9 ms·

Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Even Througher

123 points by raganesh 14y ago

twoodfin 14y ago
I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. On the content: Right on. I will definitely be surprised if the words "thinner" and "lighter" do not feature prominently in Apple's keynote, both vs. the Retina iPad and the Google/Amazon competition.
- tambourine_man 14y ago
  I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. My thoughts exactly. His recent talk with Siracusa must have helped. [edit] From the show, 1h24m23s: “You haven't done one of those in a while where you do like screen shots and stuff, you used to do that more…” He also changed his favicon soon after Siracusa remarked that it wasn't retina ready, so he probably listens him. http://daringfireball.net/graphics/favicon.ico?v=005 http://daringfireball.net/graphics/favicon.ico?v=005
  - thomasjoulin 14y ago
    That, and the hints that he is interested in doing Siracusa-style iOS reviews. I love long form pieces by Gruber, but if it's also inspired by the great detailled reviews of Siracusa, I think it will be awesome.
  - recoiledsnake 14y ago
    He still manages to come up with gems like this: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polis... He and Siegler come off as partisan hacks and nothing else. Hence mostly only Apple fans seem to think he writes great. I do not know why they have to hate other competing platforms so immensely to love Apple.
    - shinratdr 14y ago
      Even outside impartial observers see the Nokia situation just getting worse and worse, and Windows Phone doing absolutely nothing to pull them out of the hole they're in. I appreciate Gruber because he's unapologetic about something like that. We can dance around it forever, but judging by sales and in-the-wild presence of WP7, that briefly if crudely summarizes the Lumia & WP7 ecosystem to date. Doing this stupid old world stuff like distributing nail polish that matches your phone isn't distracting anyone from the increasingly untenable situation Nokia is sliding into right now. Moreover, moves like that make it seem like they're treating their situation flippantly. It's not about "hate", it's about not candy coating things to appease certain groups. We heard for the last two years about how beautiful and fast and revolutionary WP7 is and how nice the Lumia hardware looks. Now it's time to put up or shut up and they just haven't. That's a fact, and I don't see why someone should have to ignore that and paint a happy face on the situation to not be considered a "hack". Moreover, I don't think you can extrapolate from that that Gruber hates Nokia, the Lumia or WP7. It's just a snarky observation. If your issue is with the joke itself, I'll give you that. It wasn't all that funny or anything. I also agree he's a much better writer when in long form, and his snark does get over the top. I see where he's coming from here though.
      - cooldeal 14y ago
        See, even you managed to write many more words than him. It's not just that one post linked which is bad, it's a whole series of posts especially about Google and Android full of smugness, snark and sneering designed for his target audience, Apple fans and apparently, Google haters. It's like some of his posts are inside jokes at a fraternity club, and frankly are of that quality. It's tabloid journalism and nothing else, frankly. You think any article by someone calling Ping a brown piece of shit would ever be featured on HN? Hell, even Paul Thurott's Winsupersite is hellbanned on HN.
    - ghshephard 14y ago
      It took me a few reads before I realized he was making a meta-joke about the (brown) Zune, another product that was strong on fundamentals - but just never got traction. Gruber has made it clear he likes what Microsoft is trying to do with the WP7, and he has positively reviewed some of the Lumia devices. Agreed, he's partisan, but he's a witty partisan, which is why I still read him, while many of the other apple bloggers, like Dalrymple, who has good sources, just seems to frequently come off as just being mean without the cleverness.
  - alphang 14y ago
    He also expressed a slight desire to adjust his focus, in a post from earlier this year - http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/25/three-things http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/25/three-things Slightly off topic: The Atlantic had an article yesterday about DF's 10th anniversary (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/08/happy-10th-birthday-daring-fireball/261061/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/08/happy-10...), and it had this bit of astute criticism: The past year, DF hasn't been as enjoyable as its been in the past. Apple, Gruber's Beatrice, is engorged as a company, and seems now to be veering from interestingly complex to dully complicated. [...] But, in light of that victory, his renegade confidence has become an assured superiority. He hasn't written, for a long time, an engaging description of a laptop or an account of an anthropomorphized interface element. To which Jason Kottke agreed: http://kottke.org/12/08/an-appreciation-of-10-years-of-daring-fireball http://kottke.org/12/08/an-appreciation-of-10-years-of-darin... So perhaps Gruber is consciously responding to these critiques and upping his game - which is nice, because this post was a great read.
- alanfalcon 14y ago
  When "The Tablet" piece came out, I was sold on Gruber's ability to really analyze Apple and think through details in an informational and insightful way. I was impressed enough that I sought out and read some of his much earlier long-form essays, mostly about the nascent days of OS X. He's always had this in him, but I agree the snark has been pushed way too far over the course of recent years to the detriment of the blog.
  - rahoulb 14y ago
    This is probably my favourite DF piece http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/the_problems_with_click-through http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/the_problems_with_click-th... - the fact that it's from 2003 is telling and I'd like to see him do more like this.
- SquareWheel 14y ago
  Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. The snark is why I had to stop reading Gruber. He's a great blogger, but his attitude made me have to walk away every few articles and just take a breather. It's not an endearing trait.
  - skue 14y ago
    I've had the same reaction and gone for long periods without reading Gruber for this reason. I do agree that he has toned down - far fewer jackass awards (which always seemed unnecessarily petty). I wonder if some of his gentler tone has to do with Apple's success. It's easier to be gracious when you feel you are on a winning/popular side, and there are certainly fewer reasons for Apple users/fans to feel persecuted by misinformed pundits nowadays. What's funny is how Apple whose very core has always been counter cultural has now become mainstream, and Android has become the new counter cultural reaction (even though Android is just as much the product of large corporations and not exactly the product of a new youthful startup). Samsung's marketing team has certainly been effective at reminding us that the hipster crowd is aging - and becoming less cool. Apple itself needs to decide whether it wants to become a mature company or somehow hold onto that more youthful "stay hungry, stay foolish" mantra.
    - huggyface 14y ago
      I wonder if some of his gentler tone has to do with Apple's success. It's easier to be gracious when you feel you are on a winning/popular side, and there are certainly fewer reasons for Apple users/fans to feel persecuted by misinformed pundits nowadays. I would observe that it has been exactly the opposite -- it was at the height of Apple's success, during the period when they essentially owned the market, that Gruber got that obnoxious swagger and ill suited confidence. With Apple becoming a player instead of the player, Gruber seems to be maintaining relevance by removing the attitude, to very good effect.
