Apple says new iPad response is "off the charts," preorders sold out - Page 4

Ah I wondered about that. So if they're not selling it in the stores until the 16th FedEx has to make sure no online orders arrive before then?

Here's an idea. Sell the iPad 2 now while it has the most resale value, then buy a brand new iPad third gen and give that to them. You'll be money ahead and not look like such a cheap ass.

Or, just give them the iPad 2 now for no particular reason other than you are a nice guy. Then in nine months buy them some less expensive trinket for Christmas. After all the spirt of Christmas should not be about expensive gifts anyway. now should it? Oh right it is about expensive gifts since Christmas is a made up holiday, which has nothing at all to do with the Bible, it is more about the pagan solstice celebration known as Saturnalia. Historians believe that Jesus was was born sometime in the fall not December 25th. Most people don't care though since they are non-practicing-sudo-Christians who just want the gifts.

Wow the media sure do try hard don't they?

The Mixed Blessings of the iPad's Retina Display
The iPad's screen is amazing--but for lovers of magazines, photos, and videos, there may be some unexpected downsides

It's not as strict as it once was to hold all iDevice deliveries until the release day. I hypothesize they have too many packages that with each increase in sales they have to spread the load out over a couple days to make sure that all are delivered by the end of day on the 16th.

The delayed gift would have been a good idea. Too late for that now however. They'll still be tickled pink. this is for a woman who loves playing solitaire on one of those old b/w crystal display handheld devices from the 70s. She'll think she's died and gone to solitaire heaven. And when she realizes how the iPad can help her connect with her grand kids better then she'll be even happier.

i ordered mine on launch day - @ 5pm EST - and it STILL says "preparing for shipment". Doh.

i'm hoping the existing Fieldfolio case will fit the .8mm thicker iPad and that the cutout for the rear camera is big enough. can't find any info online.

Yeah, but who cares. My father was a union worker his entire life, and he worked his A%^ off! Whoever the OP was of this slur, get off your holier-than-thou, anti-union high horse.

Ah, the age-old question: Which comes first, the production or the demand for the production?

Yes folks, I am back. For some reason I have not been able to log in for over one year. While it was somewhat fun to be the silent observer, sometimes I really did want to respond, but could not.

Meanwhile, back to the topic at hand....

All I know is that I cannot wait until March 16, when my new iPad 64 WiFi/4LTE will arrive. I have sold my iPad2, a wonderful device that proved to me at least that I no longer need a laptop when traveling. The new iPad should only further enhance that experience.

On a side note, I could not help but notice that my order was filled immediately, and the next day I received an update that my order was being shipped from Oxnard, CA on March 10. It also mentions that a "Future Delivery requested" of March 16. This last part made me wonder if the rumors of huge DHL shipments were true, and that XXX number of units were pre shipped and have already cleared customs - just waiting for delivery on the 16th?

Since you lack the work ethic to even find the original poster, which is just on the last page, I'm going to assume you too work for a union

I missed your post before I offered my observation later in the thread. It does seem as though a considerable number of "standard" (no engraving) units were shipped over early and warehoused in various staging areas in the US.

Is it Friday yet?

Working for a union employer does not equate to lack of work ethic. Many people have no choice in their chosen profession examples being: most medical careers, many government jobs, as well as professional sports, music and performing arts to name a few.

I wasn't planning on upgrading from my iPad 2, but after seeing how little my old iPad depreciated, I couldn't help myself.

Thank you, Apple, for only offering the 16 GB iPad 2 for sale as it made my 64 GB a high-demand product! Very smart move - it got me a quick sale of my old one and the easy justification to whip out my credit card.

I imagine a slew of buyers who will be doing the same math, even if they are happy with their iPad 2.

That's fine, if that's what you expect.

However, if the market share between Android and Microsoft is of zero interest to me (or, in my view, the thrust of this thread), it's certainly my right to point it out, no?

So is it really a post-PC world? Here's what Ray Ozzie, the tech guru brought in (and leaving in 2010) to take up Bill Gates visionary roll at MS has to say:

"(He) believes the world has moved past the personal computer, potentially leaving behind the world's largest software company.

The PC, which was Microsoft's foundation and still determines the company's financial performance, has been nudged aside by powerful phones and tablets running Apple Inc and Google Inc software, the former Microsoft executive said...

"People argue about 'are we in a post-PC world?'. Why are we arguing? Of course we are in a post-PC world...

"That doesn't mean the PC dies, that just means that the scenarios that we use them in, we stop referring to them as PCs, we refer to them as other things...."

Ozzie said the fate of Windows 8 would determine Microsoft's future. The latest version of the company's operating system will work on tablets powered by low-power ARM Holdings chips, which Microsoft hopes will allow it to rival Apple's iPad, and put the company back at the cutting edge of consumer technology.

