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It's pretty much a given that we're going to see a smaller, less
expensive "iPad mini" within the next two months - and I have to say
that I'm sick and tired of so many people calling it a 7" tablet.
The original iPad, iPad 2, and New
iPad all have a 9.7" display, and almost everyone calls it a 10"
tablet when they round off to whole numbers, not a 9" tablet.
Yet the
rumored 7.85" iPad mini is consistently called a 7" model - even though
7.85" is a lot closer to 8" than 9.7" is to 10".
I think it's a disingenuous ploy to have us compare the iPad mini
with 7" Android tablets, and to maybe in the back of our minds remind
us that Steve Jobs said 7" tablets are too small. And Steve Jobs should
know. You can be sure that Apple looked at a lot of different sizes
before settling on the 9.7" screen in the full-sized iPad.
Rumor has it the iPad mini will have all the same specs as the iPad
2, except for those regarding size and weight. Same 1024 x 768 screen
resolution. Same dual-core 1 GHz A5 processor. But at a rumored $299
price, it could spell the end for the entry-level iPad 2 - if not
immediately, then whenever the next revision of the Retina iPad is
introduced.
Apple is going to market the iPad mini as an 8" tablet, and they're
going to do comparisons to the Google Nexus 7 and other 7" Android
tablets, showing how smoothly iOS works on a 7.85" 1024 x 768 display
compared to the widescreen 1280 x 800 216 ppi Nexus screen, the 1024 x
600 169 ppi screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, and the same size and
resolution screen on the Kindle Fire.
I don't care how nice Android is or how wonderful open source is,
because people want to buy a known experience, and more tablet buyers
have been using iPhones than any other brand of smartphone. It's not
how many apps are available or Apple's "walled garden". It's
familiarity. And Apple wins there hands down.
Sure, a lot of people are using Android smartphones, but there are
so many different versions of Android available and so many different
hardware platforms that the same apps might not even work on an Android
phone and an Android tablet. That's the crazy world of Android.
With Apple, it's simple. It just works. Virtually any iPad app will
run on any iPad, although some might use hardware not in the original
iPad or iPad 2. Ditto for iPhone apps. And a lot of times the same app
is available for both iPhone and iPad - sometimes integrated into a
single version of the app, sometimes as dedicated versions for each
hardware platform.
The iPad mini is going to provide the full iPad experience at the
lowest price ever - but at 80% of the size of the iPad we're familiar
with. And that's going to help it take off in new markets, displacing
some ebook readers, taking a spot in classrooms, and going places where
the 10" iPad is just too bulky.
Others have already predicted that it will decimate the Android
tablet market, but that's only partially true. There will still be a
solid market for cheap, low-end Android tablets. You know, like the
7" Polaroid Internet Tablet that Kohl's recently had on sale for
$99 (or $119 or $139, but rarely its $179 list price) less whatever
current Kohl's discount coupon you happen to have. It's not a terrible
tablet for the money - only a single core 1 GHz ARM CPU, 800 x 480 low
res display, almost current Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and Micro
SD card slots, but no G3 wireless. (It's $109.99 plus shipping at
Amazon.com,
but if you play your sale prices and coupons right, you can beat that
at Kohl's. Or if you want really small, there's a 4.3" 600 MHz Polaroid
tablet with Android 2.2 for just $60 at Amazon.com.)
Who knows what kind of deals we'll see with back to school sales and
then Black Friday, but I think the sub-$150 Android market isn't really
going to feel much impact from the iPad mini. $199 tablets, on the
other hand, are going to have a hard go of things unless they can
provide something Apple doesn't, such as a quad-core CPU.
I really can't get excited about the big iPad, but the iPad mini
could entice me. And maybe after that, Apple will launch something in
the 6" range to replace all those GPS devices that need constant
updating to keep your maps current - often at a premium price from the
GPS maker.
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986,
sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and
has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Links for the Day
Mac of the Day: Power Mac 6100, introduced 1994.03.14. The entry-level first generation Power Mac had a 60 MHz PowerPC.
Yet the
rumored 7.85" iPad mini is consistently called a 7" model - even though
7.85" is a lot closer to 8" than 9.7" is to 10".