newman314 14y ago
Um, I think it's supposed to be "more thoroughly". Just saying.
- shinratdr 14y ago
  That's if you're trying to say thorough, which he wasn't. He was saying through. Different, although similar words. This post is a direct continuation, picking up where the Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Through post left off. It's "Through-er" both as a joke and to make it perfectly clear it's a sequel to the previous post. Thoroughly would imply something different, like he wasn't really thinking about carefully it in the first post. That isn't his intent. It's not supposed to supersede the other article, it's just "more".
  - rahoulb 14y ago
    When I read it I also immediately thought of Apple's "funnest iPod yet" line: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/09/09/funnest http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/09/09/funnest
jonknee 14y ago
As a Kindle Fire owner I have to say the form factor of tablets this size is great. I just wish there was a better fix to the resolution issues. Limiting to low PPI for app compatibility seems like a hack.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  What about it's utility for documents like PDF's?
  - jonknee 14y ago
    That's not something I care about when I want to read something laying on the couch or in bed. I don't do it much on my iPad either actually.
- MBCook 14y ago
  I agree with the resolution issue. I don't think I'll be buying one (assuming Gruber is right) because I'd much rather have the retina display. But he's right about the tradeoffs. The idea of a 7" tablet that weighs as much as my Kindle is pretty amazing. I don't think my Kindle is very heavy, and I keep it in a leather case; without the case it's amazingly light. As Gruber saidhe retina display would need a bigger battery. Apple touts battery life too much to lower it. My parents (with light usage) can go a week or more without charging their iPad. I don't think an iPad Mini with 4 or 5 hour battery life would be received that well. And the battery requires thickness and weight, not to mention all the additional costs (RAM/VRAM/screen/battery/etc). $200 or $250 is a pretty great price point. At $350, it's in a different market segment from the Fire and Nexus 7.
- bluthru 14y ago
  >Limiting to low PPI for app compatibility seems like a hack. What, and give developers another resolution to develop for? No. The iPad Mini will use the iPhone 3GS LCD pixel density. Then in a year, the iPad Mini will adopt the iPhone 4 pixel density. This means that every "retina" iPad app that currently exists will display natively on the device. So basically: wait a year and then you'll have that crazy-good iPhone 4+ density.
ghshephard 14y ago
I'm not sure what's gotten into Gruber lately, but not only is this entire essay basically attitude free, he's also got a lot of content, and, dare I say, math/geometry in this piece? He gives credit to Digitimes of all orgs for the original (March!) prediction of a thin-bezel ipad - and goes out on a bunch of limbs predicting what the new iPad Mini might look like. In particular, his weight prediction, of 265 grams, is somewhat hard to believe - but would be very much appreciated by those of us who spend 2-3 hours a day reading books on our (somewhat overly large for that function) iPad. I guess we'll know in another 30 days.
- TillE 14y ago
  If you're just reading text-based books, why not go with a Kindle? They're cheap and much better suited to the task. Graphics-heavy stuff beyond the scope of the Kindle is usually larger format anyway, and even the 10" iPad feels a bit small for that.
  - officemonkey 14y ago
    EInk Kindles can't really do email, or twitter, or skype or angry birds. Right now I tote around three devices (four when I haul my laptop.) A smaller iPad means I get rid of the Kindle and the iPod touch.
    - philbarr 14y ago
      Really? I find reading on any device for a decent length of time that isn't e-ink a real pain.
      - officemonkey 14y ago
        EInk is definitely better, but I read the entire "Game of Thrones" series last summer on my iPod touch using the Kindle.app.
        geon 14y ago
greendestiny 14y ago
This all makes sense to me and I can see this being a successful product. I don't know if its too early yet, but normally when Apple telegraphs a new product people will fall over themselves to hype up the specs and decry it as useless if it doesn't meet expectations. That hasn't started happening yet - I can imagine Apple hates the over expectations but I wonder if the opposite is worse. Maybe this is just a better understood fit in the market, or maybe it hasn't sparked peoples interest in the same way. Personally I'll definitely be buying one, but mostly because I'm very money conscious and would love a slightly bigger iOS device.
JVIDEL 14y ago
I wonder if Apple is going to replace the iPod Touch with this. Think about it: the Touch didn't get a spec bump while the iPhone, iPad and even the AppleTV did, and it sells for the same price of a Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 or Nook Tablet, all popular small tablets in the category where this iPad mini would compete. PMPs are dead mostly because the same kind of people who bought PMPs are now buying tablets and Apple can't make this new iPad too expensive or it will be too close to the iPad2 and consumers will buy that one instead, nor can it make the Touch cheaper or it will cannibalize the Nano.
- alanfalcon 14y ago
  I've seen it suggested that the Nexus 7 isn't the Android iPad, it's the Android iPod Touch. This makes sense to me, and it makes sense to me that Apple could be moving in a similar direction with the iPod Touch itself, especially if it can hit those weight goals. This would also seem to open up some space for the iPod nano to gain functionality.
  - fratis 14y ago
    Alternatively, maybe soon – with the small iPad filling the $249 price gap – Apple will finally kill the iPod Classic and cut prices on the rest of the line. They've been manufacturing the lower quality retina display for the iPod Touch for two years, and costs must be down significantly. Combine that with falling costs for flash storage, and I could see them going down to $150-$250 for the Touch ($150 for 16GB up to $250 for 64GB), $100/$125 on the Nano, and keeping the Shuffle at $49.
    - zachrose 14y ago
      I'm hoping they keep the iPod Classic around, regardless of how well they sell. In my mind, it's the seed of the Apple renaissance.
      - freehunter 14y ago
        There really is a dearth of high-capacity PMPs anymore. I still have my Zune 120 in my truck, constantly plugged into the stereo. I sync it over wifi when I want to add new music, and I have my entire music collection available if a certain song unexpectedly pops into my head and I have to listen to it. 64GB is still too small and too expensive to be feasible for carrying around an entire catalog. With the Zune gone, Apple is the only game in town for high quality, high capacity media players (surprisingly, CNet doesn't include it in their "best hard drive mp3 player" list, only the mediocre Archos 5 at $500).
alwaysinshade 14y ago
