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StrangeDays said:

elijahg said:

StrangeDays said:

conitor said:

As much as I love the iPad Mini, this release I a bit disappointing.  It simply doesn't justify the $399 starting price imo.  What about the Pencil?  I'm not sure what purpose it serves to support 2 different pencils, originally hoped gen 2 was simply a replacement to gen 1 with a forced upgrade but now its more Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil Pro.  Completely unnecessary, all it does is confuse consumers, give the appearance as a money grab and having another SKU that is seemingly unnecessary.  

Hmm yeah couldn’t have anything to do with being cheaper hardware, right? Seriously, it’s common sense: the new pencil is more expensive because it does more, and it’s more expensive to implement on the ipad compared to the old pencil. Thus, if building a non-Pro that is supposed to be cheaper, using the older pencil is cheaper than the new. Do you want newer that does more? Cool, that costs more. Do you want cheaper? Cool, that does less. 

Why is this hard?

You talk as if the prices of tech don't come down over time. With the exception of the regularly updated iPhone, Apple's pretty much the only tech company that doesn't discount its prices as products age. This isn't a problem with regular updates, but people start to get pretty uncomfortable about buying products that've been on the market for years and still cost the same. Especially since Apple's erratic cycles mean their "new" two year old iMac could effectively become "old" within a few days. Or maybe it'll be another two years. Who knows? A customer buying an iMac now would get two years less software support than one buying just after an update.

The Pencil 1 has been out for years, and is still the same price it was as it was new. They should have dropped the price to say $69 when the Pencil 2 came out. It's too expensive, especially in an eduction setting. The pricing of the iPad itself is not bad imo.

Of course it comes down in price, which is why using the first-gen Pencil is what makes this device cheaper than using the second-gen. If they had put the brand new second-gen Pencil in, you people would be complaining about the raised price of the iPad Mini. As for the rest of the Mini, it includes new (more expensive) hardware: A12 processor, more RAM, 64GB storage, TrueTone display...all more expensive than the older tech in the Mini. For the same price. Despite inflation. 

See the pattern? Apple puts in new stuff and raises the price, people complain. Apple puts in cheaper stuff and keeps the price the same, people complain. What's the common thread? People complaining. 

chasm said:

Siva is the most intriguing part of this whole mess. Originally he was slated to testify on Apple's behalf, but wanted co-inventor credit on the patent. Suddenly he hires a lawyer from the same firm that is handling Qualcomm's case, and declines to appear. He's then subpoenaed to appear, and appears to uphold Apple's contention that the patent was effectively stolen by Qualcomm, but mysteriously no longer wants co-inventor credit even though he says the patent was his idea, discussed with Qualcomm engineers.

I don't know if I buy Apple's claim of witness tampering, but it seems like *somebody* made some threats to Siva regarding his claims. On the whole, I agree with Apple's contention that this is as much about retribution as anything else. Meanwhile, the company continues to lose revenue and income -- and new players are now entering the scene, not to mention Apple taking the whole process in-house.

I don't know if Qualcomm will ultimately prevail or not, but whichever way that goes, I don't think their extortionate business model and "stunt trials" strategy is working out well for them -- the only companies that would work with them willingly at this point are those who are still under contract to do so (like Samsung) ... they're radioactive in the industry outside of that now.

Dave Kap said:

Apple Insider is turning into forbes.. 

How do you know that workers are “rattled” ?