iPad3 - Need convincing

[BeVonk!]

LOL!

Outcome as expected. Thanks for doing this and sharing it with us Mike. When I use my wife's iPad 2 the OS truly feels ancient once one got used to ICS/JB. But for many (majority) that is fine and does everything for them. To each his own.

 

[BeVonk!]

As I said the other day the one thing that is becoming clear to me now on Android tablets is that CPU/graphix power and RAM do matter now. All the smoothness improvements and better effects (eye candy) take a toll. Android is maturing now (the ugly functionality focus is making way for a bit more class and finness).

 

[DominionZA]

LOL!

Outcome as expected. Thanks for doing this and sharing it with us Mike. When I use my wife's iPad 2 the OS truly feels ancient once one got used to ICS/JB. But for many (majority) that is fine and does everything for them. To each his own.

I think you best described it in this post dude. It is how I feel when using the iPad.
The software does not do justice to the hardware.

If I could get Android on the iPad3 I would be such a happy camper

 

[bwana]

LOL!

Outcome as expected. Thanks for doing this and sharing it with us Mike. When I use my wife's iPad 2 the OS truly feels ancient once one got used to ICS/JB. But for many (majority) that is fine and does everything for them. To each his own.

When the window dressing becomes more important than the apps it's running I'll probably think about switching too.

 

[DominionZA]

When the window dressing becomes more important than the apps it's running I'll probably think about switching too.

I think this is the part where "each to his own" comes into play.

For me, the single only app I could not get in my SGS 10.1 was Field Runners 2. All the other apps I used on the iPad also existed on the SGS and looked/worked very similar with the exception of Tapatalk where it functions better on the SGS.

The actual experience when using iOS left me frustrated. Love the hardware though. That part is excellent.

EDIT: The skytrax app was iOS only too. So 2 apps unavailable to me on my SGS.

It really comes down to your needs and how you use the device. Neither camp (iOS or Android) really has a right (or need) to slam the other camp. They are both excellent OS's that fit specific needs.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I'm glad you at least gave it a chance. What I would like to see is a pros and cons list from your experience with iOS. Also what are you main uses for a tablet device so we can get a better understanding of what will suit certain needs.

Will help us give better advice to folks asking these questions again.

 

[DominionZA]

Btw. You never did tell me the name of that app!

Bwana, I have been hunting through Revision 3 episodes on my SGS for 40 minutes or so now and cannot find that app Going to throw in the towel for now cause I want to shower and go jam some MW3. I will give it another hunt though.

 

[DominionZA]

I'm glad you at least gave it a chance. What I would like to see is a pros and cons list from your experience with iOS. Also what are you main uses for a tablet device so we can get a better understanding of what will suit certain needs.

Will help us give better advice to folks asking these questions again.

Will do so dude. Good idea.

To be honest, the things that bugged me are actually minor in the great scheme of things. They were however enough to annoy me.

I keep the SGS and iPad right here next to me in my game room so they are both easily accessible. I just found myself reaching for the SGS 9 times out of 10. I gave it time to see if that would change.

 

[BeVonk!]

When the window dressing becomes more important than the apps it's running I'll probably think about switching too.

When I started off with Android the ugliness drove me nuts (coming from Apple). Apple (Jobs) cared about every detail. With Google the engineers ruled and they cared little for beauty. Function is everything. As an artist myself "forced" to do engineering to feed the family I have an intimate understanding/appreciation of this. I fight with fellow engineers about function vs beauty all the time (they accuse me of wasting money on unnecessary details).

Android has however improved with leaps and bounds in this department. Not there yet, but way better already. The Play Store is a good example. The one I started off with looked like it was done in VB6. The app icons were horrendous. Much better now ... but not there yet.

At least it looks like someone in Google now appreciates the softer side of things. Engineers should never be allowed in a design studio. Ones like myself with a strong art streak is rare.

 

[cerebus]

When I started off with Android the ugliness drove me nuts (coming from Apple). Apple (Jobs) cared about every detail. With Google the engineers ruled and they cared little for beauty. Function is everything. As an artist myself "forced" to do engineering to feed the family I have an intimate understanding/appreciation of this. I fight with fellow engineers about function vs beauty all the time (they accuse me of wasting money on unnecessary details).

Android has however improved with leaps and bounds in this department. Not there yet, but way better already. The Play Store is a good example. The one I started off with looked like it was done in VB6. The app icons were horrendous. Much better now ... but not there yet.

At least it looks like someone in Google now appreciates the softer side of things. Engineers should never be allowed in a design studio. Ones like myself with a strong art streak is rare.

Its at the point now where stock jb beats the other launcher options, which is kind of crazy. They have this cartoonish slightly over coloured look going but it totally works. And gapps all look awesome. Stepping up the game recently no doubt about it. Also roboto 2 is very nice.

 

[kingrob]

Mike. Mike. Mike.

Stop wasting money on Crapple & get a Nexus 7!

My door is always open for help & advice to fellow forumites.

I have already decided on my next two purchases - Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 & Nexus 7 tablet. Might go for new Samsung tab if I can get it with an Ace 2 combo.

Still love my Galaxy S2 phone, but not using it anymore. There was always something bothering me about the S2 & now I finally know what it is - it has never fitted comfortably in my hand, cant do one hand operation with it & I actually prefer a smaller phone.

So, I prefer my Galaxy Ace, which I swapped for my iPhone 3G & really like a lot. Just fits perfectly in my hand and jeans pocket. And perfect one hand operation. Very handy when you're driving.