For anyone wondering why Daring Fireball is able to garner a lot of attention (and for that matter, almost any article pertaining to Apple) I refer you to two studies: - When, Why, and How Controversy Causes Conversation by Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger - What Makes online Content Viral? by Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman Results from the first study reveals that controversy significantly affects likelihood of discussion. The second study comes to a similar conclusion but fleshes it out a little more eloquently: "Importantly, however, our findings also reveal that virality is driven by more than just valence. Sadness, anger, and anxiety are all negative emotions, but while sadder content is less viral, content that evokes more anxiety or anger is actually more viral. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis about how arousal shapes social transmission. Positive and negative emotions characterized by activation or arousal (i.e., awe, anxiety, and anger) are positively linked to virality, while emotions characterized by deactivation (i.e., sadness) are negatively linked to virality. More broadly, our results suggest that while external drivers of attention (e.g., being prominently featured) shape what becomes viral, content characteristics are of similar importance (see Figure 2). For example, a one-standard deviation increase in the amount of anger an article evokes increases the odds that it will make the most e-mailed list by 34% (Table 4, Model 4). This increase is equivalent to spending an additional 2.9 hours as the lead story on the New York Times website" Apple is well known for controversy and Gruber is known for his snark (though I found this article to be insightful speculation) - the two seem to really complement each other and a lot of their success comes down to their behaviour. So for anyone who feels inclined to write another "Why is Gruber on HN?" post, that's why.
- jopt 14y ago
  Backing your opinions up with studies is great. There sure are plenty of reasons (other than quality, which is the elephant in the room IMHO) that Gruber might sometimes find himself on HN. But your analysis is more about why any article of his can qualify. Wouldn't it be better to judge this individual piece on its merits instead of pleading the general case? If you label each of his articles as "Controversial; Pro-Apple" you run a risk of forgetting to read them. Today's piece should count against that label, not reaffirm it.
zachwill 14y ago
After reading both this and the iMore article, I really feel like Q4 this year is going to be like nothing we've ever seen. There won't be a reason for the average consumer not to get an iOS device. I think we're heading into a time where Apple's dominance will pass the threshold of what Microsoft had in the 90's. And, if you consider a revamped TV is on the way in a couple years — man, we're talking about iOS in the living room, in your lap, and in your pocket. It's astonishing to think that the iPhone is only 5 years old at this point.
- akent 14y ago
  > There won't be a reason for the average consumer not to get an iOS device. Wow, that's some hyperbole. Other than price I presume you mean.
  - chipotle_coyote 14y ago
    Actually, I suspect the presumption is that the "iPad Mini" is going to take price off the table as an objection -- if Apple brings such a device in for even a base price of $249, it's going to be seriously competitive. (And, of course, "average consumer" is also probably a key phrase. There are rational objections to be made to iOS, but they're mostly relating to things that HN readers are likely to value more highly than most consumers.)
  - r00fus 14y ago
    Tired old saw is tired. Apple competes on price pretty well these days. How long did it take to get a 10" iPad competitor that was cheaper than the iPad itself?
- ajross 14y ago
  Um... So a quarter notable mostly for Apples entry into a tablet form factor market already pioneered by other competitors is somehow a testament to the platform's... dominance? (I really want to respond to the idea of yearning for another IBM/Microsoft-scale monopoly too, but I'll limit myself to simple snark for now.)
css771 14y ago
This was a very good piece from gruber and I say that as someone who has consistently hated his snarkiness and apple fanboyism in the past. He makes deep analyses of the ipad mini here and dare I say, sets himself apart as a key asset in the Apple tech press. There should be someone as capable of doing in-depth analyses in other tech fields too. I was thinking specifically about android device news. The folks at androidpolice are the best I know. But not of Gruber's calibre.
- tjmc 14y ago
  Anand Lal Shimpi of http://www.anandtech.com http://www.anandtech.com is of that calibre and far less partisan - particularly if you're looking to buy components like motherboards or an SSD.
  - msh 14y ago
    I like Gruber, but Anand's reviews/analysis are of a far higher calibre than grubers.
  - css771 14y ago
    Oh yes anandtech is the best review site out there. But I specifically meant analysis of various factors and breaking down rumors, long-term trends, stuff like that.
DirtyCalvinist 14y ago
From the standpoint of a mobile developer and a user of one of Samsung's 7" tablets, the 7" form factor is too big for phone apps to really feel right on it, and too small for the big tab apps to be naively scaled down and feel right. So any Apple tablet at that size will suffer from a lack of good software until everyone catches up. On the plus side, with the entry of an Apple device, there will be a much greater incentive to create workable design paradigms for the form factor, and both Android and iOS devices this size will benefit.
- simonh 14y ago
  You're assuming that an iPad mini screen would be roughly as usable as a nexus 7 screen, but if the rumours are correct they would be very different. The Nexus 7 has a 'letterbox' widescreen aspect ratio compared to the iPad's chunkier 4x3 screen. Also the iPad screen would be 40% bigger. These are not small differences.
mcantelon 14y ago
>If you think these stories appearing within a day of each other in the two most-respected business publications in the U.S. — at the same time the Nexus 7 reviews began appearing and the device started shipping to customers — is merely coincidental and not a strategic competitive leak from Apple PR, then I would like to invite you to play in my poker game. >The angle to these stories is not merely “Apple is set to release a smaller iPad”, but “Apple is set to release a smaller iPad and it could squelch the Nexus 7 and any other smaller tablets before they ever really get a chance to take off”. Gruber will apparently even try to spin a "me too" response by Apple as genius.
- __chrismc 14y ago
  You seem to assume the "iPad Mini" hasn't been in development since well before the Nexus 7. Given how short a timeframe (4 months) Google gave the development of the Nexus 7[1], and Apple's supposed "don't release until it's 'perfect'" attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if it was indeed the case that the iPad Mini entered development first. If so, does it really count as "me too"? Or just later to market? (speculation) What if the Nexus 7 was a response to the rumoured possibility of a 7-inch iPad? A way to try and capture that segment of the market before Apple rolled into town? [1]:http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2012/08/06/seven-inches-four-months-a-number-one-sales-target-how-asus-built-the-nexus-7/2/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2012/08/06/se...
  - huggyface 14y ago
    Given how short a timeframe (4 months) Google gave the development of the Nexus 7 The Nexus 7 is a rebranded Asus device that was talked about last year. Then consider the Galaxy Tab, and the basic fundamental that Android has never dictated the sizes of devices. Only Apple so tightly coupled their API with very precise, specific form factors and sizes. It is impossible to view Apple's move (especially after widely criticizing a 7" tablet -- recall the sandpapered fingers nonsense) as anything but a me too maneuver.
    - officemonkey 14y ago
