I enjoy these "historical" articles. I remember the Keynote with Stevo sitting in the leather chair on stage. Wonderful.
I do remember the sort of lukewarm reception on part of the press. (What visionaries!)
I also remember being at a Super Bowl party and an ad came on for for Motorola's Xoom tablet. An engineer was sitting next to me, "That's one I'll be getting." I thought to myself, dumb-ass.
IBM and Apple are releasing Enterprise enabled software on a regular basis. Little known fact but the iPad owns the space in business tablets from hospitals to auto plants. I firmly believe it’s just the upgrade cycle being longer than phones. It is a speed bump like Tim Cook says.
As for the tablet market outside of Apple it simply doesn’t exist. All those cheap $50-$100 Android tablets are sitting in drawers after the user finds out how limited and slow they really are.
I don't think it matters. Get the new MacBook down in price after a few years and an iPad pro is going nowhere.
You see the real problem with The iPad is that it isreally no good at typing nor is it good at copying and pasting.
I sometimes use dictation and that works reasonably well. The above sentence ( from " You see") was dictated but you can tell that it capitalised in the wrong space and ignored a space. In general I would go back and fix that but I left it to show the problem. Furthermore fixing these things can be tiresome. It's really difficult to edit posts here on an iPad or iPhone if you want to reply to one part of a lengthy post. Selecting, deleting, reworking are all orders of magnitude slower than a keyboard. Typing is slower but not so bad. Nothing that can be fixed if the primary input is touch. You could add a default keyboard but a cheap MacBook makes more sense. Not that the iPad will go away just that the Mac eats into its high end.
I look forward to the new iPad Pro with pen input and split screen functionality. It will make the "Surface Pro" seem like a silly idea. Who needs a keyboard when a really functional pen can better address the market needs.
Actually an iPad Pro with a 12 inch screen will make the new Macbook look like a silly idea. You would have a 12 inch retina touch screen, more available (and cheaper) apps, most likely a lighter weight, and the A9 chip will most likely be on par with the core M processor. Throw in a 3rd party keyboard and you have a better and presumably less expensive version of the new MacBook.
I recall Tim saying he is using his iPhone and iPad ~90% of the time. I was doing that also. I sold my MacBook and have not upgraded my 8 year old iMac.
I've tried to do without the laptop and a desktop for sometime now, but I think, I still need to get a MacBook (gold) and a 27" iMac.
When my current iPad dies, I will DEFINITELY replace it with whatever the current iPad is. It shows no signs of death, sickness, malaise, or even the sniffles.
The genius of the iPad is that it came into existence and within a couple years, it is a given.
You can totally count on it, and you can bet it is one of the things that brought IBM into the picture.
Just wait and see what happens over the next 18 months. It will be fascinating.
Apple should include a standard USB port on iOS devices. Besides an accesible file system. Besides non-sandboxing applications to open specific file types like PDF, etc. Just as the Mac does.
Actually an iPad Pro with a 12 inch screen will make the new Macbook look like a silly idea. You would have a 12 inch retina touch screen, more available (and cheaper) apps, most likely a lighter weight, and the A9 chip will most likely be on par with the core M processor. Throw in a 3rd party keyboard and you have a better and presumably less expensive version of the new MacBook.
I have to agree that I don't understand the new Macbook.
An iPad Pro with good stylus support, split mode and such would be great for my needs and would let ms share across my OS X and iOS devices, something I cannot get with a Surface Pro.
How would it make the Surface Pro seem like a silly idea? Pen input and split screen functionality are two of the essential tenets of the Surface Pro and the Keyboard Cover is optional. This would be apple playing the copycat game that is usually reserved for companies like Samsung. A larger form iPad would be great, but it would VALIDATE the Surface Pro.
Best,
JJW
I disagree; the need for a keyboard is still pretty strong in the Surface Pro SW. I agree that the Surface HW (ARM based) was the right direction. The unification of my data under OS X and iOS is a big fence to keep me off the Surface Pro.
Stylus or a precision pointing/ input device is fantastic. But split screen and usb port alone wont make it a pro device in a shape or form.