And next time, please trust your gutt feeling a bit more! I bet you it was working overtime when you purchased the ipad.

Just my 10c.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

The main reason I bought the iPad was for the screen and I must say I am not at all disappointed. Still haven't really found anything I can't do on it either, so I'm pretty pleased with the purchase. It was also cheaper than the Galaxy tab.

Use mine at least 2+ hours every day. I still want a Nexus 7 though

 

[bwana]

Bwana, I have been hunting through Revision 3 episodes on my SGS for 40 minutes or so now and cannot find that app Going to throw in the towel for now cause I want to shower and go jam some MW3. I will give it another hunt though.

Thanks for trying.

Use mine at least 2+ hours every day. I still want a Nexus 7 though

I'm interested in the 7" form factor but really don't feel like trying to manage two different systems so I'll wait to see how/if apple responds.

 

[BeVonk!]

Bwana, I'm sure we'll see a smaller iPad soon (which means you can stay with the Apple ecosystem). The 7/8" form factor is awesome for mobile use (take everywhere). The 10" pads are nicer for home/office use. Apple will miss an important change in market trends if they don't bring out a smaller iPad (which I suspect will replace the iPod Touch).

 

[kingrob]

Bwana, I'm sure we'll see a smaller iPad soon (which means you can stay with the Apple ecosystem). The 7/8" form factor is awesome for mobile use (take everywhere).

Looks like it's very handy as a TV remote as well.

 

[R13...]

Bwana, I'm sure we'll see a smaller iPad soon (which means you can stay with the Apple ecosystem). The 7/8" form factor is awesome for mobile use (take everywhere). The 10" pads are nicer for home/office use. Apple will miss an important change in market trends if they don't bring out a smaller iPad (which I suspect will replace the iPod Touch).

For as long as the iPad has been around there have been smaller 7" tablets (didn't Samsung start with a 7" - for some reason priced it higher than the iPad?). I don't see why Apple would need to release a smaller sized tablet - though with the Nexus 7 priced as it is they might. They didn't seem moved by the kindle fire though.

 

[bwana]

For as long as the iPad has been around there have been smaller 7" tablets (didn't Samsung start with a 7" - for some reason priced it higher than the iPad?). I don't see why Apple would need to release a smaller sized tablet - though with the Nexus 7 priced as it is they might. They didn't seem moved by the kindle fire though.

Because there's now a strong demand for one? You only have to look at the iPod range to see that they don't like to leave a niche unanswered.

 

[icyrus]

For as long as the iPad has been around there have been smaller 7" tablets (didn't Samsung start with a 7" - for some reason priced it higher than the iPad?). I don't see why Apple would need to release a smaller sized tablet - though with the Nexus 7 priced as it is they might. They didn't seem moved by the kindle fire though.

Have a look at the graph on this page:

http://www.iamconcise.com/main/the-reason-for-the-ipad-mini.html

Apple have been pretty thorough in not leaving a price umbrella in their product lineups over the years.

 

[cerebus]

Because there's now a strong demand for one? You only have to look at the iPod range to see that they don't like to leave a niche unanswered.

This. iPod Touch still has a niche though.

I was considering this morning what Android would have to do in the tablet space so that I would consider it to have equaled the iPad. I came up with this:

1) I'd need to be able to fill the homescreen with apps that I actually use and that span the things I want to do. That includes games (big lack), readers (plenty of those on Android actually so that's covered), videos (ditto), kids educational apps (huge lack here), cooking, and probably some other stuff I can't think of. Currently the wife's KF is used for internetting and not much else, because I just can't find the content for her wrt really great apps.

2) Improved kinaesthetics, or perhaps I mean physics, or whatever you call the feel of scrolling and flicking and swiping. In iOS it feels tangible. You intuitively know if you flick up how far it will scroll. Android still feels like it doesn't have a very solid physics engine underlying it. Multitouch gestures on iPad are also brilliant and feel precisely right - grabbing in to close an app, pulling up to see the multitask bar, left or right to change apps on the fly.

3) A keyboard on which I can touch type on the glass. Believe it or not, I frequently use my iPad for notetaking. The keyboard really is good enough for me to hammer on. I won't be writing novels but for meetings, training videos etc, it works. There's no button lag, the multitouch is accurate enough to follow me, and the autocorrect fills in enough of my errors to be usable. It lends an engineering weight to the whole system. Comparatively, a more attractive UI is flimflammery to me.

4) Identical apps to perform and feel identically, or at least, just as good as one another. This is a biggie. I use Isilo reader on both; and on iPad or even since iPhone days it has been a smooth scrolling experience with clear fonts. On Android it jerks and huffs and puffs and is aliased and looks like Times New Roman. Android tablet apps seem to get the short thrift of developer attention. They arrive later and often halfbaked.

 

[bwana]

Bwana, I'm sure we'll see a smaller iPad soon (which means you can stay with the Apple ecosystem). The 7/8" form factor is awesome for mobile use (take everywhere). The 10" pads are nicer for home/office use. Apple will miss an important change in market trends if they don't bring out a smaller iPad (which I suspect will replace the iPod Touch).

I'm not sure I would leave the 10" at home though. I was playing around with it just the other day and it hit me - here's a device I can take on the road on assignment and edit not only easily 18mp RAW images with but also full HD video, but for that the larger screen is a bonus. It's not as if I'm going to be able to slip it in my pocket and go, or am I?

Apple is going to be leaving a lot of money on the table if they don't answer the call - and some if that money will probably be mine.