iPad Mini

PaladinTom wrote:

Anyone catch a release date?

11/2 - non-wifi versions of mini and 3rd Gen. Part Deux

11/16 for LTE versions

Ditching the disc drive in the new (otherwise jaw-dropping) iMac seems aggressive. Mind, I've only used the disc drive in my iMac two, maybe three, times tops in three years (ripped wedding footage from relative's DVDs; bought Thief collection DVD—then bought GOG releases), so I'll reemphasize "seems" as a caveat emptor.

So... nobody's counting on Blu-ray then.

PaladinTom wrote:

Uggh! Media Center + Extenders is a jewel that is being left to wither and die. Why Microsoft couldn't make this work is so so frustrating to me!

It's such a great thing, if you can get past the initial complications.

That's why I think it never took off and MS moved on to other ways they could do it and still monetize.

I'm running a 7 tuner setup with 4 Xboxes around the house, but I can kind of see the issue. I'd hoped Ceton or somebody else would take up the core and build on it and modernize it, but I think it's a fringe platform due to the fact it's tied to a PC. And a PC that has to sit still, not a mobile laptop, which the market is moving to more and more.

An appliance might be more adoptable, but I'm not sure how you build a revenue stream that works. Tivo can't seem to do it, and seems to stay alive with patent lawsuits.

Anyone know if Apple has copies in their stores before they release? My birthday is November 3rd, but I'd like to actually see how one feels in my hands before I get one.

TheGameguru wrote:
On another note, I'm watching the live stream on my iPhone and frankly... I'm bored. These guys seem like they're phoning it in. In fact, if Apple TV is a real thing that Jobs was working on, after that releases there may in fact be a dearth of innovation at Apple for a long time. What do they do after they can't make their stuff thinner, lighter, faster, or more colorful?

I'm frankly dismayed that Microsoft and their Partners CAN't compete.. look at the AIO iMac.. it in theory couldnt do all the cool things you could do on a Windows 8 AIO.. but MS botches it.. CableCard and Windows 8 should be a huge selling point.. I would advertise how you can literally save $100 a month by ditching your cable co DVR's and HD boxes.. but MS doesnt develop it all the way and really tie in what you can do with a connected home.. The Xbox 360, Windows 8, and Cable Card would BLOW anything Apple has on the market right now.. but they Just CANT execute.

Uggh! Media Center + Extenders is a jewel that is being left to wither and die. Why Microsoft couldn't make this work is so so frustrating to me!

I'm probably getting a refurb iPad 3 "old gen" for now unless I can find it new somewhere at a low price. The only surprise to me about the Mini was including LTE at the lowest price point. I am going to be in NY though on Friday, but I'm not sure if the Minis will be in stores yet to play with.

Anyone catch a release date?

Edited for my stupidity. Wi-fi only is $329. I knew that didn't sound right.

So the iPad Mini looks too big to me. I think the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire are in the sweet spot. The iPad Mini looks too big to compete there. I know they had other considerations like making life easier on developers with the resolution, etc. but to me a device only slightly smaller than another big device is a non-starter.

Mr E.B. Slugworth wrote:

Anyone know if Apple has copies in their stores before they release? My birthday is November 3rd, but I'd like to actually see how one feels in my hands before I get one.

Nope. Not until release day.

ugh.. the 13" Retina Display has no dedicated GPU.. just the HD4000 on the Intel CPU.. blargh.. what a miss for $2K

PaladinTom wrote:

Yeah... I was also one of the "dopes" that also thought Windows Home Server was a great idea.

I love both my Win 7 HTPC (4 stream cablecard+2 OTA+1 ClearQAM tuner) and WHS (v1). And I don't see giving up either any time soon. However, I can see how they're not mass market things.

I guess that's all OT, though

TheGameguru wrote:

ugh.. the 13" Retina Display has no dedicated GPU.. just the HD4000 on the Intel CPU.. blargh.. what a miss for $2K

Yikes, I didn't notice that. That is just crazy, I can't believe that.

trueheart78 wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

ugh.. the 13" Retina Display has no dedicated GPU.. just the HD4000 on the Intel CPU.. blargh.. what a miss for $2K

Yikes, I didn't notice that. That is just crazy, I can't believe that.

That's really too bad. I would have upgraded both of my MacBooks for the potential to play games alone.

Just grabbed a refurb iPad 3 for $379. It was $449 last night! Whew...

I'm really not feeling the Mini right now and didn't want to wait until it hits stores. If things change, I can probably sell the iPad (should we call it Maxi now? ;-)) for a small profit.