The tablet has to be able to run full fleged applications .. Not watered down apps. There has to be full fleged file management system! Planty of ram.
Combine all of the above and then i will consider it a pro device that one can actually be fully productive with. To me ipad pro has to have the ability to run osx! And ios...change modes on demand.
I upgraded from an iPad mini 2 to the iPad Air 2, and I have to say this is the best iPad ever built. It's incredibly fast. The 2 gigs of ram really helps. Very light (almost as light as the iPad mini) Touch ID works great. That being said I wish it had true stylus support for taking notes and markups. I've used lots of stylus including some of the "smart" stylus and they pretty much all suck. Maybe if the next iPad has force touch they will come out with a proper stylus that works. The new surface 3 is definitely going to be something I look into. It looks like it might get the work/consumption balance right.
My iPad, on the other hand, is running fine. It's fat and large compared to the Airs. The screen is a little cracked but holding together fine. I read on it every day. I watch Netflix every day. It's fine for surfing the net or working with pictures when I'm traveling.
Problem is, it's too good. I love it and I would love a newer one. But I'll probably get a new laptop first even though the iPad is older. And I will have gotten two new iPhones before I replace it.
Nothing wrong with the iPad at all. It's just too good.
Exactly right.
Business models (and shareholders) come unglued without perpetual growth, which is pure comedy. The data show that most people that want an iPad have one. That's not a fault of the iPad or of Apple, it's a reality of what the market will bear.
Many successful brands hit this wall eventually, but the solution isn't to piss off everyone that's happy with your product (see Coca Cola, 1985), but rather to introduce additional products to gain customers who want something else.
Furthermore, this is not an infinitely large ecosystem, so making a laptop killer iPad will affect MacBook sales.
Maybe instead of looking at how many iPads Apple is not selling look at how many they are.
Every product hits a sales plateau at some point in it's life. One day even iOhone will stop having record sales every quarter. That doesn't mean a product is dead. In the case of IPad it still sells much better than the entire Mac line. So I have t wonder why all the negativity myself.
In the end of you look at current slaes figures IPad is still a very successful product. It is still selling in multiple millions per quarter.
How much profit is being made on the decreased sales. It is not like they are having to give them away and losing money on every one that goes out the door. Sometimes we just miss the point of things.
I completely agree! IPad is certianly good enough that I don't feel as if I need to upgrade every quarter, year or even after a few years. In that respect it is Mac like in that I will probably upgrade when performance or storage becomes an issue. If I upgrade. The interesting thing with IPad is that I can see keeping one around for fixed usage for a long time after an upgrade. For example:
need a machine as a digital picture frame, old IPad does the trick.
need a machine to run Dash, old IPad does the trick. The more general idea here is to turn the iOad into a dedicated reference machine.
need a machine to run a machine user interface old iPad does the trick. Well it would if Apple would pull head from ass over MiFi. Here I'm thinking a dedicated panel for a CNC machine controller.
the list can go on. The point is an iPad can remain useful even after you have upgraded.
Lots of people here saying the older iPads are too good and that sales are lagging because people don't upgrade often enough.
So who bought 21 million iPads last quarter? Are those all new iPad users?
That's still pretty good, right?
This is the thing, that is an incredibly strong number for computing devices that basically come in two models. Just imagine Apple selling 21 million Macs in a quarter or even 10 million iMacs. The IPad sales numbers aren't bad at all. There is certainly a drop in the rush to purchase by early adopters but that isn't the market you worry about for mature products.
A thought just came to me. I once had a discussion with a guy that worked as a sales rep for a company that designs and magpies rock crushers and other stationary quarry equipment. This guy considered one sale a year as very successful and two sales a year to be a boom year.
The point here is that success is about being profitable. IPAds are successful and frankly look to be a significant source of revenue for Apple.
Lots of people here saying the older iPads are too good and that sales are lagging because people don't upgrade often enough.
So who bought 21 million iPads last quarter? Are those all new iPad users?
That's still pretty good, right?
