Apple: iPad Will Beat Netbooks With "Magic"

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It has been at least a week since anyone at Apple said anything crazy so I guess I should have been expecting this.

No, Cook said the iPad's magical properties will seal the deal. "The netbook is not an experience people are going to continue wanting to have," Cook said, according to Macworld. "When they play with the iPad and experience the magic of using it ... I have a hard time believing they're going to go for a netbook."
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Oooh! Do I get a shiny unicorn out of it too? Will the shiny unicorn shit rainbows? Really? Wow! I'll take 2, please.
 
From a different article:
In research note released this morning, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky shares the results of a ChangeWave survey of over 3,200 respondents earlier this month revealing pent-up demand for Apple's forthcoming iPad, with demand even exceeding that for the original iPhone in 2007. According to the survey, 13% of respondents are either somewhat or very likely to purchase an iPad, compared to only 9% in a similar survey conducted prior to the launch of the original iPhone.
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This is totally, shockingly crazy. The iPad's pretty cool and all (though not that cool), but more demand than the iPhone? Really!?
 
I bet I can find 10 "magical" things that my netbook will do that the iPad won't.
 
They can have their magic, I'll keey my keyboard, HDMI port, SDHC reader, BT connection to my existing data plan, SSD, etc. etc.

Question: Why are they even pretending the iPad is gonna be competing w/netbooks? It costs 40-50% more than any netbook! It's gonna be competing with full-fledged CULV C2D laptops... :rolleyes: At 'least until Win7-based tablets evolve a lil' bit more and get cheaper.
 
phide said:
From a different article:

This is totally, shockingly crazy. The iPad's pretty cool and all (though not that cool), but more demand than the iPhone? Really!?
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It's just a poll gauging the oblivious excitement of people pulled out of the street, as far as I can tell... Before the iPhone launched it was still very much of a dark horse, a lot of people weren't expecting it to be the catalyst it has been on the smartphone market ('specially the average consumer).
 
The thing is.. this statement is absolutely true. People said the same negative things about the iPhone.

"Too expensive"
"Already have same functionality with my current inaccessible plastic crap device."
etc. etc.

.. and then the average consumer got their hands on the iPhone and went nuts over it.

I was playing Plants vs Zombies on my iPhone the other night and it was such a joy, picking up and planting the seeds with my fingers. Feeling the phone vibrate when a zombie stood on a potato mine. That same tactility is going to sell the iPad by the bucketload. It's going to be a runaway success, just like the phone and the hardware critics will be all in a tiz again because they just 'don't get it'.
 
Finkus said:
The thing is.. this statement is absolutely true. People said the same negative things about the iPhone.

"Too expensive"
"Already have same functionality with my current inaccessible plastic crap device."
etc. etc.

.. and then the average consumer got their hands on the iPhone and went nuts over it.

I was playing Plants vs Zombies on my iPhone the other night and it was such a joy, picking up and planting the seeds with my fingers. Feeling the phone vibrate when a zombie stood on a potato mine. That same tactility is going to sell the iPad by the bucketload. It's going to be a runaway success, just like the phone and the hardware critics will be all in a tiz again because they just 'don't get it'.
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I don't know about you but I saw plenty of tech journalists and enthusiasts that were quite excited when they finally got their hands on an iPhone... Not so with the iPad, since it's literally just a really big iPod. I'm not denying that it won't be a success, the question is really how much of a success it'll be... Personally I think it's priced to high to reach mass market appeal, it's not like you need a 3rd couch-destined device like you need a phone or a laptop, but Apple could easily address that a year from now w/a price cut (Win7 tablets will probably still be hovering at $800 by then, at best).

The key difference is the iPad is vying to create a new market, while the iPhone was vying to take over an existing market. It's a huge difference imo. The iPad obviously falls short as a device that fulfills the true tablet's promise, but the average consumer may not care about that...
 
I don't know about you, but you must've been reading some sidestream tech journalism. Most people were sure the Iphone would fail before it came out.
Whaa its too expensive
Whaa I have to have a contract and pay for the phone
Whaa I only have one service option,
etc.

