Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > Will Apple make a smaller iPad?

View Poll Results: Will there be a smaller iPad or cover/keyboard?
Poll Options:
Yes, there will be a smaller iPad 6 votes (28.57%)
No, there will not be a smaller iPad 15 votes (71.43%)
Yes, there will be a cover/keyboard 2 votes (9.52%)
No, there will not be a cover/keyboard 4 votes (19.05%)
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 21. You may not vote on this poll
Will Apple make a smaller iPad?
Thread Tools
lpkmckenna
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 04:49 PM
 
I think a smaller iPad is coming with the next iPad revision. The reason I think this is retina displays. I think the updated 10" iPad will have 4 times the resolution of the current iPad, and the smaller iPad will have the same resolution as the current iPad.

BTW, I would grab a smaller iPad in an instant. The current iPad isn't small enough for me.

I think Apple is also planning a combined cover/keyboard. You take the cover off, the inside has a keyboard, and you plug the iPad into it, and the iPad provides power to the keyboard. Hence, no bulky cylinder for the batteries like the bluetooth keyboard. And it will magnetically stick to the front and the back of the iPad.

EDIT: yes, I know Steve Jobs derided smaller tablets, but he has derided product concepts and embraced them later, for instance ebooks and video iPods.

And I don't think Apple is moving into 7" territory out of fear of small Android tablets or e-readers, I think the retina display is what makes this product an attractive idea.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
Professional Poster
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Nashua NH, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 04:53 PM
 
They make a smaller iPad, the iPhone.
     
Waragainstsleep
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 05:16 PM
 
I don't see it either. I just don't think a form factor between iPhone and iPad is versatile enough and practical enough at the same time. It won't cannibalise iPhone sales, but it would eat into the iPad and it would have to be cheaper so it doesn't really serve Apple to release it.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
BLAZE_MkIV
Professional Poster
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Nashua NH, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 06:02 PM
 
It needs to be pocket sized or open book sized but fit in with papers and magazines. The only reason to change the size of the iPad is to change the aspect ratio of the screen.
     
jmiddel
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Land of Enchantment
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 06:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV View Post
They make a smaller iPad, the iPhone.
Exactly! I for one would not want a smaller iPad, where I would be back squinting trying to read a full page pdf. Had a Kindle, hated it because it was too small, got iPad and am really happy. Can't wait to get the 3 with retina.
     
mduell
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 11, 2012, 07:19 PM
 
When they released the iPad was excited about a smaller size with better proportions (widescreen).

But now I'm over tablets. They just haven't proven to be that useful except as oversized game consoles (which is pretty much all I see them being used for at airports/on airplanes).
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 12, 2012, 04:05 AM
 
A smaller iPad? Of course! Once people grow smaller hands.

Not for a long time.

iPhone/iPod touch won't get bigger, and iPad won't get smaller.
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 12, 2012, 04:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
When they released the iPad was excited about a smaller size with better proportions (widescreen).

But now I'm over tablets. They just haven't proven to be that useful except as oversized game consoles (which is pretty much all I see them being used for at airports/on airplanes).
I think your experience is very much out of the ordinary.
     
lpkmckenna  (op)
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 01:04 PM
 
Wall Street Journal says 8" iPad is coming. And they said the same thing I did: it will keep the same resolution as the current iPad.
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 02:45 PM
 
[cross posted from the MACNN article comments]

Suggesting that Apple should only make one size (of anything, really) is like the US auto manufacturers failing to aggressively go after making small cars in the 1960s. Look how well that worked out for them.

IMO it makes sense to also offer a smaller iPad. There are plenty of usages (e-reading and GPS are just two) where a smaller size would actually be preferable. And with high resolution displays small sizes work well.

Sure there will be some cannibalization of the large size iPad, but Apple makes the sales and the world market is huge.

Also a slightly larger iPhone and and at some point a nano iPhone too. With the huge size of the demand for Apple's mobile devices adding size choices is totally logical product differentiation as the space matures. For Apple to STAGNATE at one size forever would be nuts - look for evolution similar to what happened with the iPod line.

The only question is when, not if.

-Allen
     
turtle777
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 03:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Wall Street Journal says 8" iPad is coming. And they said the same thing I did: it will keep the same resolution as the current iPad.
Wrong. WSJ merely says Apple is testing a 8" iPad.

