Apple needs to understand that hardware spec DOES matter, and that unlike Windows, Android does NOT suck. Android might not have all the little refinements of iOS or as robust an ecosystem, but Honeycomb makes huge strides for Android, and the hardware coming out, especially those with Tegra 2 processor are serious, and I mean serious competition.
The funny thing is that so far, all this talk about how seriously great Honeycomb and Tegra 2 is, it all seems based more on hype and PR than on any capability or real-world achievement. I'm not saying Honeycomb is not a great OS or that Tegra 2 is not a good SoC, but I'm not totally convinced they are terribly great either.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'. Then there is Honeycomb, which as of yet, to me is no more than a UI overhaul that doesn't even look particularly great and apparently has some ways to go in terms of usability (reviews call it complicated with some usability flaws). That's all I know about Honeycomb. No-one is pointing out any killer features, new development frameworks or superior additions that make Honeycomb anything more than some sort of 'Android tablet reboot' with a better tablet-centric UI, just launched to get away from all these scaled up phone applications.
I'm still waiting to see how Honeycomb will progress and if it will ever catch on like iOS on the iPad did, before I see cartloads of really nice Honeycomb apps with proper tablet user interfaces, I've not seen anything. Yet many of te most rabid Android fans go completely crazy about it, acting as if iOS is now surely outdated because it is 'not a real tablet OS', conveniently hijacking and turning around the argument that always plagued the Android 2.x tablets.
A ton of guys will be passing iPad -1s to their kids and wives and buying version 2. Just watch.
I think we would have to wait and see what this next iPad has to offer. Right now i have a 64GB/3G and unless there is something I really like about this next iPad I don't see any reason to upgrade.
My thought process on this is this next iPad is to simply stay current with technology, if the rumors are true and another iPad is going to come out in the Fall then its my guess that will be a true leap forward.
Besides this way I can spend that extra 600.00 or so getting a new 17" MBP instead of the 15" I was going to get.
Even if Apple didn’t release an iPad 2, they’d still be sitting pretty for the rest of the year. The Galaxy Tab is a joke and a flop; the Xoom is overpriced, buggy, and has no apps; the PlayBook will be a mess; and the TouchPad will be a long shot.
To be fair, he's right in what he says. It's just that it's stating the obvious but it's his job to analyse, even when the analysis is easy. He didn't ask to be quoted in our bear pit lol
I disagree. This is over-the-top nonsense and deserved to be ridiculed.
It's important for Apple to perform here and perform well, but what this guy is saying is that Apple is in danger of losing 50% of the market if they don't come up with something fantastic and amazing to top the last iPad. That's a vast overstatement of the facts and smells of stock manipulation to me.
Apple currently has almost the entire market to itself. In fact it defined and continues to define said market. Even the recent reports that Android devices have 20% of it are inflated nonsense based on channel filling and purposely deceptive reports. To suggest that a minor mis-step from Apple here will basically lose the game for them is ridiculous.
They are already winning the game on pricing. A solid (even if it's boring), upgrade with a lower price would easily do enough to keep them on top for the next year. Personally I would expect a lot more but to imply that this is "necessary" to keep Android at bay is laughable.
The funny thing is that so far, all this talk about how seriously great Honeycomb and Tegra 2 is, it all seems based more on hype and PR than on any capability or real-world achievement. I'm not saying Honeycomb is not a great OS or that Tegra 2 is not a good SoC, but I'm not totally convinced they are terribly great either.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'. Then there is Honeycomb, which as of yet, to me is no more than a UI overhaul that doesn't even look particularly great and apparently has some ways to go in terms of usability (reviews call it complicated with some usability flaws). That's all I know about Honeycomb. No-one is pointing out any killer features, new development frameworks or superior additions that make Honeycomb anything more than some sort of 'Android tablet reboot' with a better tablet-centric UI, just launched to get away from all these scaled up phone applications.
I'm still waiting to see how Honeycomb will progress and if it will ever catch on like iOS on the iPad did, before I see cartloads of really nice Honeycomb apps with proper tablet user interfaces, I've not seen anything. Yet many of te most rabid Android fans go completely crazy about it, acting as if iOS is now surely outdated because it is 'not a real tablet OS', conveniently hijacking and turning around the argument that always plagued the Android 2.x tablets.