hack_edu 14y ago
The thinness angle doesn't sound right to me and would be a bad decision to trade it for real features. Thinness is important, don't get me wrong, but nearly all iOS device users use cases. The thickness of a case can often double overall size and weight in your hand. This that isn't going to change, probably ever.
- csmeder 14y ago
  The extreme popularity of the mac book air and now pc clones of that form factor would indicate otherwise. I think Gruber hit the nail on the head with: Don't think of it as an iPad mini but an iPad air. Once the early adopters flash their iPad airs around with no case (or an extremely thin mag cover), an ipad 3 is going to look fat and heavy. A nexus 7 is going to look bulky and old. Soon it will be a basic expectation that tablets are light as feather computers with no perceivable thickness. Tablets that don't come in this form factor will be seen as clunky relics of the past. The best way to tell if an apple product will do well, is to ask your self: "Once this product gets wide spread adoption, will this product make its predecesor seem, old, clunky and/or unrefined". From a tactile and visual stand point a iPad air will do this.
  - hack_edu 14y ago
    OK, but everything will still be in a case so still fat and heavy and clunky looking. A shock proof case can only be so thin and only when you can prevent thin glass/metal/plastic from breaking or warping so easily (let's see how long that takes) will that cease to be the limiting factor. And the cases you see around town aren't the mag covers, I'm talking about fully blown folio in synthetics or leather. Mag covers only protect the screen from scratches and provide the auto sleep function. You can't bring the MBA into the comparison. People don't carry them around everywhere they go, whipping them out 100+ times a day and dropping them on a regular basis. Full disclosure: despite my argument, I hate cases on my devices and refuse to use them aside from a thin tablet screen cover.
    - tomflack 14y ago
      So they should make it out of rubber because "it'll end up in a case anyway and be fat and heavy and clunky looking"? There is a severe flaw in what you're saying - Apple didn't design the iPad 1, iPad 2 or iPad 3 with a full case in mind, in spite of the audience using them lots. Yes I realise they make the smart case. I think of this like the bumper - offering something demanded, but the core product was designed without it. They also introduced it significantly after the iPad 2.
beloch 14y ago
I'm not a regular reader of daringfireball, but that blog post is very long on speculation and decidedly short on facts. It's random chance whether any of the resolutions, dimensions, weights, or features he settles on wind up proving to the true. This is firmly in the "Bluray support will be native in the next version of OSX!" sort of speculation.
- ryanstewart 14y ago
  I've started to read DF posts like this with the mindset that he has some inside information. It is very short on facts, but the logic seems mostly sound. Unfortunately it comes across to me as a "I have 75% of the info, I need to create 100% of the story" kind of piece.
  - Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
    It's exactly that sort of piece but that's actually why I read Daring Fireball. Gruber obviously comes from a very specific position when it comes to certain things, but whatever you think about him he's someone who watches Apple very closely and has done for some time. With someone like Apple where 100% of the information isn't out there, if I'm going to read speculation then I'd rather read Gruber's speculation than most because he's far better equipped to try and fill in the gaps.
  - myspy 14y ago
    His arguments make sense, especially when following Apples product history. I like the smaller bezel, makes it very handy and I hope it's as thin too. Looks like a very promising product.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  First of all - it's mostly a speculative piece - that's the point of that article. The post is a sequel to http://daringfireball.net/2012/07/this_ipad_mini_thing http://daringfireball.net/2012/07/this_ipad_mini_thing. Second, if you read through the first article - you'll see that he tries to justify his speculation based on some design principles that were laid down in the HCI guidelines for the iPad. He does mention where his "cupertino birds" have given him some hints though. I don't believe there have been any assessments of the next generation iPad anywhere on the internet that have been this justified with rationale provided, or have carefully sourced all the other writers that contributed to his thinking.
mcpoulet 14y ago
I think the iPad Mini is just a huge misunderstanding. Here's what I think the iPad Mini really is : http://www.hteumeuleu.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ipad-minnie.jpg http://www.hteumeuleu.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ipad-min...
sasoon 14y ago
For me, ipad with 7.85" screen makes sense. You do not lose screen real estate because it is the same resolution as iPad 1 & 2, it is easier to carry around, apps will not need new versions to support iPad mini. This is real size comparison of iPad 7.85" with iphone 4 and standard ipad: http://www.sizeall.com/compare/Apple-iPad-7-85-inch-mockup-Apple-iPhone-4-Apple-iPad-2-Wi-Fi/75 http://www.sizeall.com/compare/Apple-iPad-7-85-inch-mockup-A...
nazgulnarsil 14y ago
ipod touch thin = ridiculously fragile screen, like the macbook air.
- ghostganz 14y ago
  I haven't heard of anyone's Air screen breaking, they can't be that fragile. (But I have heard of several people destroying them with coffee or beer).
  - duiker101 14y ago
    Well I think that if you pour coffee or beer you would destroy any device, Apple or not.
Someone 14y ago
I do not see how anybody might think it would have iPad-like edges An edge to place your thumb on must be about an inch wide. A 7 inch diagonal screen is 4 by 6 inch or so. With a one inch edge, the edge would be 16 square inches, or about a third of the area of the device. I do not see how they could sell you that (well, maybe, if they used them for solar cells and managed to power the device from it)
atc 14y ago
Who the hell gives a shit?!
- Hari_Seldon 14y ago
  With 97 comments (as I write this) I'd say many people :-)
zerohm 14y ago
I enjoy reading Gruber quite a bit, but it's not for his snark or his analysis. It's for his perspective. He has lots of readers because he can connect the dots. He finds stories or details that may not seem relevant at first glance, but are signs of where things are headed. He also loves to call bullshit on trashy link bait.
- smackfu 14y ago
  >He also loves to call bullshit on trashy link bait. By linking to it. On his massive blog.
Kilimanjaro 14y ago
My prediction: iPad Mini in seven delectable colors for just $299.
abuzzooz 14y ago
> You might need more thumb-rest room on the sides than you do on the iPhone, but not nearly as much as you do on the full-size iPad. Why? The iPhone is meant to be held in one hand and manipulated by the other. The iPad has a different use model and hence a slightly different design. How would the use model of the iPad mini be different?
gte910h 14y ago
I think retina is very possible still: iPad 2012 is 264 ppi at 9.7 inches Gruber got a 7.85 in measurement somewhere (I think from a past article of his). 264ppi / 7.85 * 9.7 = 326 ppi i.e., if they made a 7.85in iPad Mini, it would have the exact same DPI as a iPhone4/4S. I can COMPLETELY see this as a viable option, as they might be able to use some of the same lines as they do for the phones and they already know 326ppi is possible.
samirsoriano 14y ago
Why don't you just wait for it to get released instead of obsessing over it ahead of time!

