Features - QOTW: How can Apple improve the iPad 3?

[kalniel]

I'm not going to defend Apple on this, but we are all in danger of being hypocrites on this subject. Our homes are *full* of stuff made under similar conditions. Maybe you're the exception, but none of us can hold the moral highground here. Not unless we're typing on a ZXSpectrum made in.. well, I'm guessing a British Leyland plant, based on the fact the first one family bought was broken.

Agreed, but we don't have to give up if we can't change everything - small improvements are better than nothing, and changing a giant like Apple has a greater effect than many others.

[Hicks12]

Apple has extremely high profit margins so id be suprised if they couldnt move it to £300 and increase manufacturing and still make a sizeable profit!.

As others have said it works for people(alot ofpeople...) and others it doesnt . Like the original question how can apple improve the ipad3, for me what was what i posted lol, it has to be massive changes for me to be interested. Alot of lecturers in my university have had ipads and its funny how many of them say sorry cant do x y and z due to the ipad... funny how computing lecturers are getting ipads! Interesting listening to lecturer slate Apple

Apple is brilliant at marketing, imagine if Microsoft and Apple when together... they would be taking over the world with amazing software and amazing marketing .

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

As others have said it works for people(alot ofpeople...) and others it doesnt . Like the original question how can apple improve the ipad3, for me what was what i posted lol, it has to be massive changes for me to be interested. Alot of lecturers in my university have had ipads and its funny how many of them say sorry cant do x y and z due to the ipad... funny how computing lecturers are getting ipads! Interesting listening to lecturer slate Apple

Apple funds equipment grants for research groups and also reduces the price of its hardware and software for academia.

[crossy]

Apple has extremely high profit margins so id be suprised if they couldnt move it to £300 and increase manufacturing and still make a sizeable profit!.

that was my understanding too - else why are other manufacturers not being singled out for the accusations of worker abuse. Of is Apple's high profile merely making it the obvious target?

Apple is brilliant at marketing, imagine if Microsoft and Apple when together... they would be taking over the world with amazing software and amazing marketing .

That sir, would be my idea of hell - so we'd have locked in hardware, running locked in software, "supported" by patronising s.o.b.'s, and with a legal department that makes the Inquisition look laid-back! Ugh!

While I'd freely admit that Windows7 is pretty darn good, and Windows8 is shaping up to be just as good, if not better, anyone associated with Office2007 definitely can't be described as making "amazing software". That said, I'm happier with the abortion that's the Office2007+ UI than I am with Cannonical's "Unity" interface.

Yes, I know this was off-topic...

[3dcandy]

not really interested in ipads because of all of the above, apart from music apps where the fragmentation of android means tablets are next to useless as the latency is way too high...

So for me, USB and MIDI and I'd be interested...

[crossy]

not really interested in ipads because of all of the above, apart from music apps where the fragmentation of android means tablets are next to useless as the latency is way too high... So for me, USB and MIDI and I'd be interested...

Good point - I note that Apple themselves are using some music sequencer gizmo in their latest adverts. Maybe when/if Galaxy Tab's and Transformer Prime's are perceived as "cool" then we'll see someone doing similar hardware for the (more expandable!) Android gear - I'm actually a bit surprised that someone hasn't already "stepped up to the plate" on this.

As to "android fragmentation" that's just a piece of FUD (put about by Apple?). All the proper Android tablets (i.e. not including the £99-and-you-get-a-choccy-bar-too no brand knock-offs) will either be running Honeycomb or, increasingly so, ICS. Oh, and the Asus tablet has USB - as do some from Toshiba and Leonovo (and there's probably others out there).

[3dcandy]

Ahh you misunderstand me...because of hardware differences the audio latency is all over the place, not because of android differences...

[crossy]

Ahh you misunderstand me...because of hardware differences the audio latency is all over the place, not because of android differences...

- ah, the light dawns, sorry my mistake - good point.

