[stevenj]

Honestly, I don't know why Apple would create an iPad mini.

I have an iPad 2 and absolutely love it. There isn't another tablet I'd trade it in for (other than an iPad 3). I surely wouldn't trade it in for an iPad mini.

Paul Buchheit once said: "If your product is great, it doesn't need to be good."

To me, the iPad is a great product. Focus on making it better.

As Steve Jobs has said: "It's what you don't do that matters most." (Paraphrased.)

[aik]

I agree with some others here -- the iPad is great, but "great" needs to be prefaced with a descriptor of what it is great at.

eBook reading is definitely one thing it is not especially good at in many cases. For the past 2 years I've been reading ebooks, and for the past 6 months I've been using an iPad for reading ebooks, and I've found it just too cumbersome in many cases -- you essentially need 2 hands to hold it, the screen size is unnecessarily large for 99% of books I read, and it's almost too large for using on-the-go.

(Regardless of whether you read electronic books, the simple fact is that very many people prefer ebooks to physical books, myself included, and have many very reasonable reasons why. There are also many reasons why it would seem that reading eBooks is one very reasonable use for the iPad.)

What about the alternatives?

The iPhone screen I find too small for many books (ie. if they have diagrams/pictures/graphs especially).

The Kindle (and other eInk eBook readers) I've found to be a pain to navigate to take notes/highlights on and are poor at displaying diagrams/pictures/graphs.

So from my experiences, I think a 7-8 inch one could be the sweet spot as long as:

1. I can use it with one hand (e.g. it's not too large or heavy).

2. Can be used to easily take notes and highlight.

3. Performs great (can flip pages quickly). (The Kindle Fire is excluded because of this point)

[pooriaazimi]

I have this issue as well. But, I think the answer is a better case (that you can hold the damn thing in one hand sitting in portrait on your lap and doesn't fall off), rather than a smaller iPad.

[berntb]

>>just too cumbersome

If you're reading literature, yes. But for full size pdf docs, you generally want more than 7". (I've heard people claim they regularly read A4 documents on 7", but never seen it...)

Also, my iPad 1 IPS screen blew me away. My new iPad screen is much better.

(I'd prefer an eInk A4 screen, when they get better page turns.)

[aik]

I agree, for pdf docs and magazines and things like that it's great for. I almost only read non-fiction though, where the layout is flexible (again except for images).

[mrtron]

Apple is just getting back to its roots of success - multiple product versions.

Obviously an iPod was amazing, but they captured a huge chunk of the market when they came out with the lesser Nano.

I think tablets are hitting the phase where it is less about the features and more about true mass market adoption. The key to this is grabbing the huge chunk of the more price sensitive buyers - who appear to be quickly running to the Nexus 7.

Apple and Google are fighting to make money on the backend from each tablet sold. Content distribution tax will likely propel one or both of them to new heights in revenue.

[stevenj]

>Obviously an iPod was amazing, but they captured a huge chunk of the market when they came out with the lesser Nano.

Why haven't we seen an iPhone Nano yet? Do you think we will? If so, why?

>I think tablets are hitting the phase where it is less about the features and more about true mass market adoption. The key to this is grabbing the huge chunk of the more price sensitive buyers - who appear to be quickly running to the Nexus 7.

Hm, you may be right about that. But my question then is what will the iPad Mini not have that the iPad does have, other than a smaller screen and less storage space?

[Tyrannosaurs]

There are a whole load of reasons why we've not seen an iPhone Nano but primarily I think it's that a smaller screen is just a bad form factor for a smart phone. where the move is generally towards larger screens and the current iPhone screen is already seen by many as too small.

Beyond that there are a host of practical things - that getting everything into the existing phone at that size is already a challenge, battery life given the need for a far smaller battery, developers having to cope with another screen resolution.

[mrtron]

I believe the reason we don't have an iPhone Nano is battery life. The minimum size you can make the iPhone with acceptable battery life is the current form factor.