You know I agree with you, and I didn't want to imply that iOS was inferior or in trouble, my point is just that Honeycomb fixes the 'scaled up phone apps' problem of Android among other things, and that competitors have access to powerful hardware, whether it be Tegra 2 or OMAP4 chips. They can now build tablets that are 'good enough' to be serious contenders to the iPad. There is no shortage of people who compare products by their spec sheet - they don't know any better. Apple has to stay on top of these things to stay ahead.
iPad 1 users are not likely to upgrade to iPad 2. I wouldn't. Apple makes a quality product that functions well for a long time. Heck, I still have the original iPhone - I do plan to replace it with an iPhone 5 though.
No, the most important thing is to have a good showing for potential new buyers for the iPad 2. Apple needs to understand that hardware spec DOES matter, and that unlike Windows, Android does NOT suck. Android might not have all the little refinements of iOS or as robust an ecosystem, but Honeycomb makes huge strides for Android, and the hardware coming out, especially those with Tegra 2 processor are serious, and I mean serious competition.
Apple really needs to watch their back this time. This is not like the iPhone where it's taken over 3 years for the others to catch up. Viable competition for iPad is here now.
This is bizarre commentary. In fact it's almost like you are this guy:
Everything you say is the opposite of reality.
- People will most certainly upgrade
- Hardware specs *don't* matter to average consumers
- Android most definitely sucks (compared to iOS based on customer responses)
- No one can yet compete with iPad 1.0 on many fronts (price, UI, apps, etc.)
History, facts, customer surveys, and pretty much everything else would argue against you here.
You don't wait until the competition has caught up to "stay ahead" of them. His point is not only valid, but so obvious anyone could be doing his job.
The phrase 'stay ahead' as used here implies that there is some concern re losing the lead, i.e., that Apple might not 'stay' ahead without this new product.
In fact, there is no reasonable chance that Apple will NOT be the world leader in this category by the end of this year. Or even next year. Therefore, there is no reason for Apple to be concerned with 'staying' ahead. The actual situation is that Apple has an almost-comical lead, and its wanna-be competitors are disorganized and short on resources (compared with Apple).
Therefore, Apple is looking to co-opt its competition. Keep them off-balance, keep them from getting traction, keep them pursuing a moving target.
Apple's concern is strictly tactical. The iPad 2 IS NOT crucial to 'staying ahead' They could sell the original iPad for quite some time and 'stay ahead' quite nicely, thank you. However, the iPad 2 IS crucial tactically - in terms of keeping competitors off-balance.
Ireland is (as usual) so slow to listen and so quick to find fault that he tries to condemn BOTH the writer of this column and myself in one blow, which is pretty awkward. This column's writer is, in fact, not wrong, but misdirected. I have attempted to point out the needed adjustment (rather than just trash the guy, as Ireland sadly is bent on doing).
With the adjustment made, the column is not 'obvious' but in fact, insightful. To reiterate, Apple does NOT need a new product to 'stay ahead'. No one is passing them any time soon. But to disrupt its competitors, yes, the iPad 2 IS crucial, as the author states.
Just a matter of a choice of words and a more finely-tuned understanding of the issue, really.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'.
That's right, the problem is the generic nature of the Android OS means it doesn't really know what hardware capabilities it has so it doesn't use any hardware acceleration. This is why Android phones with 1Ghz processors have choppier scrolling that the original iPhone with it's 400Mhz CPU.
I think the biggest update needed is to iOS as someone mentioned earlier. Once you actually start using WP7 it makes iOS look a bit dated in some areas. Apple need to deliver a bigger set of changes than their usual incremental updates.
To be fair, he's right in what he says. It's just that it's stating the obvious but it's his job to analyse, even when the analysis is easy. He didn't ask to be quoted in our bear pit lol
Yea, analysts are given a hard time. Analysts probably predicted that oil prices would go up due to the rebellions in the middle east, too. Obvious, but it's their job to cover their bases and not miss anything.