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

MannishBoy wrote:

That's why I think it never took off and MS moved on to other ways they could do it and still monetize.

...I think it's a fringe platform due to the fact it's tied to a PC. And a PC that has to sit still, not a mobile laptop, which the market is moving to more and more.

Yeah... I was also one of the "dopes" that thought Windows Home Server was a great idea.

MannishBoy wrote:

An appliance might be more adoptable, but I'm not sure how you build a revenue stream that works. Tivo can't seem to do it, and seems to stay alive with patent lawsuits.

TiVo had the opportunity to do apps and failed. Roku still can't get YouTube on it's box. And Xbox and Google TV are so close it hurts. But watch, Apple's gonna swoop in "re-invent" tv and take credit for being the first - again.

DSGamer wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

ugh.. the 13" Retina Display has no dedicated GPU.. just the HD4000 on the Intel CPU.. blargh.. what a miss for $2K

Yikes, I didn't notice that. That is just crazy, I can't believe that.

That's really too bad. I would have upgraded both of my MacBooks for the potential to play games alone.

Apple just flat out doesnt give a rats ass about the game market... unless they can monetize it like they can on iOS

PaladinTom wrote:

Just grabbed a refurb iPad 3 for $379. It was $449 last night! Whew...

Was going to push my father-in-law onto the mini, but after finding out it's 1024 x 768 and knowing how crisp the 3 is, I'm going to see if he'll bite on that. Maybe I'll even chip in...

DSGamer wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

ugh.. the 13" Retina Display has no dedicated GPU.. just the HD4000 on the Intel CPU.. blargh.. what a miss for $2K

Yikes, I didn't notice that. That is just crazy, I can't believe that.

That's really too bad. I would have upgraded both of my MacBooks for the potential to play games alone.

Unless you're into iOS games on your MacBook you're never going to get a gaming machine.

SommerMatt wrote:

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

Annoyed enough to change your buying habits? You own an iPhone, MacBook and an iPad. They know you're not going anywhere. I know Malor gets hit on a lot for ranting about this but I am so afraid of these closed ecosystems because it makes it a lot easier for companies to be dicks to their customers because we are locked in. Once we start buying things from iTunes, Play, etc we are stuck unless we want to rebuy the same content. It's horrible.

SommerMatt wrote:

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

why? Tech is obsolete the moment you open the package.. you know that the next product is already in development. Your ipad in your hands doesnt suddenly stop working or is faced with the tiniest remote chance of not running some app in its usable lifetime.

Deep breadth.. your existing iPad is fine.

MannishBoy wrote:

Apple's really testing some of their most ardent supporters that always buy the latest/greatest versions this year. Quick iphone refresh cycle, quick ipad refresh, quick 13" macbook refresh, etc.

Being more stable with models was one of the things they've had over Android and Windows stuff, because they controlled it all vs a competitive environment of OEMs always one upping each other.

Not that people should always buy every model of something. But those that do will be spending a lot of money.

SommerMatt wrote:

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

TheGameguru wrote:
SommerMatt wrote:

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

why? Tech is obsolete the moment you open the package.. you know that the next product is already in development. Your ipad in your hands doesnt suddenly stop working or is faced with the tiniest remote chance of not running some app in its usable lifetime.

Deep breadth.. your existing iPad is fine.

I think what has people feeling "offended" is that they have certain expectations when it comes to Apple. Apple refreshes their product on a 12-18 month cycle and that is what they expect when they buy it. I think that, and I don't want to speak for SommerMatt, that if he would have known that the iPad 4 would have released 6 months after the iPad 3, he may have waited.

But, because there will be another iPad 5 next year it's not like he's going to be that hurt if he decides to upgrade.

To be fair:

- the iPad 3 is identical to what it was yesterday
- it's bound to be supported for ages because of the existence of the Mini and the iPad 2
- the iPad 3 always did seem like an interim product

Ulairi is kind of right about the lockin, though.

Trying to muster outrage... can't manage it... even an iota... nope, not there. Three-year-old iMac running Mountain Lion is still doing everything I want it to at the performance I expect. My iPad 3 is going to be just fine.

TheGameguru wrote:
SommerMatt wrote:

As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch, I feel really burned by this... what a load of crap. I was fully down with the idea that my iPad would be "replaced" in a year, and that was OK... but SIX f*ckING MONTHS? And it's being totally phased out? W. T. F?