123 points by raganesh 14y ago

I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. On the content: Right on. I will definitely be surprised if the words "thinner" and "lighter" do not feature prominently in Apple's keynote, both vs. the Retina iPad and the Google/Amazon competition.

tambourine_man 14y ago
I'm glad Gruber seems to be writing more of these long form pieces. Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. My thoughts exactly. His recent talk with Siracusa must have helped. [edit] From the show, 1h24m23s: “You haven't done one of those in a while where you do like screen shots and stuff, you used to do that more…” He also changed his favicon soon after Siracusa remarked that it wasn't retina ready, so he probably listens him. http://daringfireball.net/graphics/favicon.ico?v=005 http://daringfireball.net/graphics/favicon.ico?v=005
- thomasjoulin 14y ago
  That, and the hints that he is interested in doing Siracusa-style iOS reviews. I love long form pieces by Gruber, but if it's also inspired by the great detailled reviews of Siracusa, I think it will be awesome.
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
  He still manages to come up with gems like this: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polis... He and Siegler come off as partisan hacks and nothing else. Hence mostly only Apple fans seem to think he writes great. I do not know why they have to hate other competing platforms so immensely to love Apple.
  - shinratdr 14y ago
    Even outside impartial observers see the Nokia situation just getting worse and worse, and Windows Phone doing absolutely nothing to pull them out of the hole they're in. I appreciate Gruber because he's unapologetic about something like that. We can dance around it forever, but judging by sales and in-the-wild presence of WP7, that briefly if crudely summarizes the Lumia & WP7 ecosystem to date. Doing this stupid old world stuff like distributing nail polish that matches your phone isn't distracting anyone from the increasingly untenable situation Nokia is sliding into right now. Moreover, moves like that make it seem like they're treating their situation flippantly. It's not about "hate", it's about not candy coating things to appease certain groups. We heard for the last two years about how beautiful and fast and revolutionary WP7 is and how nice the Lumia hardware looks. Now it's time to put up or shut up and they just haven't. That's a fact, and I don't see why someone should have to ignore that and paint a happy face on the situation to not be considered a "hack". Moreover, I don't think you can extrapolate from that that Gruber hates Nokia, the Lumia or WP7. It's just a snarky observation. If your issue is with the joke itself, I'll give you that. It wasn't all that funny or anything. I also agree he's a much better writer when in long form, and his snark does get over the top. I see where he's coming from here though.
    - cooldeal 14y ago
      See, even you managed to write many more words than him. It's not just that one post linked which is bad, it's a whole series of posts especially about Google and Android full of smugness, snark and sneering designed for his target audience, Apple fans and apparently, Google haters. It's like some of his posts are inside jokes at a fraternity club, and frankly are of that quality. It's tabloid journalism and nothing else, frankly. You think any article by someone calling Ping a brown piece of shit would ever be featured on HN? Hell, even Paul Thurott's Winsupersite is hellbanned on HN.
  - ghshephard 14y ago
    It took me a few reads before I realized he was making a meta-joke about the (brown) Zune, another product that was strong on fundamentals - but just never got traction. Gruber has made it clear he likes what Microsoft is trying to do with the WP7, and he has positively reviewed some of the Lumia devices. Agreed, he's partisan, but he's a witty partisan, which is why I still read him, while many of the other apple bloggers, like Dalrymple, who has good sources, just seems to frequently come off as just being mean without the cleverness.
- alphang 14y ago
  He also expressed a slight desire to adjust his focus, in a post from earlier this year - http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/25/three-things http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/25/three-things Slightly off topic: The Atlantic had an article yesterday about DF's 10th anniversary (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/08/happy-10th-birthday-daring-fireball/261061/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/08/happy-10...), and it had this bit of astute criticism: The past year, DF hasn't been as enjoyable as its been in the past. Apple, Gruber's Beatrice, is engorged as a company, and seems now to be veering from interestingly complex to dully complicated. [...] But, in light of that victory, his renegade confidence has become an assured superiority. He hasn't written, for a long time, an engaging description of a laptop or an account of an anthropomorphized interface element. To which Jason Kottke agreed: http://kottke.org/12/08/an-appreciation-of-10-years-of-daring-fireball http://kottke.org/12/08/an-appreciation-of-10-years-of-darin... So perhaps Gruber is consciously responding to these critiques and upping his game - which is nice, because this post was a great read.
alanfalcon 14y ago
When "The Tablet" piece came out, I was sold on Gruber's ability to really analyze Apple and think through details in an informational and insightful way. I was impressed enough that I sought out and read some of his much earlier long-form essays, mostly about the nascent days of OS X. He's always had this in him, but I agree the snark has been pushed way too far over the course of recent years to the detriment of the blog.
- rahoulb 14y ago
  This is probably my favourite DF piece http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/the_problems_with_click-through http://daringfireball.net/2003/05/the_problems_with_click-th... - the fact that it's from 2003 is telling and I'd like to see him do more like this.
SquareWheel 14y ago
Short and snarky is not as much of a strength for him as he thinks it is. The snark is why I had to stop reading Gruber. He's a great blogger, but his attitude made me have to walk away every few articles and just take a breather. It's not an endearing trait.
- skue 14y ago
  I've had the same reaction and gone for long periods without reading Gruber for this reason. I do agree that he has toned down - far fewer jackass awards (which always seemed unnecessarily petty). I wonder if some of his gentler tone has to do with Apple's success. It's easier to be gracious when you feel you are on a winning/popular side, and there are certainly fewer reasons for Apple users/fans to feel persecuted by misinformed pundits nowadays. What's funny is how Apple whose very core has always been counter cultural has now become mainstream, and Android has become the new counter cultural reaction (even though Android is just as much the product of large corporations and not exactly the product of a new youthful startup). Samsung's marketing team has certainly been effective at reminding us that the hipster crowd is aging - and becoming less cool. Apple itself needs to decide whether it wants to become a mature company or somehow hold onto that more youthful "stay hungry, stay foolish" mantra.
  - huggyface 14y ago
    I wonder if some of his gentler tone has to do with Apple's success. It's easier to be gracious when you feel you are on a winning/popular side, and there are certainly fewer reasons for Apple users/fans to feel persecuted by misinformed pundits nowadays. I would observe that it has been exactly the opposite -- it was at the height of Apple's success, during the period when they essentially owned the market, that Gruber got that obnoxious swagger and ill suited confidence. With Apple becoming a player instead of the player, Gruber seems to be maintaining relevance by removing the attitude, to very good effect.

