[Macworld]

Post your comments for The Macalope Weekly: So much better than Apple here

[ingus]

128 GB is a good thing. $800-$929 puts it in dubious territory. There are many more options at (or near) that price. In their own words, Apple admittedly had to make the "hard choices" (i.e. compromises) in designing the iPad. But if someone is going to spend $800 on a tablet, they might, just might, reconsider their reasons for a tablet. We're in decent laptop territory. On the other hand, I wouldn't spend $1000 on a Surface Pro either. That's the machine that should cost $800 (or less).

Clearly, I'm thinking like a consumer. An army of one! But if I could dream, the existing 32 GB models, with a memory card slot, in the $500-$600 range would be reasonable from a hardware perspective.

This post has been edited by ingus: 02 February 2013 - 08:13 AM

[leicaman]

I guess they missed the memo about Apple selling more smartphones than Samsung last quarter?

[GTWilson]

I find it fascinating that a simple, iterative update to an Apple product can spawn such a cavalcade of pundit stupidity.

As for the Surface, it is a silly product - Period. It's a laptop pretending to be a tablet pretending to be a laptop with an tablet OS pretending to be a desktop OS pretending to be a tablet OS. That is was developed in a vacuum and kept insulated from critical thinking is no surprise.

[vertigo35]

Quote

I guess they missed the memo about Apple selling more smartphones than Samsung last quarter?

See today's MacWorld article.

[Kennethfcooper]

"What’s stupid is the thought process that leads someone to ask the question."
I think that the thought process is to place a question, to which you have no answer, in the headline in hopes that it will attract readers.
Look, no one can predict how Apple will fare. That would be predicting the future. We are notoriously bad at that. The best we can do is come up with some possible scenerios. If we pick enough scenarios the odds go up that one of them will be correct.
I understand the negativity about Apple. It is simply that it is difficult to believe that Apple can continue to do as spectacularly as they have in the past. I saw the same phenomenon in the Silicon Valley housing market. I bought my first house in 1977 and it soon doubled in value. People said, "this can't continue." Then it doubled again, and again, and again. Then it paused for the last ten years. So, those people were correct, eventually.
In the same way, Apple cannot continue to transform markets until it has transformed them all. How many more can it transform? The answer is zero up to a number so high that few of us would be willing to stake money on. If I knew the answer, I wouldn't tell you, I would use the information to visit my broker.

[Diesel50]

Quote

128 GB is a good thing. $800-$929 puts it in dubious territory. There are many more options at (or near) that price. In their own words, Apple admittedly had to make the "hard choices" (i.e. compromises) in designing the iPad. But if someone is going to spend $800 on a tablet, they might, just might, reconsider their reasons for a tablet. We're in decent laptop territory. On the other hand, I wouldn't spend $1000 on a Surface Pro either. That's the machine that should cost $800 (or less). Clearly, I'm thinking like a consumer. An army of one! But if I could dream, the existing 32 GB models, with a memory card slot, in the $500-$600 range would be reasonable from a hardware perspective.

I think choice is a good thing, there are some people out there who dont want laptop, but want a pad and want the extra memory, and knowing apple they will probably eventually do away with the 16 gig version and offer just the 32, 64, 128 at the same price points they do now for 16, 32 and 64. I am with you though i would probably opt for the Macbook Air instead. As for the pos surface pro, at that 900 dollar price point you get 23 gigs of useable memory with the 64 gig version and with the key board cover its another 100 making it 1000. To get any real use you need the 128 gig version with 83 gig of useable memory and the 100 keyboard cover at 1100. From the honest reviews i have read at ars technica and elsewhere you might as well forget any gaming as it wont play full blow windows games worth a squat. On top of that none of the desktop apps are made to fit the resolution of the surface and poor user interface of windows 8 makes it a stupid purchase in my opinion.
I would opt for the macbook air 13.3 which does have a full backlight keyboard, 128 gig flash hard drive and is a full blown computer with a better and faster processor which right now on amazon is 1099. No brainer. Or a macbook Pro Regular with 500 gig hard drive for the same 1099.

[ingus]

Good choice.

This is why the Surface Pro blew it. On the Windows side of the aisle, there are more options. The dual core Atom (still faster than ARM) Samsung Ativ 500 can be bought for $600-$650. Granted, it's on 64 GB, but it takes a microSD card. It runs the full gamut of desktop software, as well as Metro. Resolution scales fine. It also comes with a digitizing pen. A custom keyboard dock is about $120, which adds extra USB, but no added power (that's where Sammy blew it).

Or for $999 the Lenovo Yoga is a 13 inch, i5, with 128 GB SSD.

None of these machines are for serious PC gaming, but either is the iPad. Bottom line, to both our points, $800 for an ARM tablet? To each their own tough.

This post has been edited by ingus: 02 February 2013 - 01:01 PM

[Rhywun]

> Wait, so is “fanboy love” now a good thing?

Sure, when it's spelled with a "y".

[funcolletorstoo]

Simulacrum... this word has come to mean something which is like something else but only in a vague way. A dim simulacrum is a bit overkill... but I am impressed as heck that the horned one has used such a word in an honest to goodness sentence. Way to go!

[davidlfoster]

The world is far more bizarre than we can imagine. That used to be a phrase to describe quantum mechanics, but aptly captures the state of punditry in the mobile and computer tech world today. The Macalope has struck an endless vein of pure gold that he can literally mine forever. Many of his frequent targets have replaced the comics when I seek a good belly laugh. What I can't imagine is that these fools actually make money writing their mindless drivel. Compare the revenue and profits of Google and Amazon to Apple. Apple doomed, on their way out. Get real. Of course, Apple faces increased competition. That is a good thing for all of us. It means lower pricing and more innovation. That might squeeze margins, but it doesn't mean Apple is in decline. Supply issues hurt them a bit in the last quarter - guess what? - when you are on the cutting edge, supply issues jump up and bite you from time to time. When you are shipping tens of millions of iOS devices (what - 10 per second!), how can you avoid it? The only shameful aspect of Apple's performance is their Mac Pro line. Their performance with the Mac Pro is simply pathetic and worthy of any and all derision it deserves. I bet even the Macalope could skewer Apple on that one - just not this week, OK?

[quakerotis]

Is Apple going to make me buy an iPad 128?

I heard that they were going door-to-door to foist this menace on an unsuspecting public.

I sure hope those dirty commies don't pull a fast one on me.

My 64k 'outer is just fine for me. Bill Gates said so.

[Sigivald]

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But if someone is going to spend $800 on a tablet, they might, just might, reconsider their reasons for a tablet. We're in decent laptop territory.

They might, and depending on who they are, that might be an excellent decision for them.

But on the other hand, since getting my 64GB iPad 2 I have barely touched my 128GB MacBook Air (2010, 11").

So I would totally get a 128gb iPadNext, come Fall.

[Sigivald]

(Contra ingus above, remember that the $800 Surface Pro is an Intel non-ARM CPU.

It's the RT that's ARM, and the RT starts at $500.)