Exactly my point why this article is looking in the wrong direction. Show many any other tablet manufacturer who's actually making any money and I'll show you Apple's "terrible" numbers and lack of direction that's making such a huge profit they don't know what to do with all the money. The people saying Apple is doomed are those trying to short the stock, plain and simple. 20 years ago, Apple's numbers and stock growth would have blown everyone away, yet today nothing is ever enough for all the gamblers.
Bottom line. Apple makes consistently good to great products, sells millions every year, and doesn't have anything to prove to anyone.
Don't think most of the stuff mentioned will make much difference
Using a pen is only good for certain applications. One would be to disable input from the rest of your hand for better drawing handwriting. Don't know that it would really change the tablet market - plenty of them exist already.
As the processing power continues to increase apps will become more powerful, enabling the iPad to do more.
As Apple creates better interaction between apps the usuablity will increase.
There is currently an accessible file system, but apple is trying to change the way that we think about files (they belong to apps) so they are only accessible in apps. (I think this is stupid, I use images and text I quite a few apps, but it's their current philosophy)
The primary issue with the iPad is interaction with it. Trying to seriously edit a document with at keyboard attached is a pain because of the difficulty of text selection and how tired your hand becomes because interaction is not in a rested state.
I think force touch in iPad would make the biggest difference in this. Could reduce times with hand raised, allow hands rested on the screen, and create new depth of control (the other limiting factor in app development)
Seems that would change iOS more than anything else.
Business models (and shareholders) come unglued without perpetual growth, which is pure comedy. The data show that most people that want an iPad have one. That's not a fault of the iPad or of Apple, it's a reality of what the market will bear.
Many successful brands hit this wall eventually, but the solution isn't to piss off everyone that's happy with your product (see Coca Cola, 1985), but rather to introduce additional products to gain customers who want something else.
Furthermore, this is not an infinitely large ecosystem, so making a laptop killer iPad will affect MacBook sales.
To answer the first question Cook says in his conference calls that 50percent are first time users of iPads. This is why he thinks the iPad has plenty of steam. The installed base in growing rapidly.
Getting them to upgrade seems to be the issue. Someday expect an iPad which has some feature which encourages people to upgrade (force touch, more ram, much more flash drive space or battery life? Or a combination) and it will take off like a rocket.
Don't think most of the stuff mentioned will make much difference
Using a pen is only good for certain applications. One would be to disable input from the rest of your hand for better drawing handwriting. Don't know that it would really change the tablet market - plenty of them exist already.
As the processing power continues to increase apps will become more powerful, enabling the iPad to do more.
As Apple creates better interaction between apps the usuablity will increase.
There is currently an accessible file system, but apple is trying to change the way that we think about files (they belong to apps) so they are only accessible in apps. (I think this is stupid, I use images and text I quite a few apps, but it's their current philosophy)
The primary issue with the iPad is interaction with it. Trying to seriously edit a document with at keyboard attached is a pain because of the difficulty of text selection and how tired your hand becomes because interaction is not in a rested state.
I think force touch in iPad would make the biggest difference in this. Could reduce times with hand raised, allow hands rested on the screen, and create new depth of control (the other limiting factor in app development)
Seems that would change iOS more than anything else.
That is 100% correct. The reason I am quoting your entire post is because it is too tiring to do otherwise on my iPhone.
To make keyboards full party citizens, Apple will have to include them with the purchase. And a mouse. Because it's the mouse which allows easy selection.
This will add to the cost and if you want a mouse driven OS, or a filesystem, and a lightweight portable machine buy the new MacBook which will come down in price over time. The MacBook is the iPad pro for all real purposes.
Comments
I enjoy these "historical" articles. I remember the Keynote with Stevo sitting in the leather chair on stage. Wonderful.
I do remember the sort of lukewarm reception on part of the press. (What visionaries!)
I also remember being at a Super Bowl party and an ad came on for for Motorola's Xoom tablet. An engineer was sitting next to me, "That's one I'll be getting." I thought to myself, dumb-ass.
Best
IBM and Apple are releasing Enterprise enabled software on a regular basis. Little known fact but the iPad owns the space in business tablets from hospitals to auto plants. I firmly believe it’s just the upgrade cycle being longer than phones. It is a speed bump like Tim Cook says.