"If Windows 8 shifts in a form that people really want to buy the product, the company will have a great future," said Ozzie. "In any industry, if people look at their own needs, and look at the products and say, 'I understand why I had it then, and I want something different', they will not have as good a future. It's too soon to tell."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8E7EXM20120308

There's a lot of talk that a tablet that runs "full Windows" (despite the fuzziness of that claim) will quickly become the default choice of business and enterprise. I've seen quite a bit of nattering on about how that magic tablet that you carry around while on the go becomes a "real computer" on which one can do "real work" once you dock it. I don't know that I've seen any specific market share claims, but there certainly a fair amount of "MS is about to show everyone how it's done" in the air.

As far as Android, this kind of thing has been pretty typical this year:


We keep seeing these ever rising "market share" figures that don't seem to distinguish between shipments and sales, or more importantly between Google blessed Android tablets and the Fire-- which by some estimates is making up the lion's share of those Android tablet numbers.

There's the persistent notion that Android tablet sales will follow the phone trajectory, taking off after a period of incubation once the price/performance ratio gets sorted. Of course that doesn't take into account the fact that phone sales are heavily influenced by the carriers, subsidies, and what they're pushing, plus the fact that a poorly supported phone is still a pretty good phone. The tablet market is, I think self-evidently, a different kind of thing altogether, wherein consumers want the sense that they're buying into a real system, with real apps and real support. Years of shitty carrier control have trained people to expect a level of funkiness with their phone that they won't tolerate with their computer.

I suspect these "Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market is slipping" or "Android tablet sales are skyrocketing" stories are strategic-- an effort to convince consumers that Android tablets have momentum and buzz so they needn't fear buying into a moribund system. I would also guess that Apple's actual share of the "real" tablet market (minus cheap and limited portals onto catalogs ala the Fire and Nook) is quite a bit higher than recent stories suggest. But of course "Asus, Samsung, HTC and Motorola combined manage to eke out 10% of the tablet market" runs counter to the "open always wins" myth.

I'm with you. I don't see evidence of a shift towards Android tablets, and certainly not in the way that Android smartphone sales overtook the market in just two years. Perhaps a bit of wishful thinking in some of the articles, or maybe just a few too many slow news days.

It certainly is. More than one poster mentioned Microsoft, and if you have no interest I would expect you just ignored those particular posts. Those members had some interest in mentioning them however.

I don't care about the comparisons/mentions of union and non-union members in this thread. I wouldn't presume to get on a high-horse and tell them to be quiet, particularly when the exchanges remain civil.

Surely this is the right place to ask that question.

I suspect 90% of the people buying the iPad 3 will be using it as a great little toy rather than for any serious computing purpose. In that sense the specs are not important to them. Does it look nice? Is it the hot gadget right now? Yep - I'll have one. Simple as that. It's no different to the latest must have Nike shoes or something like that.

To be fair, that's probably not their fault.

There's been an awful lot of zombie outbreaks in the past year or two.

I was never much into zombies, but tonight is the newest episode of the Walking Dead again! I know what I'll be watching later! I like that show.

iPad market share has fallen from 95% at launch to 56% today, so while it's still the dominant tablet I don't think Apple can be complacent. The iPad is by far the best tablet on the market and yet is only has 56% market share. Clearly the other tablets have some market traction which is only going to increase as more brands release competitor models. Having said all that Apple still makes a lot of money from a small market share with the iPhone because market share does not directly correlate to profit share. I think Apple would be happy if the iPad had 25% market share but raked in 70% of the profits.

Considering that most people just use a computer for the Internet, for email, and for looking at movies and pictures you could say exactly the same thing about laptops though.

It's really just plain old snobbery to use that "Well they can't use it for serious computing ..." line.

The fact is, most people haven't used their personal computers for coding, breaking into high security installations, tracking spaceships or engineering bridges and tunnels ... well, ever.

People forget that the entire purpose of "personal computing" as well as the entire "computer revolution" of the last 40 years or so was really about getting a computer into the hands of the average person to make their lives a little better and to make everyday tasks a little easier. They had to be sold to geeks and engineers to catch on in the first place, but the whole point of having personal computers is really about how Mum can keep her cake recipes in order and how junior can play the latest game, and how sis can use it to paint pictures.

The iPad is fantastic at all this stuff and will entirely replace "regular" or "serious" computers for the vast majority of the populace. This is also entirely as it should be and entirely as designed. It's what the original computer inventors in the 1970's actually envisioned too.

People who want to put themselves above it all and look down on the average person's computing needs in this way are not only hopeless snobs, they aren't even in line with the purposes of the revolution of which they are a part.

You don't have to be much into zombies for them to be much into your ripe, juicy braaaaaiiinssss!!!

Agree with your comments on The Walking Dead.

And, without giving anything away, tonight's episode is supposed to be horrific! (in a good way, not getting your brain eaten way).

Rest In Pieces, Dale.

Don't compare people buying iPads to those degenerates buying Nikes and stabbing each other while waiting on line and rioting like a bunch of animals.

And your theory as to why people buy iPads is also wrong. iPads are not selling well simply because they're trendy or because it's the hottest gadget. iPads kills all other tablets on the market, regardless of the specs.

