Leading Android fansite recommends Apple Inc iPad Air 2 as best tablet in holiday gift guide

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 67

    OK, if fandroids are going to start being reasonable and unbiased towards Apple products, I guess it's only fair that we all start being reasonable and unbiased towards Android products. On that basis I will be the first to praise one of their products as soon as they make a good one!

  • Reply 42 of 67

    Wow, I didn't know AI had a mole in Android Police!

  • Reply 43 of 67
    apple ][ wrote: »

    There are many desktop apps and games that are massive in size, and especially when porting some of them over to iPad, 2 GB is just not going to cut it. 

    I expect perfection from my iPad apps. This is not Android that we're talking about here.

    Desktops apps are famous for being bloatware. When RAM was expensive, even Photoshop ran well on a computer with a Meg of RAM. Excellent software shipped on floppy discs. However when the price of RAM dropped and clock speeds went "the sky's the limit," then everyone threw careful coding out the window.

    Apple all about high portability and battery life on their iDevices. You can't have that and squander resources. How can you have "perfection" in an app that gobbles resources due to poorly written software? Anyone who can't write an app in under two fricking gigs shouldn't be writing software for an iDevice.
  • Reply 44 of 67
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Macky the Macky View Post



    Anyone who can't write an app in under two fricking gigs shouldn't be writing software for an iDevice.

     

    Wasn't it Bill Gates who once said something about 640k is all you'll ever need?<img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />

     

    You kind of sound like him.

     

    As I stated earlier, I'm not a developer or a programmer, but I know that what you just claimed is not the case at all. I'm not talking about little, crappy apps here like a calculator or simple games.

     

    It's not about being a poor programmer or squandering resources. Certain programs and apps require a lot of space.

     

    Let's say that a game is 9 GB on desktop. That's because the game has a ton of content and a ton of graphics, video and sound assets. They shouldn't have to sacrifice and be limited to only 2 GB for example when making the iOS version. Not all games for iOS are angry birds type games. Some games are far more complex and they take much longer to fully complete, and they are naturally much larger in size because they offer much more content.

     

    And the piano that I mentioned earlier. That's all about sampled sounds, and that takes a lot of space. 2 GB of space is nothing. Apps will only be getting larger. Just look at what happened when retina came along. And soon there will be retina HD too perhaps, which in turn will mean even higher res graphics, and will mean more space required per app.

     

    I believe that we can look back at your comment in the near future sometime, and you will most likely laugh at your own comment, because I believe that apps will only be getting bigger, and many will be multiple gigs by that time.

  • Reply 45 of 67
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

    You kind of sound like him.


     

    I like his argument. We should demand more efficiency from our code. We should back this demand with our money. I figure the gaming industry is headed for another crash like 1983 because they refuse to care about their customers. This could have been stopped if they’d just care about optimizing their code.

  • Reply 46 of 67
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

     

    I like his argument. We should demand more efficiency from our code. We should back this demand with our money. I figure the gaming industry is headed for another crash like 1983 because they refuse to care about their customers. This could have been stopped if they’d just care about optimizing their code.




    I'm all for efficiency in coding. It's not like I am against it, or that I'm defending any bad coding here.<img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" /> 

     

    I still believe that there are certain types of apps though that simply require a lot of space, even if they're expertly coded by the world's best coders. There are music sample instrument libraries on desktop that are many hundreds of GBs large. I don't see why there should be any limit when making something for iOS, as if iOS apps have to be inferior to desktop. 

  • Reply 47 of 67
    apple ][ wrote: »
     

    I like his argument. We should demand more efficiency from our code. We should back this demand with our money. <span style="line-height:1.4em;">I figure the gaming industry is headed for another crash like 1983 because they refuse to care about their customers. This could have been stopped if they’d just care about optimizing their code.</span>


    I'm all for efficiency in coding. It's not like I am against it, or that I'm defending any bad coding here.:lol:  

    I still believe that there are certain types of apps though that simply require a lot of space, even if they're expertly coded by the world's best coders. There are music sample instrument libraries on desktop that are many hundreds of GBs large. I don't see why there should be any limit when making something for iOS, as if iOS apps have to be inferior to desktop. 

    This is true.

    For example, the A8 and A8X have the capability to play 4K video -- which gobbles storage at 1 GB/sec ... The key is to be able to efficently stream, cache, buffer and play the video ... All of the video need not be on the iDevice to be played.

    But, it is [somewhat] important to make a distinction between the app code, and the data that the app code uses ... You can write a rather simple app that plays video from the web that only takes a few K of storage on the iDevice -- but when it executes, requires lots of RAM for data.

    Here's an example running on the original iPhone:

    At about 3:35 in, the user flips through a selection of A/V Covers and selects, then plays a Movie.