Originally Posted by Jon Gruber
This is not the iPad 3, which I believe will have a same-sized (9.7 inches) double resolution display. This is a different iPad, which, last I heard, Apple was only considering, not committed to bringing to market. I wouldn’t bet on it.
It's far from certain this will ever be made and sold.

-t
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 03:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
A smaller iPad? Of course! Once people grow smaller hands.
I have large hands and use an iPad1. I have never wished the display was larger from an ergonomic standpoint but I very frequently wish it was smaller from an ergonomic standpoint. Folks who use an iPad on a table to touch type no doubt like the existing size (an MBA is more ideal for that usage anyway), but using an iPad as a tool while walking around or in a vehicle the size is overly large for me, and 99% of folks have smaller hands than I do.

Just sayin'. The iPad as a tool is just beginning its evolution (e.g. a client of mine just bought iPads for their construction inspectors) and there is plenty of room for various configurations/sizes.

-Allen
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 05:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by SierraDragon View Post
Also a slightly larger iPhone and and at some point a nano iPhone too. With the huge size of the demand for Apple's mobile devices adding size choices is totally logical product differentiation as the space matures. For Apple to STAGNATE at one size forever would be nuts - look for evolution similar to what happened with the iPod line.

The only question is when, not if.
The tweener size is the worst of both.

They'll go UPwards from the iPad, not down. This seems natural as the touch paradigm replaces "traditional" (mouse/menu/window-based) computing. They'll have to find some way to accommodate the necessary precision for such devices to replace production machines (or possibly just leave traditional Macs as a coexisting line. But for pocketable and/or mobile devices, the human fingertip is going to dictate the smallest operable unit.

And an iPhone nano? How would that work? Inoperable display, and entirely voice-driven?
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 05:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
And an iPhone nano? How would that work? Inoperable display, and entirely voice-driven?
Yup. I bet there is one in an Apple lab right now. When it becomes actually doable as a product will likely be a while...
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 05:45 PM
 
...built into the headset. Of course.
     
lpkmckenna  (op)
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 07:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Wrong. WSJ merely says Apple is testing a 8" iPad.
Since they have left the Apple prototyping lab and are working with manufacturers, that tells me they want to make these things, and they are simply nailing down the most economical way to manufacture them. If and only if they can't make them cheaply enough will they abandon the product. Since other tablet makers made it to market at this size, I'm sure Apple can too. This is a done deal.
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
They'll go UPwards from the iPad, not down.
No way. The current iPad is already too heavy for intensive use.
This seems natural as the touch paradigm replaces "traditional" (mouse/menu/window-based) computing.
Tablets aren't replacing traditional computers anymore than phones are. Tablets will absorb some functions of computers like ebook reading and casual web browsing, but computers will always carry the load for heavy duty tasks.
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 07:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
No way. The current iPad is already too heavy for intensive use.
As is a 15" MacBook Pro? And a 17" MacBook Pro?

You're not going to replace a 27" display with a 9.7" hand-held.

The bigger ones will (need to) be mounted and stationary.

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Tablets aren't replacing traditional computers anymore than phones are.
For a surprisingly huge number of users, they very much ARE replacing traditional computers.

Business users are replacing presentation/sales laptops with iPads, and a rather large number of home users need little more than the iPad has to offer, already.

And the platform is only getting started, yet.

I'm not saying that iPad will replace the entire market, but to claim that it isn't already replacing a number of traditional computers is just outright false. And that will continue to increase as the iPad's capabilities increase.

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Tablets will absorb some functions of computers like ebook reading and casual web browsing, but computers will always carry the load for heavy duty tasks.
Realize that the current iPad is already more powerful than the high-end production tower from just over a decade ago.

If you take a look at what iMovie and GarageBand on iOS are already capable of in terms of "heavy duty tasks", it seems obvious that the question is really only down to figuring out how to sensibly operate these applications and deal with the organizational back-end, multitasking, etc.

Stick something like that on a 20" touchscreen in a few years' time, with the power of say, a quad G5 or more, and the "carry the load" argument becomes moot for the entire consumer market.