Sure it is. But if you and I know that demand is off the charts, so does the broader market, and that fact is already factored into the price.

It seems a little unlikely, especially given the dismal economic situation, that tens of millions of people are buying a $500+ "little toy" as casually as shoes.

What seems to be happening is that more and more people are realizing that they can do the majority of what they like to do with computers on an iPad, and do it with a device that's easier to use, cheaper and vastly more portable.

I think what happened was that the relentless increase in computing horsepower had long since outstripped the average user's needs, and had become a kind of mindless spec inflation intended to drive new purchases. There you are, using your desktop or laptop to handle email, Office, web surfing and media playback, and your PC dies. Turns out it's cheaper to get the latest mega-giga whatever from Bestbuy or Walmart than get it fixed-- bingo, there's your PC market for the last few years.

Along comes the iPad, guess what? You can email, surf, watch videos and playback music just as well as with your PC. Now granted, Office is still a bit of a sticking point, by there are workarounds and its likely that MS will offer a version soon enough.

At which point it turns out these "toys" are perfectly capable of doing 99% of what 99% of people use computers for. If anything, the iPad reveals a certain vanity or hubris around computer use, in which it was possible to pretend that all those PC owners were doing really serious important adult "work" on their Very Impressive Machines, when in fact the situation was akin to most people owning huge muscle cars which they used to pick up groceries and drop off the kids at school.

The software is still at fault for not accurately communicating functionality to the user. Microsoft Office is a huge offender in this regard. Even the "help" section is hopelessly convoluted.

Yeah, I was surprised that he died. I thought that he was one of the main characters. I haven't read the graphic novels, so I don't know the future story line.

I'm skeptical of Android's market share because I see shipments and not actual sales of the devices.

All of which points to the old saying that 87% of all statistics are made up.

Personally, I grow weary of the "Apple only has XXX of market share, so they better watch out, by gosh" mentality that continues to make noise and confuse the consumer. The misinformation media has done much to make nothing out of something with regards to Apple for years and I do not see that changing anytime soon.

The result, some poor smuck buys another type of tablet because, you know, the iPad doesn't run flash; isn't compatible with Windows; isn't dumbed down enough for me to get it; etc. ad nauseum.

In another area, Wall Street folks continue to attack Apple simply because they don't offer a dividend on their stock. I find this one unbelievably absurd, as where is the same argument against Google? It boggles the mind.

But hey, carry on!

iPads aren't selling well because they've become trendy??

So am I. I do not trust estimates. I need to see cold hard facts. An Android tablet sitting on a dusty store shelf should not count into their figures.

If you would get off your high horse for a minute and actually read my post you will see that I didn't say that people "can't" use it for serious computing. I said they "won't" use it for serious computing. Why? Because many of them are not buying it as a computer, they're buying as a toy to play games on, or read eBooks, or look at their photos, or whatever. That's why it's not a post-PC device because most people are not using it as a PC. They probably already have a PC they use for whatever you use a computer for and then they use the iPad for entertainment. Personally I don't really give a s*** what people use it for.

If you had zero interest in it for real you wouldn't have posted anything about it. A great many times discussions of Android or MS are started by an Apple fanboi.

You just did.

You see, that's what's so predictable about you. You try hard to be something you're not, and you're not very good at hiding it.

Read my reply to him on it.

Nope.

The iPad has been a smashing success ever since the release of the first one. That was around the same time that countless morons predicted that it was going to be a flop.

When those early adopters bought their iPads, where they trendy at the time? No.

iPads have been selling like hotcakes ever since it was first released, because it's a groundbreaking device.

A trend is kind of like a fad and the iPad is no fad. A perfect example of a fad is netbooks. I feel sorry for the clueless people who wasted their money on such cheap junk. I'd rather have a pet rock than a netbook.

I'm not sure if it's because of the Apple "store-within-a-store" (with a dedicated Apple pro on hand) or if the iPad is just harder to fuck up or what, but my experience at Best Buy is that the iPads are always up and running and available for playing with, whereas the Android tablets are frequently turned-off, frozen or otherwise malfunctioning. It really is kind of off-putting to work your way down a line of tablets where every other one is dead or unresponsive.

Plus, Best Buy can't seem to decide if tablets belong back with the laptops or up front with phones. And, they lump in truly awful cut-rate devices with the marquee Android machines like the Galaxy. All in all, it manages to give the Android tablet selection a decidedly downmarket, disorganized and neglected feel that contrasts sharply with the iPads in the Apple area.

Granted, this is just Best Buy, but I imagine that's where most people actually going to interact with these devices, whether they buy them there or not.

I agree with you on all points and also with SJ's comment that computers are trucks. The difference is that if you can only afford one vehicle and occasionally need a truck, using it to pick up groceries does make sense. What does not make sense is that an iPad should be restricted from being able to serve as both car and truck because it has enough power and the difference is no more than a software configuration toggle switch that allows for consumer or professional use. Apple does not want to allow the professional mode hence the pros tend to jailbreak their devices.