It's like if you ask someone to give you directions and you criticize them for being too detailed. "DUH I KNOW WE'RE MAKING A LEFT!"
- Hardware specs *don't* matter to average consumers
- Android most definitely sucks (compared to iOS based on customer responses)
- No one can yet compete with iPad 1.0 on many fronts (price, UI, apps, etc.)
History, facts, customer surveys, and pretty much everything else would argue against you here.
Maybe your reality. Everything you said is opinion based.
Yes some will upgrade. That is like saying the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. You could be more general?
Hardware specs may not matter to the average Apple only user by hardware specs matter to many consumers.
Android doesn't even come close to sucking. Customer responses? For an OS that suppose to suck that bad yearly growth is extremely high.
The last comment I can agree with. However lets not forget most apps did not work on the iPad well when it first came out. The Xoom should be the same situation needing only a few months to catch up and have LTE added to it. Not to mention HP touch coming with webOS.
So Apple needs to stay at least current with technology when it comes to the iPad 2.
I agree. Apple is getting huge pressure from well financed Android makers like Samsung and to a certain extent motorola. Sure there are no products out on the tablet side, but we saw how fast Android phone activations shot up around the world. Google is giving these companies the creative edge in software and internet services they would have never had on their own. We all know these companies can crank out good hardware, so apple needs to one up on the software and content front.
These analysts are stuck thinking about hardware. Almost all of the competitors will be running on very similar hardware...but it is Apple's software that differentiates itself from the rest.
I'm convinced the iPad has reached the status of the "iPod" of tablets, or it's very near to reaching that status.
RIM, HP, and the pile of Androids have definite advantages over the iPad. But to everyone except Apple haters, the iPad is the natural choice when they want a tablet, and "iPad" is almost synonymous with "tablet". Most people wouldn't look anywhere else.
Having that said, it's no reason to get lazy! I want SD slot, and bumped resolution damn it!
Comments
Apple needs to understand that hardware spec DOES matter, and that unlike Windows, Android does NOT suck. Android might not have all the little refinements of iOS or as robust an ecosystem, but Honeycomb makes huge strides for Android, and the hardware coming out, especially those with Tegra 2 processor are serious, and I mean serious competition.
The funny thing is that so far, all this talk about how seriously great Honeycomb and Tegra 2 is, it all seems based more on hype and PR than on any capability or real-world achievement. I'm not saying Honeycomb is not a great OS or that Tegra 2 is not a good SoC, but I'm not totally convinced they are terribly great either.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'. Then there is Honeycomb, which as of yet, to me is no more than a UI overhaul that doesn't even look particularly great and apparently has some ways to go in terms of usability (reviews call it complicated with some usability flaws). That's all I know about Honeycomb. No-one is pointing out any killer features, new development frameworks or superior additions that make Honeycomb anything more than some sort of 'Android tablet reboot' with a better tablet-centric UI, just launched to get away from all these scaled up phone applications.
I'm still waiting to see how Honeycomb will progress and if it will ever catch on like iOS on the iPad did, before I see cartloads of really nice Honeycomb apps with proper tablet user interfaces, I've not seen anything. Yet many of te most rabid Android fans go completely crazy about it, acting as if iOS is now surely outdated because it is 'not a real tablet OS', conveniently hijacking and turning around the argument that always plagued the Android 2.x tablets.
in other 'news'....it's important that I breathe....
You can't be serious! I thought keeping a product stagnant was a better strategy.
Partial quote:
A ton of guys will be passing iPad -1s to their kids and wives and buying version 2. Just watch.
I think we would have to wait and see what this next iPad has to offer. Right now i have a 64GB/3G and unless there is something I really like about this next iPad I don't see any reason to upgrade.
My thought process on this is this next iPad is to simply stay current with technology, if the rumors are true and another iPad is going to come out in the Fall then its my guess that will be a true leap forward.
Besides this way I can spend that extra 600.00 or so getting a new 17" MBP instead of the 15" I was going to get.
Android hasn?t hurt Apple one bit. Android?s growth has only affected Microsoft, HP, and RIM.