As for the tablet market outside of Apple it simply doesn’t exist. All those cheap $50-$100 Android tablets are sitting in drawers after the user finds out how limited and slow they really are.
You see the real problem with The iPad is that it isreally no good at typing nor is it good at copying and pasting.
I sometimes use dictation and that works reasonably well. The above sentence ( from " You see") was dictated but you can tell that it capitalised in the wrong space and ignored a space. In general I would go back and fix that but I left it to show the problem. Furthermore fixing these things can be tiresome. It's really difficult to edit posts here on an iPad or iPhone if you want to reply to one part of a lengthy post. Selecting, deleting, reworking are all orders of magnitude slower than a keyboard. Typing is slower but not so bad. Nothing that can be fixed if the primary input is touch. You could add a default keyboard but a cheap MacBook makes more sense. Not that the iPad will go away just that the Mac eats into its high end.
Actually an iPad Pro with a 12 inch screen will make the new Macbook look like a silly idea. You would have a 12 inch retina touch screen, more available (and cheaper) apps, most likely a lighter weight, and the A9 chip will most likely be on par with the core M processor. Throw in a 3rd party keyboard and you have a better and presumably less expensive version of the new MacBook.
I recall Tim saying he is using his iPhone and iPad ~90% of the time. I was doing that also. I sold my MacBook and have not upgraded my 8 year old iMac.
I've tried to do without the laptop and a desktop for sometime now, but I think, I still need to get a MacBook (gold) and a 27" iMac.
Mainly because they are so beautiful.
If you want to sell more iPads, you have to make people upgrade.
The 1st iPad with retina display is still better than any other Android tablet.
The only way the tablet market will change is if Apple change it.
They just have to add 2 or 3 unique "must have" innovations so people want to upgrade.
The genius of the iPad is that it came into existence and within a couple years, it is a given.
You can totally count on it, and you can bet it is one of the things that brought IBM into the picture.
Just wait and see what happens over the next 18 months. It will be fascinating.
And yes, I'd love a large iPad!
Actually an iPad Pro with a 12 inch screen will make the new Macbook look like a silly idea. You would have a 12 inch retina touch screen, more available (and cheaper) apps, most likely a lighter weight, and the A9 chip will most likely be on par with the core M processor. Throw in a 3rd party keyboard and you have a better and presumably less expensive version of the new MacBook.
I have to agree that I don't understand the new Macbook.
An iPad Pro with good stylus support, split mode and such would be great for my needs and would let ms share across my OS X and iOS devices, something I cannot get with a Surface Pro.
How would it make the Surface Pro seem like a silly idea? Pen input and split screen functionality are two of the essential tenets of the Surface Pro and the Keyboard Cover is optional. This would be apple playing the copycat game that is usually reserved for companies like Samsung. A larger form iPad would be great, but it would VALIDATE the Surface Pro.
Best,
JJW
I disagree; the need for a keyboard is still pretty strong in the Surface Pro SW. I agree that the Surface HW (ARM based) was the right direction. The unification of my data under OS X and iOS is a big fence to keep me off the Surface Pro.
But split screen and usb port alone wont make it a pro device in a shape or form.
The tablet has to be able to run full fleged applications .. Not watered down apps.
There has to be full fleged file management system!
Planty of ram.
Combine all of the above and then i will consider it a pro device that one can actually be fully productive with.
To me ipad pro has to have the ability to run osx! And ios...change modes on demand.
So who bought 21 million iPads last quarter? Are those all [I]new[/I] iPad users?
That's still pretty good, right?
Maybe if the next iPad has force touch they will come out with a proper stylus that works.
The new surface 3 is definitely going to be something I look into. It looks like it might get the work/consumption balance right.
My iPad, on the other hand, is running fine. It's fat and large compared to the Airs. The screen is a little cracked but holding together fine. I read on it every day. I watch Netflix every day. It's fine for surfing the net or working with pictures when I'm traveling.
Problem is, it's too good. I love it and I would love a newer one. But I'll probably get a new laptop first even though the iPad is older. And I will have gotten two new iPhones before I replace it.
