/SCSI/VESA/IDE/AGP/PCI ports does it have?

No shit Red Ryder!

I get occasional advertising emails from outfits that I've done business with and one recently came from Adorama, a camera store that I like. This ad was for the Exhume (I mean Xoom). The ad states that they're "Xoom-ing out the door fast: Get one before they're gone!" Then a bullet list of specs, and finally "Our price: $599.00".

I called them to see how fast they were "xooming" out the door and the sales guy told me "Not as fast as the iPads." "Oh, you also sell iPads?" "Yes but not over the phone or by mail order. And we sell them as fast as our stock is replenished." Or words to that effect.

To a parent with a young child -- drawing inside the number 2 speaks volumes.

Part of the magical-nicity-ness * of the iPad is that it draws out what's inside the mind of anyone from a toddler to a septagenarian (or even a pet).

* Been watching too many sports color commentators

If apple has any issue, the hardware specs are not that issue. The problem (assuming for the sake of conversation that there is a problem) seems to be that iOS is stuck with this insainly bad view of what a home screen can be, the grid of icons are kinda Apples identity at this point, but sheesh, give me widgets on the home screen - there is no reason on the ipad, or iphone 4 for that matter that I shouldn't be able to have a dynamically updating home screen showing me the local weather, latest twitter/FB updates, news, sports, whatever. There is a lot to not like ablout Android, but home screen widgets is something that Google got right big time. Why should I open an "app" to get the temperature or the CNN headlines that are available in RSS?

Spot on. Like them or love them, Nokia has this down. I have an E7 as a backup phone to my iPhone and the home screen is excellent. News, info, social, all coming and going without me having to open an app just to be informed and not of that stupid notification crap unless I want it. BTW, Nokia had this going long before Android even got off the drawing board but your point is very valid.

I am in graduate school. Much of the technology people use, including foundations of OS X was invented here. Everybody prefers a Mac, except when they are using proprietary stuff which was developed for Windows, or when they are locked in due to government grants etc. It's not even a debate, except for pseudo-geek world which some journalists and fandroids live in.

Shit, why should you have to move your eyes down to your device (or worse, get your device out and hold it where you can see it) to know what the temperature is? I demand the weather updates be beamed into my fucking head! Now! NOW!

Actually, I kind of wish Apple would make that their next "we believe" ad. Kind of like the MS WP7 teaser ads. Seemingly meth addled Android users jack-rabbiting around gobbling about widgets and Facebook updates and compulsively whipping through updates and feeds, laughing maniacally as they drag things around and and up and down and around. "NOW I'M BORED SHOW ME SOMETHING DIFFERENT NOW I'M BORED SHOW ME SOMETHING DIFFERENT."

And the iPad user looking on bemusedly, then shakes their head and returns to actually doing something productive.

All kidding aside, I’d like iOS 5.0 to have access to weather and other info simple stats by using the voice control buttons. “What is the temperature at my parents house today?. (it would pull the address from my contacts) “Whose birthday is coming up next?” (pull dates from iCal)

yeah, i do hope Apple adds widgets to iOS 5. one of the several things the competition does better that Apple should add. but Apple can be very stubborn.

the irony is, Apple invented "widgets" back with OS X Tiger (i think it was). also hope to see OS X Lion move widgets out of the Dashboard ghetto and on to the regular desktop - including iOS apps running as widgets! probably not ... but we'll see!

This has given me a great idea! I'm going to start the "Aspie-Run Tablet Company™" and bring out the OCD2000. It has an octocore Xeon processor, 16 GB of memory, every port known to man, a Blu-Ray drive, and the fastest graphics cards from both nVidia and ATI fighting it out in the grudge match of the century seeing which can shoot more pixels to the 2560 x 1440 OLED screen!

Slogan: "Our numbers are bigger, so you know we're better!"

Sure, the battery only lasts 30 seconds, but I'll give them an AC adapter the size of a shoebox so they can charge it up real fast.

(Dude. You forgot Thunderbolt, duh! )

Not enough for some people...

Agreed, a somewhat more informative home screen would be welcome (as we've talked about, probably as part of a general notifications overhaul).

What I'm mostly joking about is the number of people I see declaring that iOS is "stale" or "boring" because those app icons "just sit there." I'm bemused by the idea that an OS is supposed to entertain me, or that an OS is reasonably defined by notifications and widgets. The way some Android people carry on you'd think they never do anything but interact with the home-screen.

Actually, I could see a place for a super-cheap device that operates that way-- just a window on your social networks and RSS feeds, email and text with a browser to to navigate. The odd thing is I get the impression that a lot of Android phones are being used pretty much this way, which is ironic considering that market's obsession with ever more ponderous hardware. "Dude! I totally have a quad core 5" screen with 2GB of RAM and lasers! It makes scrolling through my Facebook updates scream! And weather updates? They are awesome!!

At some point something has to give, on that count. You can't have a market that trumpets ever more powerful phones which at the same time emphasizes being basically a web client. That's what created the opening for the iPad in the first place-- the hardware was outstripping what most people were doing with their computers. That same mindless spec pumping is happening now in phones, for devices on which people are doing even less than they did with their computers. We almost immediately hit the point where hardware can easily handle the OS and most tasks, and then immediately after enter the "decadent" period where increases in hardware power just gild the lilly.

Or, you could do what Apple is doing and create an local application intensive environment where that power can be put to good use. Of course, that means displaying access to these applications in this boring static grid, because the real functionality starts once you choose one.

Interesting.

I didn't get "old" from the voice, but I did get "experienced/strong/knowledgeable." I would guess they are going for "smart man who has seen a lot and knows what's what."

it makes me think of another thing though which is why Apple's adverts all seem to have a male voice. Especially with the new products, shouldn't they be aiming at women as well?