I give up!
To be fair, he's right in what he says. It's just that it's stating the obvious but it's his job to analyse, even when the analysis is easy. He didn't ask to be quoted in our bear pit lol
I disagree. This is over-the-top nonsense and deserved to be ridiculed.
It's important for Apple to perform here and perform well, but what this guy is saying is that Apple is in danger of losing 50% of the market if they don't come up with something fantastic and amazing to top the last iPad. That's a vast overstatement of the facts and smells of stock manipulation to me.
Apple currently has almost the entire market to itself. In fact it defined and continues to define said market. Even the recent reports that Android devices have 20% of it are inflated nonsense based on channel filling and purposely deceptive reports. To suggest that a minor mis-step from Apple here will basically lose the game for them is ridiculous.
They are already winning the game on pricing. A solid (even if it's boring), upgrade with a lower price would easily do enough to keep them on top for the next year. Personally I would expect a lot more but to imply that this is "necessary" to keep Android at bay is laughable.
I give up!
You can?t argue with fact.
Android hasn?t hurt Apple one bit. Android?s growth has only affected Microsoft, HP, and RIM.
Are you serious with that statement?
The funny thing is that so far, all this talk about how seriously great Honeycomb and Tegra 2 is, it all seems based more on hype and PR than on any capability or real-world achievement. I'm not saying Honeycomb is not a great OS or that Tegra 2 is not a good SoC, but I'm not totally convinced they are terribly great either.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'. Then there is Honeycomb, which as of yet, to me is no more than a UI overhaul that doesn't even look particularly great and apparently has some ways to go in terms of usability (reviews call it complicated with some usability flaws). That's all I know about Honeycomb. No-one is pointing out any killer features, new development frameworks or superior additions that make Honeycomb anything more than some sort of 'Android tablet reboot' with a better tablet-centric UI, just launched to get away from all these scaled up phone applications.
I'm still waiting to see how Honeycomb will progress and if it will ever catch on like iOS on the iPad did, before I see cartloads of really nice Honeycomb apps with proper tablet user interfaces, I've not seen anything. Yet many of te most rabid Android fans go completely crazy about it, acting as if iOS is now surely outdated because it is 'not a real tablet OS', conveniently hijacking and turning around the argument that always plagued the Android 2.x tablets.
You know I agree with you, and I didn't want to imply that iOS was inferior or in trouble, my point is just that Honeycomb fixes the 'scaled up phone apps' problem of Android among other things, and that competitors have access to powerful hardware, whether it be Tegra 2 or OMAP4 chips. They can now build tablets that are 'good enough' to be serious contenders to the iPad. There is no shortage of people who compare products by their spec sheet - they don't know any better. Apple has to stay on top of these things to stay ahead.
iPad 1 users are not likely to upgrade to iPad 2. I wouldn't. Apple makes a quality product that functions well for a long time. Heck, I still have the original iPhone - I do plan to replace it with an iPhone 5 though.
No, the most important thing is to have a good showing for potential new buyers for the iPad 2. Apple needs to understand that hardware spec DOES matter, and that unlike Windows, Android does NOT suck. Android might not have all the little refinements of iOS or as robust an ecosystem, but Honeycomb makes huge strides for Android, and the hardware coming out, especially those with Tegra 2 processor are serious, and I mean serious competition.
Apple really needs to watch their back this time. This is not like the iPhone where it's taken over 3 years for the others to catch up. Viable competition for iPad is here now.
This is bizarre commentary. In fact it's almost like you are this guy:
Everything you say is the opposite of reality.
- People will most certainly upgrade
- Hardware specs *don't* matter to average consumers
- Android most definitely sucks (compared to iOS based on customer responses)
- No one can yet compete with iPad 1.0 on many fronts (price, UI, apps, etc.)
History, facts, customer surveys, and pretty much everything else would argue against you here.
You don't wait until the competition has caught up to "stay ahead" of them. His point is not only valid, but so obvious anyone could be doing his job.
The phrase 'stay ahead' as used here implies that there is some concern re losing the lead, i.e., that Apple might not 'stay' ahead without this new product.