Really, really annoyed.

why? Tech is obsolete the moment you open the package.. you know that the next product is already in development. Your ipad in your hands doesnt suddenly stop working or is faced with the tiniest remote chance of not running some app in its usable lifetime.

Deep breadth.. your existing iPad is fine.

Well said. I'm more than okay with staying a generation behind. If the tech works for you don't sweat it. I think back on what I spent on gaming rigs back in the day and how something that powerful today would be free in a box of cereal. iPad 3 has a quite a bit of life I think.

This would indeed be quite an expensive year if you are a hardcore gotta-catch-em-all fanboy. Did Apple just refresh almost it's entire inventory within a calendar year? Yikes.

Furthermore, I've just recently learned that Apple devices retain a LOT of re-sale value. I just sold my iPad 1 for $250. Also, for the price of my iPhone 4 ($200), I was able to get my wife and I two new 4Ss for the same price.

You can get well over $400 for a used iPad 3 right now.

I can sell my original iPad (1st gen) for around $200 and just ordered a refurb 16GB iPad 3rd gen for $379. I feel like I'm sitting in the sweet spot waiting so long between iterations. The original iPad is still great for most of the things I used it for.

Zelos wrote:

To be fair:

- the iPad 3 is identical to what it was yesterday

Agree.

- it's bound to be supported for ages because of the existence of the Mini and the iPad 2

Agree.

- the iPad 3 always did seem like an interim product

Disagree. The iPad 3 was never presented by Apple or in the press as an interim product, and this is honestly the first I've heard anyone suggest that it was one. It was presented as the new iPad. And people had an expectation, however irrational or unreasonable, that it wouldn't be replaced for another year, just like the other iOS products.

Rationally, tech products are obsolete as soon as you open the box, and you should never purchase something expecting it to have a longer shelf life. But irrationally, an official replacement for the iPad 3 devalues (even if only psychologically and not monetarily) the iPad 3 that was already on the market and available for purchase.

You know that thing people complain about where they buy a game and then it goes on sale? You got the same game; it works just as well as it did the day before; you should never buy something with the expectation that it'll stay at that price forever. But now you feel like if you'd just waited a little bit longer, you'd have been able to save yourself some money. Replace "save yourself some money" with "have the most up-to-date product available" and it's the exact same feeling.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

But now you feel like if you'd just waited a little bit longer, you'd have been able to save yourself some money. Replace "save yourself some money" with "have the most up-to-date product available" and it's the exact same feeling.

To further your analogy, it's more like the GOTY/Gold edition of a game shipping with all the DLC at the same price of the original release 6 months later.

Certis wrote:

I can sell my original iPad (1st gen) for around $200 and just ordered a refurb 16GB iPad 3rd gen for $379. I feel like I'm sitting in the sweet spot waiting so long between iterations. The original iPad is still great for most of the things I used it for.

*nods*. From what I've seen, you generally want to be on a 2-3 year upgrade cycle instead of an annual one. One, you get a larger performance boost out of each payment. Two, Apple seems to phase out support for the latest OS after two years. Three: profit?

- the iPad 3 always did seem like an interim product

Disagree. The iPad 3 was never presented by Apple or in the press as an interim product, and this is honestly the first I've heard anyone suggest that it was one.

You'd hardly expect Apple to say "don't buy this one, there's a new, better iPad on the way soon", would you

I don't claim to have predicted anything (go read the original iPad thread to see how bad I am at predicting Apple stuff), but to me the fact that the iPad 3 was thicker, heavier, got hotter and had the same CPU as the iPad 2 was enough to make me think that this perhaps wasn't the full 'new' iPad.

Zelos wrote:

You'd hardly expect Apple to say "don't buy this one, there's a new, better iPad on the way soon", would you ;-)

No, but neither do I remember any "common wisdom" that it was an interim product.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Zelos wrote:

You'd hardly expect Apple to say "don't buy this one, there's a new, better iPad on the way soon", would you ;-)

No, but neither do I remember any "common wisdom" that it was an interim product. :)

As someone who bought 2 iPad3s, I agree with ClockworkHouse.

I don't feel "slighted", because I've still gotten 6 months of joy out of my 3s, but seeing a faster chip come out so quickly does bum me out.

I'll still be hanging onto these two for the foreseeable future - I'm still rocking the now-old-school iPhone 4.

Any thoughts on the new iMacs? I'm way overdue for a Mac upgrade and the 21 inch iMacs are probably in my price range. The specs seem OK but dunno why they put in a 5400 rpm drive.