I know a lot of women think that the idea that there is even a valid choice between Android and iOS is a bit of a joke, and many seem to buy their products on the advice of a girl friend. Maybe it's because many women are already sold on Apple?

I'd love to see an ad where a group of young male executives are all (trying) to use some stupid Xoom/Playbook tablet or worse, some old dinosaur laptop, and an older female executive takes a white iPad out, flips open the pink case, and leaves them all in the dust productivity wise in three seconds flat.

I think their trying to say that, while their competitors are so focused in making the best spec, they also fail to associate how their consumers interact with their product. They may have 10 ghz, 5gb ram and 100 gb hard drive but it still runs slow because they had not tested it to actually be functional.

"...That's when you end up with something like this. The iPad 2.
You'll buy it no matter what we say."

But seriously, one of things that makes the Apple design/engineering philosophy "insanely great" is at 0:09--when the user slows down the page-turning process--the page slows down as well. It doesn't get confused, it doesn't get jerky, it doesn't pop up some arcane dialog box "A fatal error has occurred because the user could not make up his/her mind." It keeps in time with the user's intention "I want to turn the page... well, no I don't... okay, yes, I do." A lesser company would simply say, "Geez. No one's gonna care about stupid little details like that! Just get it done and get it out the door!"

Interestingly, Apple has disabled comments on their Youtube channel. I suppose because they don't want to entertain the trolls.

Are people still calling up asking where the "ennie" key is?

Want to kid around with someone? Pick a number at random out of the phone book, call it, and when they answer, tell them you're with the phone company. You're doing so delicate work on the wires down the street and they should not answer their phone for the next five minutes. Not under any circumstances should they answer their phone, even with an answering machine. Tell them if they answer you might get electrocuted.

Hang up, then immediately call them back. Let the phone ring and ring and ring. They'll finally be unable to listen to their phone ringing. They'll answer it. The second you hear them them pick up the receiver, scream as loud as you can and hang up in mid-scream.

they will probably do that in the lock screen for iOS 5

The Home screen layout is not an issue since the point of the device is to use apps not stare at the Home screen layout. It does do what it suppose to do great, which is launching apps. I do believe we will see widget. Just look how Lion widget work right now. In my opinion, widget can be placed in the Spotlight view instead of the black empty space you see right now. if you type something in Spotlight then the widgets disappear and the results show. The problem with dynamically updated widgets in the lock screen is battery life. But maybe it can be done if they lock screen widgets update only when the screen is on.

Oh good heavens. I shoulda said "likely didn't" instead of "didn't" but I was trying to not take the idea too seriously. Do you really think at this point Jobs is required to coordinate all of the messaging and advertising of the company? I think he has an army of managers and directors that get what Apple is up to. Jobs would not be so on message, ads like this wouldn't happen and leaks within the company would be more prevalent if Apple wasn't stuffed full of people who get the strategy.

Thank you. Those who can't imagine using a tablet as a camera either suffer from a lack of imagination, or they have forgotten (probably multiple times) that a new form of tool ALWAYS opens up new ways to do a given job. A short-handled ratchet lets you get a bolt out in half the time, once you break it loose with a longer ratchet, etc.

In the case of the tablet, one new opportunity is the larger viewfinder, almost like looking at an 8X10, and that will force the user to respect FRAMING the picture. A novel form of photography will emerge from this as surely as having pocket cameras (e.g. cell phones) will lead to moments being captured that went unrecorded before.

A second opportunity is presented by what people always here seem to perceive as the awkwardness of holding a tablet to take a picture. I guarantee that the form of this heavy rectangular slab will result in far steadier shots than little bitty phones or point and shoots. Why? Because the damned tool forces it out of you, that's why! And you get a better picture, fool!

So you are saying right here: then why did they put such mediocre cameras in the iPad?

Answer: A. one step at a time, out of technology and cost considerations, as always, but something needed for FaceTime right away. B. Waiting for the screen resolution boost, which will absolutely demand better cameras. So let them get about 30 million or so better cameras from Sony or whoever into the next iPhone, and then pick up the sensor line that they were putting in the iPhone 4s and start putting them in the next iPad.

If you all are tired of hearing this kind of thing from the likes of me, then stop being narrow-minded about tablet photography, and stop telling Apple and its more adventurous users what they shouldn't be doing. Thankfully, they have more imagination at Apple, and they try things out. They know it's a good idea to push quality on every front they can.

Looks like the new iPhone back camera is going to be even better. How stupid, imagine putting a good camera in a cell phone . . .

Agreed.


My guess is that the strong/confident male voice was chosen because we still live in a pretty chauvinistic society, where an older male voice exudes "experience/strength/knowledge", whereas a female voice will come off as either trying to be sultry/seductive (a young voice appealing to the young male/mid-life crisis male demo) or appealing only to women (an older female voice), and projecting that the iPad is a "chick" device (appealing to the Oprah Winfrey/Ellen Degeneres crowd).
Not saying I agree or endorse this. But I think it is a reality, and proof that we still have a long way to go towards gender equality.

Oh, that is so deliciously EEEEEEEEVVIIILLLLL!!!

Mmmm... Do you have Prince Albert in the can?

Never. There will always be people who look at the iPad just like a common PC: a bag of parts to be lusted after or shunned, depending on what the benchmarks on some techgasm site says. It's about whether having those parts makes you cooler or lamer to your geek friends.

looking around the web today, the number of strident, over the top fanDroid articles declaring the superiority of the Xoom, and/or inevitable dominance of Android tablets - even while the iPad 2 sells out globally at an unprecedented pace - is remarkable.

one guy even declares the Xoom equals the iPad for "style" - i kid you not.

you can smell the desperation. and this new Apple ad - which no doubt will saturate TV starting tonight - is going to make them foam at the mouth. don't get too close!