Here's an (off-topic!) thought - if Qualcomm, Samsung, etc and more especially NVidia want their mobile chipsets taken seriously for on-the-go content creation, (which is surely where tablets score over desktops - arguably), then they maybe need to look more at this aspect. Either that or maybe someone needs to do a kind of "dongle" that the tablet just acts as a front end to? Sorry, I'm just spitballing now...

[McPhee]

I bet they do drop the price again. The first iPad started at £429. The iPad 2 started at £399. The iPhone has also seen hefty price drops (on contract) recently, the 4S is now available from free on a £30/month, 24 month contract (Three via mobiles.co.uk). All signs point to Apple lowering their prices to become ever more mass market.

As for what I'd like to see? A higher resolution display would do me. Other than that, it's software changes which aren't so relevant here.

[[GSV]Trig]

I dont think they need to lower the prices tho, if the ipad3 comes in at the same base price as the ipad2 then they are still dictating the price of other tablets.

[3dcandy]

I feel we might even see an ipad 2s - thus justifying the £100 premium.
Regarding the android tablets stuff, it's again because they all have slightly different connectors...if someone brought out a standard(ish) connector you'd see a huge amount of docks etc. springing up. Best feature of the ipad imho is the standard dock connector

[[GSV]Trig]

Yeah, one thing that the ipad has going for it is its standardisation, there are two many people making Android tablets and they all seem to differ, you say you have an ipad2 theres 2 questions, 3g/wifi and how much space does it have..

[crossy]

I feel we might even see an ipad 2s - thus justifying the £100 premium.

How about just discontinuing the iPad2 and then relaunching it as the "iPad3s" at a lower price point? You never know they might pick up some particularly stupid fans updating 2->3s because of the "better" badge...

Regarding the android tablets stuff, it's again because they all have slightly different connectors...if someone brought out a standard(ish) connector you'd see a huge amount of docks etc. springing up. Best feature of the ipad imho is the standard dock connector

I thought there was a rumour that the iPad3 (or maybe it was the iPhone5) was going to introduce a better/new connector?

Off-topic: Looking at the charger/data cable for a Samsung Galaxy Tab in HMV at the weekend and it looks very similar to the one on my Asus Transformer. If it is the same physical form factor I'm left wondering what the chances are that the pin assignment is the same? That said, you're absolutely right - a standard connector is needed, the same way that most (/all?) Android phones seem to use microUSB, (the cable I'm using for my SE X10 cable from an HP TouchPad).

[McPhee]

It's not just the connector, it's connector placement. Peripherals are so easy to make for Apple gear simply because Apple standardise the connector's location. The iPhone 4S will fit in to the dock I got with my 3rd Gen iPod from 2003! It's not a perfect fit, obviously, but it isn't bad. From generation to generation the dock barely changes.
Compare that to even a single Android manufacturer and you quickly realise the problem. They can't keep their USB connectors in the same place, even from one generation to the next. The form factor changes rapidly, they're always fiddling with the arrangement of the internals and things like USB connectors are plonked wherever there is room. If a single manufacturer can't keep it's own product line uniform then what chance is there of cross-manufacturer co-operation?

Still, I suspect this will all become rather pointless in a few years anyway. Dock connectors are fast becoming old news as everything moves wireless.

[shaithis]

They could stop using 4 year olds to manufacturer them....just look at the poor blighters, I'm surprised they can even lift an iPad!

[crossy]

Still, I suspect this will all become rather pointless in a few years anyway. Dock connectors are fast becoming old news as everything moves wireless.

Hope so, I see how easily the rest of the family get on with their TouchPad's and having to physically plug in my Transformer looks a bit old-fashioned. Again, maybe this is somewhere where Google could take a lead.

Interesting to see/hear that most think the much expected Galaxy S3 is expected to move to inductive charging (to keep the thing thin), and wasn't that also mooted for iPhone5?