Dave Lee: Apple will want to forget the iPad 3. I disagree.
BBC technology reporter argues Apple will want to forget the new iPad. Bar the conclusion to his piece that infuriatingly dredges up the “Apple needs to fire magic unicorns at the market with the new iPhone or it will appear rudderless and DOOMED” notion, the rest of the piece has some good points. He notes that the new iPad is in some ways a ‘backwards step’, notably in being heavier than its predecessor. (Although Lee’s comment that it’s too heavy—something he states four times in two small paragraphs, just in case you missed it, ignores the new iPad being lighter than the original one. The weight might be a problem for iPad 2 users, but anyone—like me—upgrading from the original will wonder what all the fuss is about.) Lee also adds that Newsstand leaves him cold, that apps are bloating, iMessage is a damp squib, and iCloud is annoying regarding its upgrade nags. I would add to his points that the new device does get noticeably warm, and I very much agree that Apple really needs to figure out how to serve delta updates for iOS apps, because downloading massive game and app updates is getting really old.
On Twitter, Lee argued the following when we were discussing his piece:
It’s a progress thing, I think. For the first time, they prioritised power over usability
It’s here where I very much disagree. With the new iPad, Apple prioritised one thing: the display. That’s it. Everything in the device—including the compromises—is designed to get that Retina display up and running, and that’s not about power. In fact, with the display being the thing you view and interact with—the device effectively becoming the app that’s being run—the update was entirely about usability.
The new iPad isn’t perfect, and there are clear compromises, but in hindsight you can say the same about many Apple products. It is, however, a step up in the one standout feature that matters most, and to that end while I don’t think the new iPad will be remembered as Apple’s Best Product Ever™, I can’t imagine the company will want to forget all about it either.
The iPad 3 (or new iPad) will be seen as the first iPad to realize the potential of the device. The whole concept is a screen that you touch. Having a superior screen means that the experience is closer to the ideal. If somebody wants to go back to the 2 they are welcome to do so. They can go back to the iPhone 3 GS while they’re at it.
I was waiting for a retina iPad to buy one. I got a 64gb wifi on release and I wonder what the hell I did without it. I’ve switched to buying all my magazines on it now and AirVideo means I literally have my entire video library anywhere I care to travel.
Man’s an idiot. To do anything else with it they would have had to either cost more or ditch that screen and the device IS the screen.
The iPad “3” makes the entire sector worthwhile to me.
I find these “iPad 3 is a stinker” posts rather hilarious. I’ve got one and I love the hell out of it. I use it pretty much all day, every day, even while working on things on my Mac, and the battery lasts forever (hence the weight). The display is incredible. This is the killer feature I was waiting for in an iPad, the one that’s really made it shine — not only as a reading device, but for viewing and editing photos, and Retina-capable games look pretty damn sweet too.
I do think they need to keep trying to get the weight down, as it’s uncomfortable to hold in certain ways for more than a couple minutes, but as you mentioned, it’s much lighter than the original (which I was using before I got this one). But to suggest this isn’t an amazing product, and clearly the best one Apple has produced so far, is just plain silly.