Why everyone loves the iPad mini (even though the screen sucks)
thetechblock.com
thetechblock.com
I'm sorry for being so sarcastic, but after all the articles about how Apple "brilliantly" picked all those perfect sizes and screen ratios (iPhone 5 now switching to 16:9, anyone?), that have also topped HN, it's hard not to pick on this and call out the hypocrisy. In fact, I feel it's my duty to point this out. If even one person comes to the realization that Apple is not as perfect as the media makes them out to be, then I'll be happy.
The Nexus 7 and the iPad Mini are tablets, not phones, both are uncomfortable in one hand and not big enough to be productive on them, unless a 10" tablet is too big for you I wouldn't even look at them.
Phone wise: smaller is better. I prefer the 4S screen size to the 5. Galaxy Note and huge Android devices are laughable from my point of view.
If you're going to criticise someone for making blanket statements, I wouldn't then immediately follow it up with a series of blanket statements.
My statements came as an individual Apple user which casually just disagreed with OPs, I don't think I'm alone there but it really doesn't matter.
FWIW, I think that extra inch of screen size does make a difference. On the other hand, I'd still like the Mini a lot if the physical size was exactly the same as the Nexus 7, and I like my Nexus 7 fine too. The biggest reason why I'd choose the Mini over the Nexus, other than ecosystem, is weight -- the Mini is lighter by 30 grams or so. Screen size isn't a huge deal, just a minor advantage.
They always try to justify the decisions of the great leader.
>because in my mind the bigger display size is actually a disadvantage
That's your opinion. The other opinion held is that, by the majority of consumers, the iPad 10" is more desirable than the iPad mini.
You're giving some kind of ridiculous argument which misses the point. Average people don't like PCs and 7" screens are still too small otherwise the Nexus 7, or other 7" tablets would be more popular.
That's not to say there aren't use cases for a smaller screen but the public at large doesn't care about how fast they can type.
Companies today will adapt more quickly to making their employees happy than being efficient.
As an aside, the size aspect/ratio concern is totally valid. My wife loves her iPhone 5, but lamented, unprompted, that she can't reach the whole screen one handed. The online intelligentsia are shockingly myopic on this issue. I'd bet something like a quarter of iPhone customers are teenage girls--4.7" phones designed for guys with big man paws are not the right design choice for Apple's demographics.
Stylus No. I have 3 co workers who have Galaxy Notes (or Note II) and none of them use the stylus while I've seen them. They all say it's nice, but none admit to it being key or even useful.
There is no killer app for the stylus, when an onscreen-keyboard or finger would do just as well. Even finger-based signatures are pretty easy with modern smartphones' capacative touchscreens.
The only thing a stylus allows is for UI elements and hit areas to be smaller - and not many folks (other than Win8 geeks it seems) are clamoring for that on their smartphone or tablet. In fact, I know folks who run iPhone apps on their iPad because the hit area is 4x larger and much more easy to operate.
The letters are composed into blocks describing syllables, rather than strings describing words as in Latin alphabets, but entering letters on the keyboard is the same.
Might help with Japanese but I can't really speak about that.
Edit: People ask: "is that the mini?". I avoid being a jerk about it and just say "It's the google one. One of the Nexus products. The mini wasn't out when I bought this but I really like it. etc etc"
It's 2 years old and it seems to run all modern games at full speed, no problem at all, Minecraft, etc. When playing a game, it would be easy to mistake it for a mini.
It's true that the retina displays aren't disruptive. It's not like I can't fully enjoy our current games and apps without a retina display, so it's just one of those "that would be nice" kind of features.
As far as processor speed is concerned. Again, my 2 year old device runs most modern games and apps at what appears to be full speed. I have no lag, no choppiness, no problem. So why would I need something faster?
I feel like Apple is about to hit the same brick wall PC's have been faced with for years. From a developer's perspective, they have already entered the chaotic realm of fragmentation and backwards compatibility issues, and it's messy.
Things will be changing for Apple. Where they do they go from here?
I now own the iPad Mini and up until a week ago I also owned the Nexus 7. The build quality, weight, and battery life of the iPad Mini beats the Nexus 7 hands down. The frame of my Nexus 7 would "creak" along the edge if you put pressure on it.
The Nexus 7 was my first Android device and despite claims that Jelly Bean had finally fixed the platform's major performance issues, I still felt noticeable lag in certain situations when scrolling or paging to different home screens. It wasn't a major issue but I still feel like Android could make some improvements in this regard.
I also felt that the quality and polish of the major apps that I use was better on the iOS platform (with a couple exceptions such as the HTPC remote app on Android that was amazing).
The main thing that I miss from my Nexus 7 is the combination of Voice Actions and the Android Intents system. It felt like a magical moment when I would tell my Nexus 7 to "play some music by Nine Inch Nails" and it would launch Spotify automatically and play the requested music. It kind of blew my mind that I could simply ask this device to play music by almost any artist in the world and it would start playing immediately.
I can find 32g Nexus 7 tablets at most office supply stores and the like, the few that don't carry Nexus usually carry Kindle.
