Following the iPad mini launch on Tuesday evening, I penned Five reasons why the iPad mini will succeed, an entirely accurate – if a little one-sided – look at Apple’s diminutive tablet.
As a proudly objective journalist (as opposed to an Apple-loving blogger (shut it)), I’m obliged to present the other side of the story; the side that says: “Man, that iPad mini is the worst thing since the iPhone 5.” Or something.
Looking back at the aforementioned feature, one could actually take each of the five points and make an argument firmly in the opposite direction. Yeah, let’s do that.
Ready? Let's rock!
1. It’s Apple
As I was saying on Tuesday night in Apple: the stats, it’s not hard to understand why people hate Apple; the vomit inducing advertising (“If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have an iPhone”), the self-praising, the fact that seemingly no amount of screw-ups can tarnish their reputation, the claims that Samsung et al are ripping them off – as if Apple came along and invented bloomin’ phones in 2007. The list goes on.
Speaking of ripping people off, it’s funny that Apple has changed its tune about “tweener” tablets all of a sudden. Mind you, Tim Cook had something to say about that earlier: iPad mini > 7in tablets.
Oh, and I can’t believe I forgot to mention this at the time, but the iPhone 5 keynote ended with the Foo Fighters playing a short set, with “My Hero” dedicated to the Apple engineers. Cringe.
2. The price
Surprise, surprise; Apple product costs more than expected. Okay, so not everyone believed the Californians would stoop as low on price as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7, but £269 for those iPad mini specs? You’re ‘avin’ a laff, mate.
The 16GB Amazon Kindle Fire is £159, while the 16GB Google Nexus 7 is £199. Nuff said.
3. The apps
There’s no arguing that iOS beats Android when it comes to gaming, with exclusives like Infinity Blade and, er, Infinity Blade II.
But if you’re considering forking out £269 for an iPad mini primarily/largely as a portable gaming device, why not pick up a Nintendo 3DS for £135? – half the price of an iPad mini! Four games takes you up to £250ish. Indeed, I’m just glancing at Amazon here; I dare say there are better deals out there.
And the PS Vita recently received a much-needed price cut. You can grab one with Little Big Planet for under £200, I believe.
4. The timing
Ah, the timing. I’m more so thinking of the fourth generation iPad here, but if we can expect new iPads every six months instead of once a year – a) that’ll put a dent in the value pretty quick, and b) it won’t be long before your shiny new device is old news. Those sonsof…
5. The specs
Yes, the iPad mini has a larger display, which Apple reckons yields 35% more real estate, but the resolution is a disappointing 1024 x 768 (163 PPI). That’s barely half way to ‘Retina’.
The Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7, on the other hand, have higher resolutions (1280 x 800) on smaller displays (7in) yielding PPIs of 216.
And as Jan was saying the other day, we’d actually be interested in seeing a bigger iPad if anything. Bring on the 13in iPad maxi. Er, that name might need a little work, admittedly.
Conclusion
You know what? I actually stand by the points made in both features. Yes, the iPad mini will inevitably succeed, but that’s not to say it’s the best thing since sliced iPhone. Far from it.