    When the App is loaded:
    • the cover images are downloaded from the web (they are not permanently stored on the iDevice)
    • the CoverFlow graphics are generated and rendered (they are not permanently stored on the iDevice)

    When the user selects a cover (video, movie, audio) to play, it is downloaded and play begins when sufficient data is cached and buffered on the iDevice -- likely, the entire data file never exists on the device ... If the user repositions the playhead, the data is re-cached and buffered as needed.


    [VIDEO]
  • Reply 48 of 67
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Macky the Macky View Post





    Desktops apps are famous for being bloatware. When RAM was expensive, even Photoshop ran well on a computer with a Meg of RAM. Excellent software shipped on floppy discs. However when the price of RAM dropped and clock speeds went "the sky's the limit," then everyone threw careful coding out the window.



    Apple all about high portability and battery life on their iDevices. You can't have that and squander resources. How can you have "perfection" in an app that gobbles resources due to poorly written software? Anyone who can't write an app in under two fricking gigs shouldn't be writing software for an iDevice.

     

    I can still run Photoshop on less than a 512 MB desktop with many plugins (Still got an old 2004 machine with XP) and do pretty neat stuff. I always find it really funny when people are bitching about 1G of ram, like it was impossible to stuff anything in there. 10 years ago, most desktop computers had less than a 1G of ram and you could be very effective with that and use very powerful applications.

  • Reply 49 of 67
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

     



    I'm all for efficiency in coding. It's not like I am against it, or that I'm defending any bad coding here.<img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" /> 

     

    I still believe that there are certain types of apps though that simply require a lot of space, even if they're expertly coded by the world's best coders. There are music sample instrument libraries on desktop that are many hundreds of GBs large. I don't see why there should be any limit when making something for iOS, as if iOS apps have to be inferior to desktop. 


     

    99% of applications are not like that so what's your point? Most apps need fast storage, or memory more than tons of storage or memory. Do you really want to load 100G in memory on a mobile device? Why? Especially on a mobile device were your eating your battery if your leaving something in memory.

     

    Maybe when battery power is unlimited we could do that, but for now it is totally idiotic.

     

    And yes, I've programmed/designed everything from embedded systems to millions of lines of code monster systems with thousands of nodes in 25 years on the job.

  • Reply 50 of 67
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,310member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

     

    Good for them!

     

    At least they're being honest!

     

    The iPad Air 2 rules. 

     

    I would like to see even more powerful apps coming out soon.

     

    I bought a 2GB piano recently, and it sounds pretty good, but why not give me a 10GB piano?

     

    Is there some sort of limit to app sizes or something? 


    There are limits on practically everything.

     

    One limit that still has to be breached is production capacity just to provide 2 GB of DRAM for the the next generation of iPhone, let alone moving the iPad Air to more than 2GB. Please note that this doesn't happen in a vacuum; desktop DRAM is at a very high price point due to production shifting to higher mobile DRAM production.

     

    Production limits and cost are barriers to getting your wish anytime soon.

  • Reply 51 of 67
    tmay wrote: »
    "Apple wrote:
    [" url="/t/183791/leading-android-fansite-recommends-apple-inc-ipad-air-2-as-best-tablet-in-holiday-gift-guide#post_2649256"]
     
    Good for them!

    At least they're being honest!

    The iPad Air 2 rules. 

    I would like to see even more powerful apps coming out soon.

    I bought a 2GB piano recently, and it sounds pretty good, but why not give me a 10GB piano?

    Is there some sort of limit to app sizes or something? 
    There are limits on practically everything.

    One limit that still has to be breached is production capacity just to provide 2 GB of DRAM for the the next generation of iPhone, let alone moving the iPad Air to more than 2GB. Please note that this doesn't happen in a vacuum; desktop DRAM is at a very high price point due to production shifting to higher mobile DRAM production.

    Production limits and cost are barriers to getting your wish anytime soon.

    Tho ... There may be breakthroughs on the near horizon ...

    http://www.micron.com/products/hybrid-memory-cube

    Also, at some point, it may be beneficial to use SRAM instead of DRAM -- size vs power ...
  • Reply 52 of 67
    DED almost writes a good article but can't help himself near the end. The spiral into rants, self referencing and unecessary obfuscation/deflection.
  • Reply 53 of 67
    Wow, I didn't know AI had a mole in Android Police!

    Climb Every Mountain.
  • Reply 54 of 67
    apple ][ wrote: »
     

    I like his argument. We should demand more efficiency from our code. We should back this demand with our money. <span style="line-height:1.4em;">I figure the gaming industry is headed for another crash like 1983 because they refuse to care about their customers. This could have been stopped if they’d just care about optimizing their code.</span>


    I'm all for efficiency in coding. It's not like I am against it, or that I'm defending any bad coding here.:lol:  

    I still believe that there are certain types of apps though that simply require a lot of space, even if they're expertly coded by the world's best coders. There are music sample instrument libraries on desktop that are many hundreds of GBs large. I don't see why there should be any limit when making something for iOS, as if iOS apps have to be inferior to desktop. 

    Exactly.

