Amazon Attacks Apple's iPad Mini On Their Website

[Scorbing]

Seems the folks at Amazon are not too happy about the iPad mini so they want to make their point across in a very visible way...LOL

See it at: www.amazon.com

[+virtorio MVC]

Not so much an attack as stating some basic facts.

With that screen at that price, the iPad mini is a joke.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Well, they're certainly not pulling the punches. To be fair I was very surprised that Apple went with such a low quality screen on the iPad mini, especially when it's noticeably lower quality than the competition (except for the Surface RT, which is even lower still).

[Scorbing]

Well, they're certainly not pulling the punches. To be fair I was very surprised that Apple went with such a low quality screen on the iPad mini, especially when it's noticeably lower quality than the competition (except for the Surface RT, which is even lower still).

The waited until the old man died to release it. I don't care what Tim Cook says, Jobs was never happy about the idea of releasing that atrocity and he was 100% against it.

[NotChetHanks]

I'm telling you, the only thing stopping Apples downfall since the death of Steve Jobs is the people that will blindly buy anything they make.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I'm telling you, the only thing stopping Apples downfall since the death of Steve Jobs is the people that will blindly buy anything they make.

But wasn't that the case before he died as well? It seems nothing has changed.

[NotChetHanks]

But wasn't that the case before he died as well? It seems nothing has changed.

I honestly don't think so. I think Steve actually loved this company. They might have been jack asses when it comes to business but he loved it. He never wanted an iPad mini and as soon as he died, they release one. I think Apple is entering the era of the bottom line. They are going to push out half assed products just trying to make money. Not realizing the focus on quality and user experience is what made the company what it is today.

[moloko]

Ipad mini is really flawed for what it is. Way over priced. Now this ad is an attack but it is right. For me, the Ipad mini is non news. It will either go away next year or big price cuts when they update it. It should be at 250$ and that would be competitive in the lower markets but still as a premium device.

[Scorbing]

If you really look at it specs wise, the iPad Mini is nothing more than an iPad 2 with a few enhanced extras. New camera, new WIFI, and iOS 6, and yes, the screen quality sucks compared to the Kindle HD, and yes, it is waaaaaaaay over priced. Apple doesn't stand a chance with that product. If they really want to compete, they need to stop being so damn greedy and lower the price on that thing, otherwise, they are dead in the water.

But wasn't that the case before he died as well? It seems nothing has changed.

I have to agree with you in a way. Apple seems lost after jobs died. Even at their new products shows, you can see the frustration on their faces. Tim Cook is not all there and Phil is even worst. On that last one they did, where they introduced the Ipad Mini, Phil seemed lost in space. He wasn't all there. Jobs died and it's like an airplane loosing its radar and GPS, they don't know which direction to go.

Did you all see the faces of the people at the last convention? When Phil announced the iPad 4? A lot of people were very serious. You can tell they were not too happy.

[Rymill]

That's is so aggressive of Amazon. But the new ipad mini is really not wothy its price. Won't buy it.

[Japlabot]

FWIW it is the cheapest device to get Siri with GPS + LTE Hotspot. iPod touch has Siri but no GPS + LTE. I think that the iPad Mini would make a good Car Navigation system once Apple Maps is sorted out, or use a 3rd Party mapping app (would it be compatible with Siri?). Also 9.7" is just too large for a Car display (too distracting for the driver) I have tried Android voice recognition and it just doesn't understand anything, unless there is something I have missed where there is an actual competitor to Siri on the market?

[tsupersonic]

FWIW it is the cheapest device to get Siri with GPS + LTE Hotspot. iPod touch has Siri but no GPS + LTE. I think that the iPad Mini would make a good Car Navigation system once Apple Maps is sorted out, or use a 3rd Party mapping app (would it be compatible with Siri?). Also 9.7" is just too large for a Car display (too distracting for the driver) I have tried Android voice recognition and it just doesn't understand anything, unless there is something I have missed where there is an actual competitor to Siri on the market?

Android Jelly Bean introduced a superior product (Google Now) compared to Siri, it understands a lot more, and it's extremely fast. There are plenty of videos on youtube comparing the two. Also, the voice on Android is a lot less 'robot-like' and more human like.

[aMindAmok]

Apple has made a fortune making mediocre products and selling them to people as status symbols. That has always been their statagy and like always will be. The devices look nice. They work well. They were inovative once. And they are priced specifically to entice hipsters that want to show off their money. Could the iPad mini be $250.00? Of course it could. But that would destroy the allure of the product. People buy it because it makes them feel important and successful. If the price was less that the next leading product, they would have to start selling other stuff for less. Eventually that would lead them to be competitors with Coby and their products would be sold at BigLots. Thus the cycle of Starbucks swilling hipster consumers purchasing apple products would vaporize. Apple would slide back to $28.00/share and the world economy would collapse.