newman314 14y ago

Um, I think it's supposed to be "more thoroughly". Just saying.

shinratdr 14y ago
That's if you're trying to say thorough, which he wasn't. He was saying through. Different, although similar words. This post is a direct continuation, picking up where the Thinking This iPad Mini Thing Through post left off. It's "Through-er" both as a joke and to make it perfectly clear it's a sequel to the previous post. Thoroughly would imply something different, like he wasn't really thinking about carefully it in the first post. That isn't his intent. It's not supposed to supersede the other article, it's just "more".
- rahoulb 14y ago
  When I read it I also immediately thought of Apple's "funnest iPod yet" line: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/09/09/funnest http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/09/09/funnest

jonknee 14y ago

As a Kindle Fire owner I have to say the form factor of tablets this size is great. I just wish there was a better fix to the resolution issues. Limiting to low PPI for app compatibility seems like a hack.

sliverstorm 14y ago
What about it's utility for documents like PDF's?
- jonknee 14y ago
  That's not something I care about when I want to read something laying on the couch or in bed. I don't do it much on my iPad either actually.
MBCook 14y ago
I agree with the resolution issue. I don't think I'll be buying one (assuming Gruber is right) because I'd much rather have the retina display. But he's right about the tradeoffs. The idea of a 7" tablet that weighs as much as my Kindle is pretty amazing. I don't think my Kindle is very heavy, and I keep it in a leather case; without the case it's amazingly light. As Gruber saidhe retina display would need a bigger battery. Apple touts battery life too much to lower it. My parents (with light usage) can go a week or more without charging their iPad. I don't think an iPad Mini with 4 or 5 hour battery life would be received that well. And the battery requires thickness and weight, not to mention all the additional costs (RAM/VRAM/screen/battery/etc). $200 or $250 is a pretty great price point. At $350, it's in a different market segment from the Fire and Nexus 7.
bluthru 14y ago
>Limiting to low PPI for app compatibility seems like a hack. What, and give developers another resolution to develop for? No. The iPad Mini will use the iPhone 3GS LCD pixel density. Then in a year, the iPad Mini will adopt the iPhone 4 pixel density. This means that every "retina" iPad app that currently exists will display natively on the device. So basically: wait a year and then you'll have that crazy-good iPhone 4+ density.

ghshephard 14y ago

I'm not sure what's gotten into Gruber lately, but not only is this entire essay basically attitude free, he's also got a lot of content, and, dare I say, math/geometry in this piece? He gives credit to Digitimes of all orgs for the original (March!) prediction of a thin-bezel ipad - and goes out on a bunch of limbs predicting what the new iPad Mini might look like. In particular, his weight prediction, of 265 grams, is somewhat hard to believe - but would be very much appreciated by those of us who spend 2-3 hours a day reading books on our (somewhat overly large for that function) iPad. I guess we'll know in another 30 days.

TillE 14y ago
If you're just reading text-based books, why not go with a Kindle? They're cheap and much better suited to the task. Graphics-heavy stuff beyond the scope of the Kindle is usually larger format anyway, and even the 10" iPad feels a bit small for that.
- officemonkey 14y ago
  EInk Kindles can't really do email, or twitter, or skype or angry birds. Right now I tote around three devices (four when I haul my laptop.) A smaller iPad means I get rid of the Kindle and the iPod touch.
  - philbarr 14y ago
    Really? I find reading on any device for a decent length of time that isn't e-ink a real pain.
    - officemonkey 14y ago
      EInk is definitely better, but I read the entire "Game of Thrones" series last summer on my iPod touch using the Kindle.app.
      - geon 14y ago

greendestiny 14y ago

This all makes sense to me and I can see this being a successful product. I don't know if its too early yet, but normally when Apple telegraphs a new product people will fall over themselves to hype up the specs and decry it as useless if it doesn't meet expectations. That hasn't started happening yet - I can imagine Apple hates the over expectations but I wonder if the opposite is worse. Maybe this is just a better understood fit in the market, or maybe it hasn't sparked peoples interest in the same way. Personally I'll definitely be buying one, but mostly because I'm very money conscious and would love a slightly bigger iOS device.

JVIDEL 14y ago

I wonder if Apple is going to replace the iPod Touch with this. Think about it: the Touch didn't get a spec bump while the iPhone, iPad and even the AppleTV did, and it sells for the same price of a Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 or Nook Tablet, all popular small tablets in the category where this iPad mini would compete. PMPs are dead mostly because the same kind of people who bought PMPs are now buying tablets and Apple can't make this new iPad too expensive or it will be too close to the iPad2 and consumers will buy that one instead, nor can it make the Touch cheaper or it will cannibalize the Nano.

alanfalcon 14y ago
I've seen it suggested that the Nexus 7 isn't the Android iPad, it's the Android iPod Touch. This makes sense to me, and it makes sense to me that Apple could be moving in a similar direction with the iPod Touch itself, especially if it can hit those weight goals. This would also seem to open up some space for the iPod nano to gain functionality.
- fratis 14y ago
  Alternatively, maybe soon – with the small iPad filling the $249 price gap – Apple will finally kill the iPod Classic and cut prices on the rest of the line. They've been manufacturing the lower quality retina display for the iPod Touch for two years, and costs must be down significantly. Combine that with falling costs for flash storage, and I could see them going down to $150-$250 for the Touch ($150 for 16GB up to $250 for 64GB), $100/$125 on the Nano, and keeping the Shuffle at $49.
  - zachrose 14y ago
    I'm hoping they keep the iPod Classic around, regardless of how well they sell. In my mind, it's the seed of the Apple renaissance.
    - freehunter 14y ago
      There really is a dearth of high-capacity PMPs anymore. I still have my Zune 120 in my truck, constantly plugged into the stereo. I sync it over wifi when I want to add new music, and I have my entire music collection available if a certain song unexpectedly pops into my head and I have to listen to it. 64GB is still too small and too expensive to be feasible for carrying around an entire catalog. With the Zune gone, Apple is the only game in town for high quality, high capacity media players (surprisingly, CNet doesn't include it in their "best hard drive mp3 player" list, only the mediocre Archos 5 at $500).