In fact, there is no reasonable chance that Apple will NOT be the world leader in this category by the end of this year. Or even next year. Therefore, there is no reason for Apple to be concerned with 'staying' ahead. The actual situation is that Apple has an almost-comical lead, and its wanna-be competitors are disorganized and short on resources (compared with Apple).
Therefore, Apple is looking to co-opt its competition. Keep them off-balance, keep them from getting traction, keep them pursuing a moving target.
Apple's concern is strictly tactical. The iPad 2 IS NOT crucial to 'staying ahead' They could sell the original iPad for quite some time and 'stay ahead' quite nicely, thank you. However, the iPad 2 IS crucial tactically - in terms of keeping competitors off-balance.
Ireland is (as usual) so slow to listen and so quick to find fault that he tries to condemn BOTH the writer of this column and myself in one blow, which is pretty awkward. This column's writer is, in fact, not wrong, but misdirected. I have attempted to point out the needed adjustment (rather than just trash the guy, as Ireland sadly is bent on doing).
With the adjustment made, the column is not 'obvious' but in fact, insightful. To reiterate, Apple does NOT need a new product to 'stay ahead'. No one is passing them any time soon. But to disrupt its competitors, yes, the iPad 2 IS crucial, as the author states.
Just a matter of a choice of words and a more finely-tuned understanding of the issue, really.
Just notice: everyone trying to make a case for the great hardware specs you get on Android devices is pointing to Tegra 2. Yet, in the real world, it turns out the OMAP4xxx series appear to be the faster chips, and that even with Tegra 2, the Honeycomb UI is apparently not even smoother than 'almost as smooth as iOS 4' on the single-core A4 in the iPad. Some reviews even say it's 'choppy at times'.
That's right, the problem is the generic nature of the Android OS means it doesn't really know what hardware capabilities it has so it doesn't use any hardware acceleration. This is why Android phones with 1Ghz processors have choppier scrolling that the original iPhone with it's 400Mhz CPU.
I think the biggest update needed is to iOS as someone mentioned earlier. Once you actually start using WP7 it makes iOS look a bit dated in some areas. Apple need to deliver a bigger set of changes than their usual incremental updates.
To be fair, he's right in what he says. It's just that it's stating the obvious but it's his job to analyse, even when the analysis is easy. He didn't ask to be quoted in our bear pit lol
Yea, analysts are given a hard time. Analysts probably predicted that oil prices would go up due to the rebellions in the middle east, too. Obvious, but it's their job to cover their bases and not miss anything.
It's like if you ask someone to give you directions and you criticize them for being too detailed. "DUH I KNOW WE'RE MAKING A LEFT!"
Everything you say is the opposite of reality.
- People will most certainly upgrade
- Hardware specs *don't* matter to average consumers
- Android most definitely sucks (compared to iOS based on customer responses)
- No one can yet compete with iPad 1.0 on many fronts (price, UI, apps, etc.)
History, facts, customer surveys, and pretty much everything else would argue against you here.
Maybe your reality. Everything you said is opinion based.
Yes some will upgrade. That is like saying the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. You could be more general?
Hardware specs may not matter to the average Apple only user by hardware specs matter to many consumers.
Android doesn't even come close to sucking. Customer responses? For an OS that suppose to suck that bad yearly growth is extremely high.
The last comment I can agree with. However lets not forget most apps did not work on the iPad well when it first came out. The Xoom should be the same situation needing only a few months to catch up and have LTE added to it. Not to mention HP touch coming with webOS.
So Apple needs to stay at least current with technology when it comes to the iPad 2.
RIM, HP, and the pile of Androids have definite advantages over the iPad. But to everyone except Apple haters, the iPad is the natural choice when they want a tablet, and "iPad" is almost synonymous with "tablet". Most people wouldn't look anywhere else.
Having that said, it's no reason to get lazy! I want SD slot, and bumped resolution damn it!
These analysts are stuck thinking about hardware and software
How many variations are there of Android?
-----
24 hours to go.
Really hope the immediate availability rumor is true.