[(Spork)]

Not so much an attack as stating some basic facts.

With that screen at that price, the iPad mini is a joke.

this ... i have to say the truth hurts and for apple im sure this is a much in the mouth

[Astra.Xtreme]

The Kindle has nice specs, and I agree that the price of the iPad Mini blows, but the Kindle is a massively crippled tablet. Their app store is terrible, which makes it almost useless except for basic tasks and Facebook. The Mini at least has the full App Store behind it, which makes it usable.

I think a tablet that small is pointless, but if I were to buy one of the two, the extra $130 for the Mini is much worth it for the million times more functionality you get with it.

[ACTIONpack]

Amazon does not have the iPad name to it. LOL

[br0adband]

Well, they're certainly not pulling the punches. To be fair I was very surprised that Apple went with such a low quality screen on the iPad mini, especially when it's noticeably lower quality than the competition (except for the Surface RT, which is even lower still).

Have you actually used a Surface yet? Had one in your hands, done stuff with it, used one for hours?

Just curious, because if you say "Yes, I have" then I'd question whether or not you actually did or were instead using some cheap Chinese KIRF product name Surfus or something because the Surface RT arguably has one of the finest displays ever put into a product of any kind.

There isn't a review out there yet from anybody that has said anything disparaging about the quality of that display so, I'm kinda curious to actually hear your reasoning on why you claim the Surface RT is even worse than the craptastic XGA display in the iPad mini.

If you're willing to share that line of reasoning, of course.

[seta-san]

Way over priced.

Apple Products.

[jakem1]

It's unfortunate that Apple promoted the idea that the only thing that matters in a good display is the pixel count. There's a lot more to a good display than just the resolution but nobody seems to remember that any more.

[Shadrack]

If I were competing with Apple on the small tablet, I would certainly be touting the poor quality of the screen especially when compared to others. Amazon is quite correct in their statement. If you want an even worse screen than the iPad Mini, go with an MS Surface.

It's unfortunate that Apple promoted the idea that the only thing that matters in a good display is the pixel count. There's a lot more to a good display than just the resolution but nobody seems to remember that any more.

No doubt, there is more to a good display than the PPI. But it is STILL important when we are talking about reading devices. If I had a choice between reading on a low PPI device versus a high PPI device, it really doesn't matter how much better color contrast or viewing angles the lower PPI device has because the higher PPI device will have better rending. No amount of screen trickery is going to make up for less pixels.

Now, if we are just talking about watching movies and playing games then 200+ ppi devices are going to be about the same as the 120-160ppi devices. Most people buy kindles for reading so Amazon is bringing up a really good point.

[TruckWEB]

Same thing would be true for the Nexus 7 VS iPad mini....

And soon, Nexus 10 VS iPad 4... Same price (for 32Gb) but better specs on the Nexus.

The only good thing going for Apple, it's the Apps Store. More good choice for tablet users.

[siah1214]

If I were competing with Apple on the small tablet, I would certainly be touting the poor quality of the screen especially when compared to others. Amazon is quite correct in their statement. If you want an even worse screen than the iPad Mini, go with an MS Surface.

Spoke like someone that has never used a Surface. I sat next to my friend today who had an iPad 3. Compared to my surface the screen looked dull and washed out, and as far as sharpness is concerned, the difference is not discernible unless you put your face 6 inches from the screen.

[Growled Member]

Not so much an attack as stating some basic facts.

With that screen at that price, the iPad mini is a joke.

I agree. I can't find a compelling reason to buy an iPad Mini for the price they are charging.

[techbeck]

Doesnt matter. The mini will still sell like crazy no matter if the facts are out in plain view or not. It's Apple...anything they touch seems to turn to gold. People associate Apple with being the best, And for a while, they were and was great when they were ahead of the competition. Now that the competition is getting greater, Apple really has not changed their strategy much. And why should they. They keep selling their products and making record profits. Will be interested to see how things change/if they change with WP8.

[Syanide]

The problem with Mini's screen isn't the pixel count, it's the size. They just went and scaled down the 10" version, ultimately proving Steve Jobs was right with his "sandpapering the finger" comment, because they've effectively just made everything on the screen smaller and harder to use. iOS has a resolution-locked UI, which is definitely turning into a problem, and Apple should have faced this instead of avoiding it. And to think of all the people laughing at Android's fragmentation regarding screen sizes.