So where are they at? I can go to Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart, or even an Apple store, for all things iPad but finding the Android tablets is...
In other words, smaller Android tablets forced nothing, unless your counting Kindle Fire's as androids. You can barely find them; I live in Atlanta and looked; but I can certainly find Apple products.
But seriously, I held a Mini yesterday. As an iPad3 owner I can say I'd trade my retina and larger screen for the weight of the Mini any day. The weight of the 3 is really difficult to hold for long periods of time.
Of course, I'd highly prefer a full-sized iPad that was as light as the Mini (or "proportionally light", like the iPhone5 vs 4). I'm not sure if battery technology will improve quickly enough to make that happen in the near term.
I have to say I've never really understood this complaint. Do people use iPads standing up or something? I have the iPad in my lap or on my chest if reading in bed. The amount of time I spend using it while I have to hold it unsupported is minimal.
The iPad 3&4 weigh about the same as a large hardcover book. Do people find the weight of hardcover books difficult to hold for long periods of time? The Hobbit is about 1.2 pounds, the iPad 4 is about 1.44 pounds. Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is about twice the weight of The Hobbit.
Not much, because it's too heavy to use standing up. Or rather, in the usual stand-up use cases (e.g., on a bus, boat, or train) you usually want to one-hand the device, and its weight prevents you from doing so.
> "The amount of time I spend using it while I have to hold it unsupported is minimal."
Is that because tablets naturally don't have "unsupported" use cases, or because the current implementation fulfills said use cases poorly, and therefore you don't use them that way?
> "Do people find the weight of hardcover books difficult to hold for long periods of time?"
While standing or one-handing it? Yes.
> "Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is about twice the weight of The Hobbit."
And how many times have you seen someone reading a book that size on the subway/bus/ferry? ;)
>And how many times have you seen someone reading a book that size on the subway/bus/ferry? ;)
Good point. You may have convinced me.
If I'm playing a game I often have to hold it in my hands. Maybe I'm just a sissy-pants programmer with soft hands, but it gets annoying to hold it after a while.
The Kindle and iPhone are the only devices that I use in bed. The problem with the iPad is that I have kids and it needs armor - increasing the weight significantly. I really don't care if my $130 Kindle gets dropped/thrown (it has, and it creaks now).
Hardcover books have a much better weight distribution than any tablet/ereader, and yes, I prefer paperbacks for bedtime reading over hardbacks.
I know some people will inevitable go "you can SEE the pixels, right there, there's a pixel", and that's fine for them. But it's a bit like audiophile headphones, one person can pick up an extra set of dulcet tones but for that guy over there? He doesn't care too much, he likes the other one that's technically not as good but suits him more.
Then I pulled out my old nexus one to compare how crappy it would look now. As it turned out I could not tell a difference. the 800x480 screen already is dense enough for me to not see any pixels.
Confirmation bias is a bitch.
Edit: Typo fixing and capitalisation.
If you stare at a phone/tablet in the store for long enough you can find any number of flaws in it. When you actually use the thing day to day to read e-mail and navigate your way around a city it doesn't matter one jot.
Society's problems, from Louis C.K.'s POV, is that everyone expects everything to be faster and they always expect to be amazed. As we all know, that occurs very rarely in technology.
Another analogy is sometimes when eating at our dining room, whoever had cooked will forget to turn off the kitchen fan. It's not really that noticable. However, when one of us eventually remembers during dinner and goes and turns it off , all the sudden it feels much nicer.
Since I reach for my MBA13 as frequently (more like 4x as often) as iPad when both are sitting in front of me, I don't think I'd be that likely to go for the mini vs. iPad at home or where I had both devices.
It seems like it makes sense for females with purses, maybe people wearing coats with big and not huge pockets, and very small people (kids, etc.) for whom the weight of an iPad is too much.
I actually have cargo pants which will fit an iPad 1 in the cargo pocket (barely). I used that a lot on military bases where you weren't allowed to take a bag into the cafeteria (for fear of bombs).
I wasn't unhappy with standard definition, but I ended up watching more and more HD over time.
Now, when I watch SD, I notice it - not enough to put me off, but enough that it's ever-so slightly annoying.
We may not see a Retina Mini next year, because of supply issues with components, but not because Apple doesn't think it's important. Apple, unlike Microsoft (cough Surface RT cough), realizes how important the display is.
The 7" screen is too small. The text is not crisp. The colors are bland.
My devices: iPad (3rd gen) iPhone 4S Nexus 7
There are just too many people, like myself, who look at the retina display and wonder why the heck I'd pay more for the smaller pixels. It's just not important to way to many people to be considered disruptive.
But the Nexus 7 wins one use case: fitting in pant packets. They both fit in some pant pockets, they both don't fit in others. The difference is the Nexus 7 fits in a lot more pant pockets than the iPad mini does.
That use case probably doesn't outweigh the "does it have the games I want" question, though...
People with big hands can hold the Nexus 7 in what I will call the "beer-can grip". The mini's extra half inch or so of width makes the beer-can grip a lot less comfortable or a lot less reliable (secure).
Thanks for the correction.