With that said I still dont believe the Ipad will be as big of a splash as Apple wants. This thing is just too big to be practical
 
I'd hate to be the janitor at the apple offices..... its got to be messy with everyone shitting rainbows constantly, having to vaccuum magic fairy dust out of the carpets, don't even get me started at the mess the unicorns make in the parking lot.
 
It's magic because it keeps growing and getting bigger, the next step in it's evolution is the iScreen, where you can watch your favorite movies on 1920x1080 .... anywhere! The large screen will be fold-able and transported in your iSuitcase.
 
My iPhone hauling friend is thoroughly convinced that the iPad, and tablets in general, will completely displace cell phones and home PC's.

Oy.
 
Impulse said:
The key difference is the iPad is vying to create a new market, while the iPhone was vying to take over an existing market. It's a huge difference imo. The iPad obviously falls short as a device that fulfills the true tablet's promise, but the average consumer may not care about that...
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I think the iPad will become the go to device for most people's home needs. I reckon it will replace home computers for many people's parents. I know I would buy it for my parents if they needed internet and email access at home, over a space consuming desktop or an expensive and unnecessary laptop. My parent's are total technophobes but they went nuts over the iPhone purely because it was so accessible. The iPad is the same thing really only with a screen big enough that parent's can actually read without going blind.
 
krupted said:
thats the only catch. if it were $150, shit i would buy one. it could be a kick ass digital photo frame at least.
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I think even at $300 or $350 it would sell like nobody's business... At that point it would actually be priced like a netbook and Steve's Jobs anti-netbook campaign would start to make some sense.

A lot of people would still need a netbook or an actual laptop, but for people whom a netbook is a 2nd or even 3rd system an iPad would make a lot of sense even if it sacrifices some functionality. At $500+ it's a tough sell tho... 'Specially in this climate. I don't think it would even cannibalize the sales of iPods since the iPod it still far more portable, they might just have to tweak the way they price larger capacity versions of each (e.g. the $300 iPod would have to pack more GB than the $350 iPad, etc.).

What they're doing makes sense from a business standpoint tho, whether they're overcharging a lot for it or not... This kind of device doesn't have much competition right now, so even if sales are lukewarm for 10 months who cares, it's an experiment either way, they can just slash the price later and start moving 'em. The iPhone's pricing was much more of a gamble.
 
Finkus said:
I think the iPad will become the go to device for most people's home needs. I reckon it will replace home computers for many people's parents. I know I would buy it for my parents if they needed internet and email access at home, over a space consuming desktop or an expensive and unnecessary laptop. My parent's are total technophobes but they went nuts over the iPhone purely because it was so accessible. The iPad is the same thing really only with a screen big enough that parent's can actually read without going blind.
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Until they ask you how they can print a photo from it, or upload the photos of their digital camera to it, etc etc. It's far to limited to be the primary system for anyone imo, even neophytes. Unless you completely buy into Apple's vision of everything. /shrgu
 
badcaps said:
ITT was mostly just try to impress each other with our cynical smartassery.
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we* and I wasn't done typing o_O

The iPad will do fine. The "Magic" is of course the childlike speak & spell interaction with the software. I don't see it killing the Netbook any more than the Netbook killed the 13" laptop.
 
Impulse said:
Until they ask you how they can print a photo from it, or upload the photos of their digital camera to it, etc etc. It's far to limited to be the primary system for anyone imo, even neophytes. Unless you completely buy into Apple's vision of everything. /shrgu
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Yeah, or use Flash video or simply type. Not everyone loves typing on a touch screen for long.

As for people predicting the flop of the iPhone, I wasn't one of those people. The cell phone market was well established before the iPhone. Hell, even the MP3 player market was actually established though Apple did something unique on the service side with iTunes.

The tablet computer? FAR from an established market. So will the iPad do ok? I'm sure it will especially after Apple gets all the early adopters to spend $500 plus on one of these things and then drops the price $100.
 
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