    As soon as you start bunging in music and video, you need a lot of space, and there's nothing you can do about it. As you say, good quality sounds can take up a ton of space, notably the piano. The organ even more!

    I feel that they could increase the app limit to at least five gigs now. My reasoning is: double that is 10, which is about 10% of a 128GB iPad.
  • Reply 55 of 67

    When I saw this article on Zite, I knew "Oh boy, they are going to get it from both sides now". Do a quick search online (google "Android police iPad air 2" and it seems quite a few other websites have picked up on this story as well.

     

    Little surprise though. The writer did a review of the iPad air 2 some time back, and he concluded that he actually quite liked it. And predictably, said article has garnered 358 comments to date. Most other Android articles barely hit 10. 

     

    http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/11/11/nexus-9-vs-ipad-air-2-a-mostly-subjective-comparison/

     

    The writer, David, strikes me more as a pro-Google services user, not so much a Pro-Android user. He uses Android because there are legitimately some advantages to it - namely better support for Google's services, system-wide Google-now integration, multi-user support, and (until recently) improved sharing function (and iOS is still quite far behind in this regard; many apps still haven't been updated). I think it's only fair that we acknowledge this in return. :)

     

    BTW, I am surprised that no one has pointed out that it was just one of the 4 editors who mentioned the iPad. The rest all recommended Android tablets of their own, so it's far from being a walkover. 

  • Reply 56 of 67
    abazigal wrote: »
    <p>When I saw this article on Zite, I knew "Oh boy, they are going to get it from both sides now". Do a quick search online (google "Android police iPad air 2" and it seems quite a few other websites have picked up on this story as well.</p><p> </p><p>Little surprise though. The writer did a review of the iPad air 2 some time back, and he concluded that he actually quite liked it. And predictably, said article has garnered 358 comments to date. Most other Android articles barely hit 10. </p><p> </p><p>http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/11/11/nexus-9-vs-ipad-air-2-a-mostly-subjective-comparison/</p><p> </p><p>The writer, David, strikes me more as a pro-Google services user, not so much a Pro-Android user. He uses Android because there are legitimately some advantages to it - namely better support for Google's services, system-wide Google-now integration, multi-user support, and (until recently) improved sharing function (and iOS is still quite far behind in this regard; many apps still haven't been updated). I think it's only fair that we acknowledge this in return. :)</p><p> </p><p>BTW, I am surprised that no one has pointed out that it was just one of the 4 editors who mentioned the iPad. The rest all recommended Android tablets of their own, so it's far from being a walkover. </p>
    Don't be suprised that no one pointed out it was just one editor, as many people wouldn't have gone to the original article and will just get the impression DED wants to give.
  • Reply 57 of 67
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    abazigal wrote: »
    …improved sharing function (and iOS is still quite far behind in this regard; many apps still haven't been updated).

    I guess it depends on what you're sharing because Android and Window has nothing compared to the ease of Handoff and Continuity.
  • Reply 58 of 67
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post





    I guess it depends on what you're sharing because Android and Window has nothing compared to the ease of Handoff and Continuity.

    I was referring to share sheet extensions in general. Apple may have implemented it in ios8, but the onus is still on developers to include this feature in their apps, and to date, not many have done so. 



    For example, whatapp still hasn't been updated to support share-sheet extensions, so if I want to share a link with my friends, I need to manually copy the link in Safari and paste it in whatsapp. Compared with iMessage, where I just tap the share icon, then select messages. Which is frustrating. You would think that a company like Facebook would have the resources to do this on day 1, but they have been quite slow to update WhatsApp (it only recently became optimised for iphone6 resolutions). 

  • Reply 59 of 67
    solipsismy wrote: »
    abazigal wrote: »
    …improved sharing function (and iOS is still quite far behind in this regard; many apps still haven't been updated).

    I guess it depends on what you're sharing because Android and Window has nothing compared to the ease of Handoff and Continuity.


    Android was built around content sharing. iOS wasn't. Apple has been playing catch-up in the sharing game for ages, and it still isn't quite there. Sharing on iOS remains decidedly clunky in many situations, particularly if you're not sharing content through one of Apple's proprietary applications or services.

    This is changing in iOS 8, but that change is coming slowly. The extensibility APIs are allowing developers to insert Android-style intents into the iOS sharing interface that appears in many applications, but adoption has remained somewhat slow. Granted, it's only been out a couple of months. Apps I still can't simply share a picture to without opening them first? Pretty much everything I use. Dropbox, Gmail, Hangouts, Drive, or Google+. And the apps it does work with sometimes respond by freezing or just not doing the thing you tell them to do - extensibility is clearly a work in progress.

    That's what he is talking about sharing.
  • Reply 60 of 67
    Ummm, just because some Android website put it out there doesn't make it true either. They did get something right, the iPad hasn't changed in ages nor will it anytime soon. The galaxy 12.2 and galaxy s series are way more useful and innovative. Nice try though, wonder how much AP got paid to write that ridiculous trash.
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