I wrote an article last week in my Digital Dynamic Blog
entitled, "It's
Crazy". I aimed it squarely at
this week's IPAD
launch and the media frenzy that accompanied it. Seems I was right as we were treated to an
avalanche of media attention and outlandish marketing sound bites. Of course Apple's CEO Tim Cook wrung a bit
more anticipation out of the crowd by first announcing the new 1080P Apple TV
box before getting to the star of the show.
The new IPAD which is curiously just called, IPAD
(not IPAD3 or IPAD HD) has the following specifications.
2048 x 1536 (3.1 million pixels) Retina display.
A5X processor, quad-core graphics
5 MP camera on the back
HD (1080p) video capture
Voice dictation (not SIRI by the way)
4G LTE capability For the IPAD LTE (73 mbps on LTE).
Wireless hotspot capability
10 hour battery life, 9 hours on 4G.
9.4mm thick, 1.4lbs.
Compatible mobile carriers;
Rogers, Telus and Bell in Canada, At&T and Verizon in the U.S.
Price Wi-Fi iPad: 16 GB ($499), 32 GB ($599), 64 GB ($699)
Price Wi-Fi + 4G: 16 GB ($629), 32 GB ($729), 64 GB ($829)
IPAD2 pricing will also drop by $100.
Availability: March 16th in the U.S. and Canada
During the event, Tim Cook boasted of
more IPAD sales in the 4th quarter of 2011 than any makers PC sales. That's a dubious statement considering most
people don't use tablets the same way they use a pc especially when there's
heavy lifting to be done. While
technically accurate, the statement holds no more distinction than asserting
that more paperclips were sold in the same quarter than the total number of
IPADS ever produced.
The advent of the tablet is a welcome utility for many but
just as your corner convenience store is not a threat to the supermarket the
tablet is no threat to the pc.
Unfortunately, Ultrabook pc makers feel it is leading at least one manufacturer, Acer
to aim for a $499 price point. This after
admitting they currently make no profit at the current $799 price. Considering a pc in any form factor will by
its very nature will have more functionality than a tablet it seems a pointless
goal. More so when you consider that the
top end of the IPAD food chain offers little more than a nice display and LTE
connectivity at a $829 price point.
Tablets have their place but limitations of storage, dependency on network connectivity for basic functionality and limited performance compared to even entry level PC's makes them more of a compliment than replacement for pc's. That also calls into question the Apple price premium especially if you don't normally utilize their ecosystem. Cooler heads suggest selecting devices based on your needs instead of marketing hype.
Tablets have their place but limitations of storage, dependency on network connectivity for basic functionality and limited performance compared to even entry level PC's makes them more of a compliment than replacement for pc's. That also calls into question the Apple price premium especially if you don't normally utilize their ecosystem. Cooler heads suggest selecting devices based on your needs instead of marketing hype.
Insert Apple product here. Doesn't matter I could write this for any Apple launch..:-)
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