Amazon Attacks Apple's iPad Mini On Their Website

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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).

i'm not really surprised, that seems to be apple's thing. remember they didn't put the retina display in the iPad 1 right away either.

i bet the iPad mini 2 will have the retina display and Apple will claim it's "innovative"

[jakem1]

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.

They're not just reading devices though and I'm willing to bet that most people only use them for reading a small amount of the time. The Kindle Fire wasn't designed as an e-reader, it was designed so Amazon could sell videos and games and that's what most people buy it for. If they want a reading device then people buy the e-Ink Kindle. Besides, you make it sound as if it's impossible to read anything on a screen with a lower PPI when the reality is that the majority of people quite happily spend most of their days in front of low PPI PC monitors.

Screen trickery may not make up for fewer pixels but more pixels won't make up for slow refresh rates, poor contrast, too much reflection, poor colour reproduction, poor viewing angles, etc. The reality is that the focus on PPI is just a p*ssing contest that uses numbers that are easy for foolish customers to understand. It only tells one small part of the story.

[Scorbing]

What saves Apple is their app store. There is absolutely no doubt that the Apple App Store is the best there is. The apps there are unrivaled by Android. There is simply no equal. As for the iPad Mini - it is way over priced. They should have done better.

[Doli]

Looks like a few Apple fans are giving the Kindle Fire bad reviews on the device store page. I don't know why Amazon lets anyone make reviews. It should be limited to people who ordered it from Amazon. This is why there are so many BS reviews.

[Shadrack]

They're not just reading devices though and I'm willing to bet that most people only use them for reading a small amount of the time.

Study? Reference? I'd say its just as likely that most people spend their time reading web sites on these small tablets. Going further, I would say that everyone does a little of everything on their tablets. Dismissing reading as an activity that goes on with tablets is pure silliness.

The Kindle Fire wasn't designed as an e-reader, it was designed so Amazon could sell videos and games and that's what most people buy it for. If they want a reading device then people buy the e-Ink Kindle. Besides, you make it sound as if it's impossible to read anything on a screen with a lower PPI when the reality is that the majority of people quite happily spend most of their days in front of low PPI PC monitors.

No I didn't. I said if given the option between a higher PPI and a lower PPI screen most people will go with the higher PPI screen as they will find reading on it easier on the eyes. PC Monitors don't fit into this equation at all and really aren't worth bringing up.

Screen trickery may not make up for fewer pixels but more pixels won't make up for slow refresh rates, poor contrast, too much reflection, poor colour reproduction, poor viewing angles, etc. The reality is that the focus on PPI is just a p*ssing contest that uses numbers that are easy for foolish customers to understand. It only tells one small part of the story.

All those things you are saying are "poor" don't really exist in high PPI (>160ppi) or low PPI (<160ppi) screens on any of these devices (iPad, Kindle Fire, Surface, Nexus, you name it). You are trying to base your argument on some hypothetical crappy device.

All of the >160ppi devices I've used still have:

*Excellent refresh rates

*Excellent color contrast

*Excellent color reproduction

*Excellent viewing angles

All of the devices (low or high PPI) have too much reflection in some lighting.

Which device are you speaking of that has poor everything but excellent PPI?

[Xilo]

What saves Apple is their app store. There is absolutely no doubt that the Apple App Store is the best there is. The apps there are unrivaled by Android. There is simply no equal. As for the iPad Mini - it is way over priced. They should have done better.

That's highly debatable. There's tons of crap apps on both sides and there's tons of good apps on both sides.

[tsupersonic]

What saves Apple is their app store. There is absolutely no doubt that the Apple App Store is the best there is. The apps there are unrivaled by Android. There is simply no equal. As for the iPad Mini - it is way over priced. They should have done better.

Yeah, that is changing very fast. Android is increasing rapidly in terms of market share, so developers are pushing hard for apps on Android. I would say the Apple app store has the upper hand now, but that won't be true soon, as developers can't ignore the Android marketshare. There is money to be made on both platforms. Now, Windows Phone and WebOS are where the app ecosystem really needs to improve, because neither platform has any significant markets share, and that's sad (not so much for WebOS - dead, but for Windows Phone).

[Axel]

I'm an iPad and iPhone user - still hooked into the ecosystem at the moment.

Having said this I do love this sort of aggressive competition in full swing. It really heats things up and is nothing but good for the consumer!

[Scorbing]

I got a friend that develops for both Android and iOS and he tells me that he prefers to develop for iOS because Apple pays way more than Google does.

[FloatingFatMan]

I got a friend that develops for both Android and iOS and he tells me that he prefers to develop for iOS because Apple pays way more than Google does.

Aside from the whole having to buy into the ecosystem BS because Apple refuse to allow you to develop on non-Apple platforms. So you have to factor in the costs of a Mac and Objective-C training.

[Axel]

Aside from the whole having to buy into the ecosystem BS because Apple refuse to allow you to develop on non-Apple platforms. So you have to factor in the costs of a Mac and Objective-C training.

I'm willing to bet a fair proportion use a hackintosh as a dev machine.

[game_over]

judging from the reviews its a pretty solid device, it seems to come out on top on everything except the display, which is massively disappointing.

(yes i know others have better specs, but that means nothing these days)

[Growled Member]

Ah, the truth really hurts, doesn't it?

[Scorbing]

Amazon is not correct about the iPad Mini sound. They claim it has mono sound. Well the guys at iFixit seem to disagree:

iFixit?s iPad Mini Teardown Reveals Its Stereo Speakers, Samsung Display

http://www.cultofmac.com/199215/ifixits-ipad-mini-teardown-reveals-its-stereo-speakers-samsung-display/

[cropcircles]

You have to appreciate Amazon making a clear picture for the buyer by stating the facts. And C-Squarez you are correct IMO as well that people will just "blindly" buy anything that says Apple.

[Scorbing]

You have to appreciate Amazon making a clear picture for the buyer by stating the facts. And C-Squarez you are correct IMO as well that people will just "blindly" buy anything that says Apple.

But see, that's the problem, Amazon is not correct about the iPad Mini. They have the facts wrong (that's why the pulled the ad out of their page)

If you are going to post claims about your competitors product, make sure you have your facts correct, otherwise it will make you look like an idiot. I am no Apple fanboy, but the truth is the truth.