At that point, I'm not so sure you'll be able to draw a clear line between "traditional" and "post-PC" computers. (Though I do agree with Gruber that Microsoft's Frankenstein blend will end up being the worst of both.)
     
lpkmckenna  (op)
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2012, 09:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
As is a 15" MacBook Pro? And a 17" MacBook Pro?
I don't support my laptop's weight with my hands while I'm using it.

The bigger ones will (need to) be mounted and stationary.
You've described an iMac with a touch display and no mouse or keyboard. What purpose would this device serve?

Seriously, think about it: tablets and touch phones work great because you can't use a mouse and keyboard while you walk around. But replacing a keyboard and mouse with a touchscreen on a fixed computer makes no sense. More likely, they will add a touch screen to a traditional computer as an alternate input method but keep the mouse and keyboard as primary input.

For a surprisingly huge number of users, they very much ARE replacing traditional computers.

Business users are replacing presentation/sales laptops with iPads, and a rather large number of home users need little more than the iPad has to offer, already.
If your needs are light, sure. I'm thinking about replacing my parent's old laptop with an iPad. But I couldn't even do my office tasks on a tablet, I would go mad.

I'm not saying that iPad will replace the entire market, but to claim that it isn't already replacing a number of traditional computers is just outright false.
I didn't say that. The tablet can serve some needs but not all. That's what I said.

And that will continue to increase as the iPad's capabilities increase.
And traditional computer capabilities will increase too.

Realize that the current iPad is already more powerful than the high-end production tower from just over a decade ago.
Ok, would you like to reduce your productivity to computers from ten years ago? Would you like to run today's Photoshop on PowerMac G4s from 2001?

If you take a look at what iMovie and GarageBand on iOS are already capable of in terms of "heavy duty tasks", it seems obvious that the question is really only down to figuring out how to sensibly operate these applications and deal with the organizational back-end, multitasking, etc.
But those apps can only handle a small subset of what the iLife apps on Mac can do, which are only a small subset of what pro apps can do.

There will always be a huge gap between what a power-, size-, and input-constrained tablets can do, and what a full computer can do, and developers will always find ways to make excellent use of that power.

I just finished playing id's Rage on my MacBook Pro. It was a fantastic experience. I thought I'd try Rage for iOS (which I bought long ago but forgot about). That enormous gap is why computers still matter, and will for quite a while. And when tablets have caught up, computers will have moved on to the next amazing tech which tablets can't touch.

You can do a lot of amazing things on the iPad today, but your needs will have to be very limited to replace a computer with an iPad today or even 3 years from now.
     
Kees
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2001
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 09:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Wall Street Journal says 8" iPad is coming. And they said the same thing I did: it will keep the same resolution as the current iPad.
I still doubt they'll introduce a smaller iPad. A slightly bigger iPhone/iTouch makes more sense, though personally, I hope they will also continue to offer the same size, or slightly smaller even. But of course it would retain the same resolution. Do you have any idea how much work it would mean for devs if they'd change to a truly different resolution? The iPad 3's screen is predicted to be twice the resolution, because then the excisting apps can at least be easily scaled to the new res.
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 03:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Ok, would you like to reduce your productivity to computers from ten years ago? Would you like to run today's Photoshop on PowerMac G4s from 2001?
No, but the iPad TODAY is at the level of a PowerMac G4 from 2000 or so.

From what I gather, Photoshop hasn't really benefited that much from the advances in CPU power for the past three or five years. The days when Photoshop defined what a "high-end" computer should be able to handle are long over, and pretty much any entry-level Mac has been able to handle it gracefully for maybe four years or so.

In five years' time, where will the iPad be?

But those apps can only handle a small subset of what the iLife apps on Mac can do, which are only a small subset of what pro apps can do.
But compared to what pro apps could do ten, twelve years ago, the gap isn't quite so large. The interface is simplified, because the target audience is a different one, but the capability isn't THAT much lower.

And interfaces can and do evolve, and features get added if a demand for them is gauged as adequate. Compare AVID Studio for iPad to iMovie, for example:
http://www.avid.com/US/products/Avid-Studio-app

See what I mean?

There will always be a huge gap between what a power-, size-, and input-constrained tablets can do, and what a full computer can do, and developers will always find ways to make excellent use of that power.
Of course there will, but it will matter less and less to the market, over time.

Which is not to say that the high end will disappear.

