This is not Steve's Apple

He may not like the mini's screen, but it's evident lots of people do. Generalisation rarely makes for good arguments.

As for Apple not compromising before Jobs died? Are you kidding? If Apple should be known for any particular modus operandi, it is precisely that they make compromises - but the right kind of compromise, which they believe will deliver the best product. Microsoft is much more likely to make no compromise, and therefore try to do everything at once.

The point Dave tries to make as far as I can tell, is that there principles that define a company (for example Wallmart defines itself as the cheapest source of things, Round Table Pizza as an 'honest' pizza). And when the company does something out of character from their perceived principles it makes one wonder.

His complaint is that the iPad Mini seems like it was there to address the 'portability' issue of the 10" iPad and yet it stepped backwards on the 'principles' of high density displays that Apple has so successfully leveraged since they first shipped one on the iPhone. The argument that they have 'cheapened' themselves to have a product bounded on either side (iPod touch, iPad 10") with high PPI displays.

Those kinds of moves can be disconcerting.

However that Apple will change as it ages should not be unexpected. Tim Cook is not Steve. Move on people, different doesn't have to be bad.

That said, it seems like Apple is moving to high PPI displays across the board so I would expect the mini to get one as soon as they are available in sufficient quantity.

Guess what Apple also did when Steve was alive? They sold an iPhone that didn't have a retina display, to large numbers whilst selling one with a retina display. Guess what Apple did when Steve was alive? They sold an iPod Mini that a lot of people thought was pointless as the storage space was so small.

Apple will happily sell a product that has trade offs because they believe in the product. I had a choice between buying an ipad 3 and an ipad 2, I quite happily picked the 2 and off I went, no regrets. The Retina displays are utterly fantastic but for a lot of people it's an optional extra. Apple isn't doomed because they've made a product with a feature you don't like, they're going to sell these hand over fist.

Postscript: I saw an iPad Mini in the flesh today, the display still looks fantastic unless I shove it all the way up to my eyeball and declare I can see the pixels. They're also selling second hand for an £80 markup. Seems consumers are still keen.

Apple had flops with Jobs around also. Stop assuming that he had the answer to every problem because he didn’t. Many of his predictions were way off (as it should, no one is God to know everything). Steve this and Steve that. Well the guy is dead, get over it.

Assuming that the market will devalue Apple to the point that would signal their demise is utter nonsense. Microsoft have had a decade of flops and they’re still alive and kicking. Apple will be around for many years to come and I’m sure they’ll be as innovative as we’ve come to expect them.

Here are the trade offs involved in the decision of whether or not to bring a retina screen to the iPad mini:

Weight vs retina

Volume vs retina

Battery life vs retina

Price vs retina

Weight, volume and battery life are all related and weight plus volume can also be traded off with reduced battery life.

Apple seems to believe that weight, volume and price are preferable to a retina screen. To me that sounds like a pretty reasonable trade off, especially given that one of the principal complaints about the iPad (and also mentioned in the article) is that it’s so damn heavy.

Here's the problem with that: Outside of geeks, the retina display matters a lot less than most of us would think. You'd be surprised at how many people can barely tell the difference between the two displays.

The high resolution display is simply not as an integral part of the experience as the author seems to think. The display is just a feature. Like disk space and RAM.

One can only hope that by 2050 this daily Steve-o-rama lament will be replaced by something slightly more interesting.

> "Steve's Apple never deigned to do something as crass as "competing."

The yearly iTunes connect shutdown for "winter holidays" looks crass enough and it should suffice.

Because Steve and me, see, we were like peas in a pod. He would have run this whole iPad Mini thing past me first.