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Comment by jakewalker | Hacker News Reader

If Gruber is right, what Apple did with the Smart Covers is really remarkable. First, they'll get an extremely high attach rate, probably north of 75% or 80%, much of which is probably pure profit. Second, it may be enough of a feature to convince some iPad 1 owners to buy an iPad 2 (and a Smart Cover). What an absolutely shrewd design that is likely to lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and profit for Apple.

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Let's face it, if you buy a new tablet 11 months after your last one just because you like the new optional case better, you're just searching for ways to spend money.

Assuming we're talking about the base prices for both versions, I believe you could significantly subsidize the iPad 2 by selling your iPad. Sure, there's still extra money involved, but probably less than a quarter of the base price. It's less frivolous, and probably will be more common, than you make it sound.

Hard for me to believe that people will want to buy a used, out of warranty iPad with half the ram and half the cores of the new model for ~$100 less. In fact, the apple certified refurb with a new battery, shell and 1 year warranty is already $429.

Last week (when I posted mine for sale) Gazelle.com was offering $280 for a 32GB Wifi model with moderate wear and tear.

Would be interesting to know where it will end up and how much it will then be sold for in turn.

Apple hardware tends to retain its market value better than most consumer electronics. I've always offset the cost of new Macs by selling the previous one; typically I can still get at least half of the price back on a 3-year-old machine. A low-end iPad 1 seems to be settling to a market price of around $350.

More anecdotal data: a friend of mine would surely buy my iPad 1 off me for ~$200 or so. Considering I don't want 3G and 16 GB works fine for me, that leaves it at $300.

Uh, actually, I hadn't seriously contemplated this until now. Hmm. Come to think of it, the major hurdle is probably getting this scheme past my SO. :)

At that point you're just trading your time to save money like some dirty hippy linux user.

I bought an iPad 1 for $499. It would be hard to sell for more than the $350 that Apple is selling refurbs for, and I can buy a new one for $499. So that means $150 to use it for 11 months which seems rather excessive.

OTOH, I could have sold it last month for at least $400, which would be a much better deal but would mean I would have no iPad for one month.

OTOOH, if I keep the iPad 1 another year, it will probably still be sellable for $250, and that is $250 for 2 years of use which is not bad.

Seriously? Even if you sell your old one?

Pretty wild that apple came up with a case that truly would be the tipping point for some (maybe even myself) iPad 1 owners to make the switch. Try pitching that in your next product concept or product marketing meeting.

My 9 year old son, who is the main ipad user, watched the video of the smart cover and was like :-O then he said "we should get the brown one." to which I was like "we're buying an ipad2?" Anyway, brown looks amazing http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/ipadre... and I am trying to justify buying an ipad2 for "development" purposes. Got any app ideas?

Have you used those magnetic MacBook Pro power cables? Apple can bring something even smaller than a case and have it be the tipping point.

For all the shoppers who doesn't know what RAM or CPU is, the Smart Covers is probably the most important feature when deciding what tablet to buy: A feature that the competition cannot match at all and which is overlooked by all of the "feature list" comparisons.

As the new cover is only protecting the screen, wouldn't that lead to the back of the device to acquire the scratches usually associated with apple devices?

This might lower the resale value of the device which could be another reason for the design that Apple has chosen here.

Doesn't anyone like patina anymore? A scratched up aluminium back looks good as time goes on. Same with your leather briefcase as it wears in, or your cars seats.

"by spitfire 22 minutes ago"

Eponysterical, as they say on MetaFilter.

The iPad V1's back was very resilient to scratching. Not sure if the same is true of the V2. Ultimately any mobile device is going to get some dings. That's just how it goes.

Why can't someone just make a smart cover (sans the auto-on/off?) for the iPad 1?

Apple said they built the smart cover and the iPad 2 at the same time, so there is hardware in the iPad 2 that is required for the cover to work. Primarily, the magnets needed to have the cover attach.

The original iPad doesn't have anything on the left side for the magnets to grip onto.

You need the built-in magnet inside the ipad 2.

Why can't you use adhesive magnetic strips/tape on the outside of the iPad 1? Sure, it may be slightly unsightly, but it should be completely workable. Heck, the strip doesn't even have to be magnetic, it can be paramagnetic or such and just channel field between magnets on the cover hinge.

The downvotes you've gotten aren't fair but it's worth pointing out:

It's this kind of thinking (on the part of their competition) that lets Apple keep their head start for way, way longer than necessary.

The short answer: Because what you're proposing would be terrible.

Apple's money magnet is creating a sense of delight and surprise. You'd be mimicking the result, a snap on cover, without grasping the intent, which is to make you feel like a kid seeing magic. People don't want a cover. They want to be delighted by a cover.

At least, they do now, since Apple has shown them it is possible to feel this way.

It continually shocks me how few people grasp this.

Yay! Throw the iPad 1 in the trash for the iPad 2! Because the cover is blinged out with a magnet! On. the. inside! MAGNETS ARE MAGIC! Watch the magician make your money disappear into his pocket! Waste! Waste! Waste! This country is doomed.

No you just sell your iPad1 on eBay like everyone else. You'll get a decent fraction of your purchase price back.

I wonder if there are actually magnets inside the iPad, or just bits of metal the case magnets stick too?

It there _are_ magnets, I can see it getting annoying when the iPad starts collecting magnet-attracted crap.

This is a problem with magnetic tank bags on motorcycles, they pick up presumably iron/steel grit on the magnets, then you clip the magnets+grit onto your nicely glossy painted fuel tank, and scratch the crap out of it...

It just won't be the same. You can't make the iPad1 switch on / off automatically and there's no magnetic spots on the side where a cover can magically attach like on the iPad2.

This is exactly what happens when you control the ins and out from start to finish. You can come up with the craziest of the ideas and innovation and pull it off without a lot of resistance since some manufacture cannot make it for you!

InCase already did that, prior to the iPad2 announcement (just so you don't believe InCase stole Apple's idea). Rather it looks like Apple took InCases's idea and improved on it. Although in some ways, the InCase version seems better (using the strap to hold the iPad would be useful for a lot of work scenarios).

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/apple-ipad-2-smart-cover-...

the smart cover might be a insanely clever idea, but it is also insanely ugly and looks cheap.

What exactly makes it ugly for you? I'm not arguing against you but I'm interested in your reasons.

For me, I think what makes the smart covers ugly is seeing the sections of the cover divided up by the folding joints, not to mention the combination of colors and materials, except maybe the black leather, don't seem to lend itself well to the iPad's fantastic, slab look. I do still think the smart covers are insanely clever and useful though, and definitely worth the cost.

Enough to make me wish my wife's birthday wasn't in January, so that I wouldn't have bought her the original iPad before this was available.

cheap plastic and it looks like opening a tin can. i bet the whole thing dissolves after a year of usage. why didnt they build the ipad more in the way like the microsoft courier? this would be something that i would buy right away. it reminds me a little bit about the first ibook, this was looking like a girls' make-up case. sometimes apple's design is borderline.

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