The point is that nobody "normal" will care as soon as the ultra mobile devices hit a certain level, just as nobody but the high-enders really cared after the "real" computers hit about 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo processors. That level has been able handle pretty much everything ordinary people want to do for a few years now.
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 06:03 PM
 
Spheric is correct.

iPads already are fully capable of doing ALL of what 3/4 of computer users do today: surf, view images, chat, email, word processing, data input, spreadsheets, Netflix. The question then gets to what format folks choose, and sales numbers seem to be moving in the direction of tablet form.

In reality the other 1/4 of users do not matter very much any more. Let's just hope Apple throws us a bone (like a new MP) every few years.

-Allen
( Last edited by SierraDragon; Feb 18, 2012 at 06:26 PM. )
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 06:22 PM
 
Any kind of on-the-go walkaround usage (e-reader, auto GPS, photographic, construction inspector, etc.) would be superior at a smaller size like 8 inch. Also K-12 textbook seems to scream for a smaller size.

I fully expect Apple to make one at some point. In today's market (i.e. 10" iPads on v3 and well established) a smaller size choice for iPad will do well.

-Allen
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 06:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by SierraDragon View Post
Also K-12 textbook seems to scream for a smaller size.
Complete disagreement.
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 06:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Complete disagreement.
Really? Why? IMO 8" size would better suit the K-10 of K-12. For K-11 and above, 10" size would be better. Note that any school with sense will have a substantial case on their iPads, so actual size will be larger than the naked iPad size.

My friend's 11-year-old thrives in iPhone size, great dexterity and apparent readability for him; and (to me at least) the iPad seems unwieldy in his 11-year-old hands. Plus my own usage (big guy, big hands) I find the Nook much nicer ergonomically than the iPad for book usage.

-Allen
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 06:35 PM
 
It's about content, not about size relative to body size.
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 07:02 PM
 
I disagree because

• Content is not size-dependent. Larger is more easily viewable, but that needs to be tempered with usability and with cost. Larger displays do cost more. The ease with which kids view tiny iPhone content tells me that smaller and cheaper than 10 inch size for K-10 makes a world of sense.

• Ergonomics are important. Otherwise the MS tablet would have taken off years ago.

-Allen
( Last edited by SierraDragon; Feb 18, 2012 at 07:11 PM. )
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 09:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by SierraDragon View Post
• Ergonomics are important. Otherwise the MS tablet would have taken off years ago.
The iPad has had no real trouble taking off, has it?

So doesn't it stand to reason that whatever "ergonomic" problem the MS tablet had has been solved in the 9.7" version of iPad?

Also, saying that the Windows tablets failed for "ergonomic" reasons is...interesting. Not ENTIRELY false. Sort of like how steam-powered flight failed to take off for "engineering" reasons.

It almost, but not quite, entirely misses the point.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
Professional Poster
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Nashua NH, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 10:02 PM
 
Windows tablets didn't work because windows (and OS X) are mouse driven UIs unsuitable for fingers. The weight and size of most of them just makes it intolerable instead of miserable.
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 11:26 PM
 
Exactly.

While ergonomics do come into play with the mouse-driven-interface-vs.-fingers, calling that an "ergonomic issue" is quite the metonymy.
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 18, 2012, 11:40 PM
 
OK, the Win tablet analogy was a stretch.

-Allen
     
dn15
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 19, 2012, 09:13 PM
 
In my opinion they won't do it.

The iPhone or iPod touch is an ideal size for carrying in your pocket and can easily be held in one hand and touched anywhere on the screen with your thumb.

On the other hand iPad is big enough to read the "desktop" version of most websites, while also large enough for ten-finger typing.

I think a device in between would be awkward -- can't be operated with one hand while making too much of a sacrifice in terms of screen size.

Personally I have both an iPhone and an iPad and I never find myself wishing I had something in between those two sizes.
     
ort888
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Your Anus
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 20, 2012, 11:53 PM
 
Some day. It's looking like touch computing is the future and eventually I think Apple is going to have to have a full lineup of choices. Probably not in the next few years though.

My sig is 1 pixel too big.
     
Wiskedjak
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Calgary
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 21, 2012, 12:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV View Post
Windows tablets didn't work because windows (and OS X) are mouse driven UIs unsuitable for fingers. The weight and size of most of them just makes it intolerable instead of miserable.
Plus, the customer ended up paying twice the price for half the performance.
     