alwaysinshade 14y ago

For anyone wondering why Daring Fireball is able to garner a lot of attention (and for that matter, almost any article pertaining to Apple) I refer you to two studies: - When, Why, and How Controversy Causes Conversation by Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger - What Makes online Content Viral? by Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman Results from the first study reveals that controversy significantly affects likelihood of discussion. The second study comes to a similar conclusion but fleshes it out a little more eloquently: "Importantly, however, our findings also reveal that virality is driven by more than just valence. Sadness, anger, and anxiety are all negative emotions, but while sadder content is less viral, content that evokes more anxiety or anger is actually more viral. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis about how arousal shapes social transmission. Positive and negative emotions characterized by activation or arousal (i.e., awe, anxiety, and anger) are positively linked to virality, while emotions characterized by deactivation (i.e., sadness) are negatively linked to virality. More broadly, our results suggest that while external drivers of attention (e.g., being prominently featured) shape what becomes viral, content characteristics are of similar importance (see Figure 2). For example, a one-standard deviation increase in the amount of anger an article evokes increases the odds that it will make the most e-mailed list by 34% (Table 4, Model 4). This increase is equivalent to spending an additional 2.9 hours as the lead story on the New York Times website" Apple is well known for controversy and Gruber is known for his snark (though I found this article to be insightful speculation) - the two seem to really complement each other and a lot of their success comes down to their behaviour. So for anyone who feels inclined to write another "Why is Gruber on HN?" post, that's why.

jopt 14y ago
Backing your opinions up with studies is great. There sure are plenty of reasons (other than quality, which is the elephant in the room IMHO) that Gruber might sometimes find himself on HN. But your analysis is more about why any article of his can qualify. Wouldn't it be better to judge this individual piece on its merits instead of pleading the general case? If you label each of his articles as "Controversial; Pro-Apple" you run a risk of forgetting to read them. Today's piece should count against that label, not reaffirm it.

zachwill 14y ago

After reading both this and the iMore article, I really feel like Q4 this year is going to be like nothing we've ever seen. There won't be a reason for the average consumer not to get an iOS device. I think we're heading into a time where Apple's dominance will pass the threshold of what Microsoft had in the 90's. And, if you consider a revamped TV is on the way in a couple years — man, we're talking about iOS in the living room, in your lap, and in your pocket. It's astonishing to think that the iPhone is only 5 years old at this point.

akent 14y ago
> There won't be a reason for the average consumer not to get an iOS device. Wow, that's some hyperbole. Other than price I presume you mean.
- chipotle_coyote 14y ago
  Actually, I suspect the presumption is that the "iPad Mini" is going to take price off the table as an objection -- if Apple brings such a device in for even a base price of $249, it's going to be seriously competitive. (And, of course, "average consumer" is also probably a key phrase. There are rational objections to be made to iOS, but they're mostly relating to things that HN readers are likely to value more highly than most consumers.)
- r00fus 14y ago
  Tired old saw is tired. Apple competes on price pretty well these days. How long did it take to get a 10" iPad competitor that was cheaper than the iPad itself?
ajross 14y ago
Um... So a quarter notable mostly for Apples entry into a tablet form factor market already pioneered by other competitors is somehow a testament to the platform's... dominance? (I really want to respond to the idea of yearning for another IBM/Microsoft-scale monopoly too, but I'll limit myself to simple snark for now.)

css771 14y ago

This was a very good piece from gruber and I say that as someone who has consistently hated his snarkiness and apple fanboyism in the past. He makes deep analyses of the ipad mini here and dare I say, sets himself apart as a key asset in the Apple tech press. There should be someone as capable of doing in-depth analyses in other tech fields too. I was thinking specifically about android device news. The folks at androidpolice are the best I know. But not of Gruber's calibre.

tjmc 14y ago
Anand Lal Shimpi of http://www.anandtech.com http://www.anandtech.com is of that calibre and far less partisan - particularly if you're looking to buy components like motherboards or an SSD.
- msh 14y ago
  I like Gruber, but Anand's reviews/analysis are of a far higher calibre than grubers.
- css771 14y ago
  Oh yes anandtech is the best review site out there. But I specifically meant analysis of various factors and breaking down rumors, long-term trends, stuff like that.

DirtyCalvinist 14y ago

From the standpoint of a mobile developer and a user of one of Samsung's 7" tablets, the 7" form factor is too big for phone apps to really feel right on it, and too small for the big tab apps to be naively scaled down and feel right. So any Apple tablet at that size will suffer from a lack of good software until everyone catches up. On the plus side, with the entry of an Apple device, there will be a much greater incentive to create workable design paradigms for the form factor, and both Android and iOS devices this size will benefit.

simonh 14y ago
You're assuming that an iPad mini screen would be roughly as usable as a nexus 7 screen, but if the rumours are correct they would be very different. The Nexus 7 has a 'letterbox' widescreen aspect ratio compared to the iPad's chunkier 4x3 screen. Also the iPad screen would be 40% bigger. These are not small differences.

mcantelon 14y ago

>If you think these stories appearing within a day of each other in the two most-respected business publications in the U.S. — at the same time the Nexus 7 reviews began appearing and the device started shipping to customers — is merely coincidental and not a strategic competitive leak from Apple PR, then I would like to invite you to play in my poker game. >The angle to these stories is not merely “Apple is set to release a smaller iPad”, but “Apple is set to release a smaller iPad and it could squelch the Nexus 7 and any other smaller tablets before they ever really get a chance to take off”. Gruber will apparently even try to spin a "me too" response by Apple as genius.

__chrismc 14y ago
You seem to assume the "iPad Mini" hasn't been in development since well before the Nexus 7. Given how short a timeframe (4 months) Google gave the development of the Nexus 7[1], and Apple's supposed "don't release until it's 'perfect'" attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if it was indeed the case that the iPad Mini entered development first. If so, does it really count as "me too"? Or just later to market? (speculation) What if the Nexus 7 was a response to the rumoured possibility of a 7-inch iPad? A way to try and capture that segment of the market before Apple rolled into town? [1]:http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2012/08/06/seven-inches-four-months-a-number-one-sales-target-how-asus-built-the-nexus-7/2/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2012/08/06/se...
- huggyface 14y ago
  Given how short a timeframe (4 months) Google gave the development of the Nexus 7 The Nexus 7 is a rebranded Asus device that was talked about last year. Then consider the Galaxy Tab, and the basic fundamental that Android has never dictated the sizes of devices. Only Apple so tightly coupled their API with very precise, specific form factors and sizes. It is impossible to view Apple's move (especially after widely criticizing a 7" tablet -- recall the sandpapered fingers nonsense) as anything but a me too maneuver.
  - officemonkey 14y ago

hack_edu 14y ago

The thinness angle doesn't sound right to me and would be a bad decision to trade it for real features. Thinness is important, don't get me wrong, but nearly all iOS device users use cases. The thickness of a case can often double overall size and weight in your hand. This that isn't going to change, probably ever.