Given the current rate of improvement for batteries I would wager we don't see an iPhone Nano for quite a while. It took a long time for iPods to shrink for similar reasons.

[Tyrannosaurs]

> Apple and Google are fighting to make money on the backend from each tablet sold. Content distribution tax will likely propel one or both of them to new heights in revenue.

Not based on what we're seeing from Apple so far. Right now Apple make the vast majority of their money from hardware, relatively little from content. Google may have a different model (they're certainly not making anything if much from the Nexus 7 hardware) but the competition in the content market at the moment means that there's not a huge profit to be made there.

[raganesh]

>who appear to be quickly running to the Nexus 7

Citation please? Has it even started shipping yet? Google is still talking orders, right?

[melling]

Market share. Windows has had over 90% desktop market share for almost two decades. If Apple doesn't address the low end of the market, Google or Microsoft will squeeze them into a niche player again.

[Shivetya]

As others have chimed in, the smaller iPad is better suited for one handed holding. An example, reading at the breakfast table. The iPad ended up laying on the table which was not ideal, the Fire was thumb scrolled kept upright in my left while I ate, like a newspaper.

Kids. The regular iPad is not only too large for them it is too expensive too. The apps are very good, the price and insurance on it are not. Face it, kids will break things. Some will say, don't let them play with it. Well to them I ask, then what is the point?

I have the iPad2, Kindle Fire, and a Kindle Touch. The Touch really spoils you on weight. Can't wait for the day a fully functional table appears at that size and weight. Fully functional means the screen works inside or outside.

[greendestiny]

Kids love the ipod touch and its mostly used as a gaming device. It also serves to stop more price sensitive buyers (particularly parents) from going down the Android route. I think this is going to replace the iPod touch (if it goes well) but will almost certainly be 1024x768 and run iPad apps. Hell its pretty obvious Apple have told Gruber the specs on this one way or another.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Reading books. If you spend a lot of time reading novels, the iPad is waaaaay to big. 7ish inches is about the right size.

[nirvana]

I have a Retina iPad and I would trade it for an iPad mini.

The iPhone is small enough to use every day, but it compromises in its smallness. The iPad is great- probably the best web browsing experience anywhere, and with apps like Flipboard and iBooks, etc, I just love it.

But the iPad is too big. I use it a lot less because it is too cumbersome.

An iPad mini might give me the greatness of the iPad in a smaller package. I don't know if it will be small enough to go with me all the time or not.

I can say one thing for certain: If it is under $400, I will buy one, no question.

[stevenj]

Interesting.

Why and how is it cumbersome for you?

I agree that reading a book on it isn't the best experience. But I personally just don't read many books anymore. I'm very selective as to the books I read now, as oppose to even 3 - 5 years earlier. And the ones I choose to read, I still prefer them in a physical copy. And I think, generally, people will continue reading (and buying) less books going forward, so trying to create an ebook reader would be a mistake.

>I don't know if it will be small enough to go with me all the time or not.

For me, the thing that'll always go with me (in addition to an iPhone) is a MacBook Air.

>I can say one thing for certain: If it is under $400, I will buy one, no question.

But will you buy a second and third one at some point? Or will you mostly be buying it for novelty reasons? I just don't see an iPad mini being a hit product that generates repeat customers.

[bradleyland]

> Why and how is it cumbersome for you?

I don't mean to pick on you, but this is a totally unfair question. Some guys wear boxers while others prefer briefs. They find aspects of one or the other uncomfortable.

Some people find the weight/size of the iPad cumbersome. It's a matter of personal experience, not some objective metric. What you really want to know (if you're Apple) is how many people aren't buying iPads because they find them cumbersome.

[philh]

> Why and how is it cumbersome for you?

I don't personally have a full-sized tablet or a smartphone. But I have a Playbook (7"), and one of the main ways I use it is lying in bed, on my side, with one hand on top to keep it upright and scroll with. I get the feeling an iPad would be too big for that.

[jasomill]

That's exactly how I'm using my retina iPad right now — it works great.