Eug
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 22, 2012, 02:46 PM
 
There's never gonna be a 12" PowerBook.
There's never gonna be a smaller iPod.
There's no need for an 11" Air.
Apple isn't going to release a headless desktop Mac.

---

One of the near constants of Apple's business model is that they milk a product for all its worth, and then they introduce another complementary model to further expand their market, when they think the market is ready for it.

Judging by some of the posts in here, and by my personal preferences, I think the market is close to ready for an 8" iPad.
     
Waragainstsleep
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 23, 2012, 08:38 AM
 
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
lpkmckenna  (op)
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 23, 2012, 09:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
There's never gonna be a 12" PowerBook.
There's never gonna be a smaller iPod.
There's no need for an 11" Air.
No one predicted these at all. I remember when each of these were announced, everyone was blown away, as no one expected them. So really, no one actually said "there's no need for an 11" Air." The 12" PowerBook in particular caught everyone off guard, since Apple already sold the 12" iBook.
Apple isn't going to release a headless desktop Mac.
Everyone demanded this, they got the Cube, and then everyone assumed Apple would never try that product type again.
     
Eug
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 23, 2012, 09:44 AM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
No one predicted these at all. I remember when each of these were announced, everyone was blown away, as no one expected them. So really, no one actually said "there's no need for an 11" Air." The 12" PowerBook in particular caught everyone off guard, since Apple already sold the 12" iBook.
Your memory is faulty, but otherwise you've basically just confirmed what I just said.

Maybe YOU didn't foresee these, but way back when, some of us complained the 12" iBook wasn't good enough, and that Apple needed a 12" PowerBook to fill the void. The naysayers then said that there was no need for a 12" PowerBook, because the 12" iBook filled the need at the lower end, and if you needed more you went to the 15".

Then Apple released a 12" PowerBook.

The reason the 12" PowerBook caught everyone (including myself) off guard wasn't because there wasn't a need for it. The reason was because Apple released a brand new 15" PowerBook just two months prior.

As for the 11" Air, people said that Apple would never get into the netbook business. Trust me, look back some threads here. That was the response when we specifically said Apple could and should produce an 11" Air. Some of us pointed out that the problem with most cheap netbooks are their crappy smaller keyboards and their lousy CPUs, not the screen size per se. So we said that like some PC makers, Apple could make a machine that was near-netbook-sized/ultraportable, with a more decent CPU and a full-sized keyboard.

And guess what? They did. (Close enough. We said 11", not 11.6".)



Everyone demanded this, they got the Cube, and then everyone assumed Apple would never try that product type again.
And they didn't. They released a lower cost computer at way less than an iMac, something the naysayers predicted would never happen because it would cut into iMac sales, despite the fact that everyone and their dog was asking for one.

Do you not see a pattern here? A lot of people look at a reasonable product class and wonder why Apple isn't selling there. The Apple fanboys say that a product that Apple doesn't offer at that time is wholly unnecessary at best, or sucks at worst. Sometimes even Apple says that product class sucks.

Then Apple releases it a couple of years later and proclaims it the best thing since sliced Apples.

Note that none of the machines I listed are real oddities. They were logical evolutionary (not revolutionary) products that Apple didn't initially produce, but which Apple then added to their product lines later to increase market share.
( Last edited by Eug; Feb 23, 2012 at 10:17 AM. )
     
charlituna
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2009
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 26, 2012, 02:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV View Post
They make a smaller iPad, the iPhone.
Yep. I could see them perhaps moving the iPod Touch up to a slightly larger size so that it's not just an iPhone that doesn't make calls. Something perhaps to go with the notion of it as a gaming device for younger hands.

But the iPad, no its not likely to go smaller. And to those that say yes it will because it was Steve that hated the smaller tablet idea and now he's gone so . . . well I would merely point out that Steve likely shared his reasons with his team so even with him gone those reasons remain.
     
Wiskedjak
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Calgary
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 26, 2012, 03:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by charlituna View Post
... Steve likely shared his reasons with his team so even with him gone those reasons remain.
I wouldn't put too much stock in Steve ruling from the grave. Tim is already talking about changing Steve's practices in other areas.
Apple has too much cash admits Tim Cook - SlashGear

Also, even Steve was known for changing his mind.
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:39 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,