csmeder 14y ago
The extreme popularity of the mac book air and now pc clones of that form factor would indicate otherwise. I think Gruber hit the nail on the head with: Don't think of it as an iPad mini but an iPad air. Once the early adopters flash their iPad airs around with no case (or an extremely thin mag cover), an ipad 3 is going to look fat and heavy. A nexus 7 is going to look bulky and old. Soon it will be a basic expectation that tablets are light as feather computers with no perceivable thickness. Tablets that don't come in this form factor will be seen as clunky relics of the past. The best way to tell if an apple product will do well, is to ask your self: "Once this product gets wide spread adoption, will this product make its predecesor seem, old, clunky and/or unrefined". From a tactile and visual stand point a iPad air will do this.
- hack_edu 14y ago
  OK, but everything will still be in a case so still fat and heavy and clunky looking. A shock proof case can only be so thin and only when you can prevent thin glass/metal/plastic from breaking or warping so easily (let's see how long that takes) will that cease to be the limiting factor. And the cases you see around town aren't the mag covers, I'm talking about fully blown folio in synthetics or leather. Mag covers only protect the screen from scratches and provide the auto sleep function. You can't bring the MBA into the comparison. People don't carry them around everywhere they go, whipping them out 100+ times a day and dropping them on a regular basis. Full disclosure: despite my argument, I hate cases on my devices and refuse to use them aside from a thin tablet screen cover.
  - tomflack 14y ago
    So they should make it out of rubber because "it'll end up in a case anyway and be fat and heavy and clunky looking"? There is a severe flaw in what you're saying - Apple didn't design the iPad 1, iPad 2 or iPad 3 with a full case in mind, in spite of the audience using them lots. Yes I realise they make the smart case. I think of this like the bumper - offering something demanded, but the core product was designed without it. They also introduced it significantly after the iPad 2.

beloch 14y ago

I'm not a regular reader of daringfireball, but that blog post is very long on speculation and decidedly short on facts. It's random chance whether any of the resolutions, dimensions, weights, or features he settles on wind up proving to the true. This is firmly in the "Bluray support will be native in the next version of OSX!" sort of speculation.

ryanstewart 14y ago
I've started to read DF posts like this with the mindset that he has some inside information. It is very short on facts, but the logic seems mostly sound. Unfortunately it comes across to me as a "I have 75% of the info, I need to create 100% of the story" kind of piece.
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  It's exactly that sort of piece but that's actually why I read Daring Fireball. Gruber obviously comes from a very specific position when it comes to certain things, but whatever you think about him he's someone who watches Apple very closely and has done for some time. With someone like Apple where 100% of the information isn't out there, if I'm going to read speculation then I'd rather read Gruber's speculation than most because he's far better equipped to try and fill in the gaps.
- myspy 14y ago
  His arguments make sense, especially when following Apples product history. I like the smaller bezel, makes it very handy and I hope it's as thin too. Looks like a very promising product.
ghshephard 14y ago
First of all - it's mostly a speculative piece - that's the point of that article. The post is a sequel to http://daringfireball.net/2012/07/this_ipad_mini_thing http://daringfireball.net/2012/07/this_ipad_mini_thing. Second, if you read through the first article - you'll see that he tries to justify his speculation based on some design principles that were laid down in the HCI guidelines for the iPad. He does mention where his "cupertino birds" have given him some hints though. I don't believe there have been any assessments of the next generation iPad anywhere on the internet that have been this justified with rationale provided, or have carefully sourced all the other writers that contributed to his thinking.

mcpoulet 14y ago

I think the iPad Mini is just a huge misunderstanding. Here's what I think the iPad Mini really is : http://www.hteumeuleu.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ipad-minnie.jpg http://www.hteumeuleu.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ipad-min...

sasoon 14y ago

For me, ipad with 7.85" screen makes sense. You do not lose screen real estate because it is the same resolution as iPad 1 & 2, it is easier to carry around, apps will not need new versions to support iPad mini. This is real size comparison of iPad 7.85" with iphone 4 and standard ipad: http://www.sizeall.com/compare/Apple-iPad-7-85-inch-mockup-Apple-iPhone-4-Apple-iPad-2-Wi-Fi/75 http://www.sizeall.com/compare/Apple-iPad-7-85-inch-mockup-A...

nazgulnarsil 14y ago

ipod touch thin = ridiculously fragile screen, like the macbook air.

ghostganz 14y ago
I haven't heard of anyone's Air screen breaking, they can't be that fragile. (But I have heard of several people destroying them with coffee or beer).
- duiker101 14y ago
  Well I think that if you pour coffee or beer you would destroy any device, Apple or not.

Someone 14y ago

I do not see how anybody might think it would have iPad-like edges An edge to place your thumb on must be about an inch wide. A 7 inch diagonal screen is 4 by 6 inch or so. With a one inch edge, the edge would be 16 square inches, or about a third of the area of the device. I do not see how they could sell you that (well, maybe, if they used them for solar cells and managed to power the device from it)

atc 14y ago

Who the hell gives a shit?!

Hari_Seldon 14y ago
With 97 comments (as I write this) I'd say many people :-)

zerohm 14y ago

I enjoy reading Gruber quite a bit, but it's not for his snark or his analysis. It's for his perspective. He has lots of readers because he can connect the dots. He finds stories or details that may not seem relevant at first glance, but are signs of where things are headed. He also loves to call bullshit on trashy link bait.

smackfu 14y ago
>He also loves to call bullshit on trashy link bait. By linking to it. On his massive blog.

Kilimanjaro 14y ago

My prediction: iPad Mini in seven delectable colors for just $299.

abuzzooz 14y ago

> You might need more thumb-rest room on the sides than you do on the iPhone, but not nearly as much as you do on the full-size iPad. Why? The iPhone is meant to be held in one hand and manipulated by the other. The iPad has a different use model and hence a slightly different design. How would the use model of the iPad mini be different?

gte910h 14y ago

I think retina is very possible still: iPad 2012 is 264 ppi at 9.7 inches Gruber got a 7.85 in measurement somewhere (I think from a past article of his). 264ppi / 7.85 * 9.7 = 326 ppi i.e., if they made a 7.85in iPad Mini, it would have the exact same DPI as a iPhone4/4S. I can COMPLETELY see this as a viable option, as they might be able to use some of the same lines as they do for the phones and they already know 326ppi is possible.

samirsoriano 14y ago

Why don't you just wait for it to get released instead of obsessing over it ahead of time!