Nothing wrong with the iPad at all. It's just too good.
Exactly right.
Business models (and shareholders) come unglued without perpetual growth, which is pure comedy. The data show that most people that want an iPad have one. That's not a fault of the iPad or of Apple, it's a reality of what the market will bear.
Many successful brands hit this wall eventually, but the solution isn't to piss off everyone that's happy with your product (see Coca Cola, 1985), but rather to introduce additional products to gain customers who want something else.
Furthermore, this is not an infinitely large ecosystem, so making a laptop killer iPad will affect MacBook sales.
In the end of you look at current slaes figures IPad is still a very successful product. It is still selling in multiple millions per quarter.
I completely agree! IPad is certianly good enough that I don't feel as if I need to upgrade every quarter, year or even after a few years. In that respect it is Mac like in that I will probably upgrade when performance or storage becomes an issue. If I upgrade. The interesting thing with IPad is that I can see keeping one around for fixed usage for a long time after an upgrade. For example:
This is the thing, that is an incredibly strong number for computing devices that basically come in two models. Just imagine Apple selling 21 million Macs in a quarter or even 10 million iMacs. The IPad sales numbers aren't bad at all. There is certainly a drop in the rush to purchase by early adopters but that isn't the market you worry about for mature products.
A thought just came to me. I once had a discussion with a guy that worked as a sales rep for a company that designs and magpies rock crushers and other stationary quarry equipment. This guy considered one sale a year as very successful and two sales a year to be a boom year.
The point here is that success is about being profitable. IPAds are successful and frankly look to be a significant source of revenue for Apple.
Lots of people here saying the older iPads are too good and that sales are lagging because people don't upgrade often enough.
So who bought 21 million iPads last quarter? Are those all new iPad users?
That's still pretty good, right?
Exactly my point why this article is looking in the wrong direction. Show many any other tablet manufacturer who's actually making any money and I'll show you Apple's "terrible" numbers and lack of direction that's making such a huge profit they don't know what to do with all the money. The people saying Apple is doomed are those trying to short the stock, plain and simple. 20 years ago, Apple's numbers and stock growth would have blown everyone away, yet today nothing is ever enough for all the gamblers.
Bottom line. Apple makes consistently good to great products, sells millions every year, and doesn't have anything to prove to anyone.
Using a pen is only good for certain applications. One would be to disable input from the rest of your hand for better drawing handwriting. Don't know that it would really change the tablet market - plenty of them exist already.
As the processing power continues to increase apps will become more powerful, enabling the iPad to do more.
As Apple creates better interaction between apps the usuablity will increase.
There is currently an accessible file system, but apple is trying to change the way that we think about files (they belong to apps) so they are only accessible in apps. (I think this is stupid, I use images and text I quite a few apps, but it's their current philosophy)
The primary issue with the iPad is interaction with it. Trying to seriously edit a document with at keyboard attached is a pain because of the difficulty of text selection and how tired your hand becomes because interaction is not in a rested state.
I think force touch in iPad would make the biggest difference in this. Could reduce times with hand raised, allow hands rested on the screen, and create new depth of control (the other limiting factor in app development)
Seems that would change iOS more than anything else.
To answer the first question Cook says in his conference calls that 50percent are first time users of iPads. This is why he thinks the iPad has plenty of steam. The installed base in growing rapidly.
Getting them to upgrade seems to be the issue. Someday expect an iPad which has some feature which encourages people to upgrade (force touch, more ram, much more flash drive space or battery life? Or a combination) and it will take off like a rocket.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/heres-why-tim-cook-still-believes-in-the-ipad-2015-1
One Source (amongst many).
Second quote is therefore moot.
That is 100% correct. The reason I am quoting your entire post is because it is too tiring to do otherwise on my iPhone.
To make keyboards full party citizens, Apple will have to include them with the purchase. And a mouse. Because it's the mouse which allows easy selection.
This will add to the cost and if you want a mouse driven OS, or a filesystem, and a lightweight portable machine buy the new MacBook which will come down in price over time. The MacBook is the iPad pro for all real purposes.