Anyone else think it's strange how early the iPad was announced?

[Unspeaked]

There's a few things I find strange about the timing of this announcement:

1. Apple doesn't have the naming right cleared. They're now trying to get them.

2. The devices hadn't been cleared by the FCC.

3. They are not available for pre-order, even though the release date is supposedly two months away. I could understand if we were six months away from the release (like what happened with the original iPhone) but announcing such a huge product and giving an approximate release date that isn't too far into the future yet not even taking pre-orders seems very strange.

It's almost as if Apple really rushed the announcement before they were ready to for some reason. Either because they already had scheduled a media event or for some other reason.

Anyone notice this stuff, too? Am I just connecting dots between unrelated things?

 

[admanimal]

This is practically identical to the original iPhone launch. No surprises.

 

[msduncan]

There's a few things I find strange about the timing of this announcement:

1. Apple doesn't have the naming right cleared. They're now trying to get them.

2. The devices hadn't been cleared by the FCC.

3. They are not available for pre-order, even though the release date is supposedly two months away. I could understand if we were six months away from the release (like what happened with the original iPhone) but announcing such a huge product and giving an approximate release date that isn't too far into the future yet not even taking pre-orders seems very strange.

It's almost as if Apple really rushed the announcement before they were ready to for some reason. Either because they already had scheduled a media event or for some other reason.

Anyone notice this stuff, too? Am I just connecting dots between unrelated things?

It is driving me crazy that I can't yet preorder. Until I can get my order in I'm going to be obsessed.

 

[abijnk]

I think you are reading too much into it. The timing of the event makes a lot of sense to me. The reason is because they always have a January event. In the past the even was the MacWorld keynote. But since they aren't participating in that anymore it was reasonable to expect that they would hold their own standalone event.

As for the name trademark issues, it's a non-issue as far as timing goes. Apple has done this before. They have enough push and cash resets to get their way.

For pre-orders, Apple doesn't always do that, so it's not really surprising that they wouldn't necessarily do it this time. Also, when they have done it in the past the time period between release has been shorter than the 60 days for this launch. Also, the notify-me feature on the iPad site suggests that they'll open up orders before the release. Time will tell.

As for the FCC filings, we don't know that the iPad hasn't cleared yet. There are certain privacy measures that can be taken that will keep the FCC quiet for a while. Plus, the device doesn't need to clear before it's announced, just before it's launched. Apple is known for their secrecy, so it's no surprise we didn't see FCC papers.

 

[pmz]

Apple holds January and June main events, that's why.

 

[msduncan]

I think you are reading too much into it. The timing of the event makes a lot of sense to me. The reason is because they always have a January event. In the past the even was the MacWorld keynote. But since they aren't participating in that anymore it was reasonable to expect that they would hold their own standalone event.

As for the name trademark issues, it's a non-issue as far as timing goes. Apple has done this before. They have enough push and cash resets to get their way.

For pre-orders, Apple doesn't always do that, so it's not really surprising that they wouldn't necessarily do it this time. Also, when they have done it in the past the time period between release has been shorter than the 60 days for this launch. Also, the notify-me feature on the iPad site suggests that they'll open up orders before the release. Time will tell.

As for the FCC filings, we don't know that the iPad hasn't cleared yet. There are certain privacy measures that can be taken that will keep the FCC quiet for a while. Plus, the device doesn't need to clear before it's announced, just before it's launched. Apple is known for their secrecy, so it's no surprise we didn't see FCC papers.

I do suspect that they will open up for orders since they did make available the Notify Me button on all of the Announcement pages and the store as well. I really really don't want to have to take a day off to stand in line for one of these things at my local Apple Store.

 

[colmaclean]

Apple holds January and June main events, that's why.

Didn't Apple want out of Macworld due to the fact that they didn't want to be forced to announce products every January?

 

[Brammy]

There's a few things I find strange about the timing of this announcement:

1. Apple doesn't have the naming right cleared. They're now trying to get them.

2. The devices hadn't been cleared by the FCC.

3. They are not available for pre-order, even though the release date is supposedly two months away. I could understand if we were six months away from the release (like what happened with the original iPhone) but announcing such a huge product and giving an approximate release date that isn't too far into the future yet not even taking pre-orders seems very strange.

It's almost as if Apple really rushed the announcement before they were ready to for some reason. Either because they already had scheduled a media event or for some other reason.

Anyone notice this stuff, too? Am I just connecting dots between unrelated things?

Apple did the same thing with the iPhone. They announced early because they needed FCC approval, and the approval process for the FCC would make their plans public.

Therefore, they announced it now, then can start the FCC process.

 

[Unspeaked]

Apple did the same thing with the iPhone. They announced early because they needed FCC approval, and the approval process for the FCC would make their plans public.

Therefore, they announced it now, then can start the FCC process.

The iPhone was a little different - I know the FCC was involved in that one, too, but the announcement was to coincide with Macworld. As colmaclean points out, I thought the whole reason Apple pulled out of Macworld was so they could go with their own schedule and not January/June announcements.

The other difference is the original iPhone wasn't available for purchase until July of that year. This one is available in March - much closer to the event date (yet still no preorder).

I probably am reading too much into it all, but it strikes me as a whole lot of coincidences...

 

[rdowns]

I don't see why you think it was rushed. Apple set the date. I'm sure the invites didn't go out until they were sure they were ready to show it. They could have done this next month if they wanted to.

@abijnk We do know about FCC clearance. It was at the end of the Johnny Ive video.

 

[dagomike]

Once Apple applies the 3G model to the FCC, the gig is up. That's why it was announced now.

Also, a second announcement of an iDay, and the iDay itself, offer two more opportunities for media frenzy.

 

[iSwitchd]

Eventhough i will definitely be purchasing an iPad... I'm a little bummed they didn't wait for OS 4.0 for the release.

The GUI of the iPhone is a little tiresome to me, and I had hoped for something really refreshing looking. And I believe with 4.0 we will see multitasking...

So if they had waited for multitasking, I think they wouldn't be catching so much flack in the media regarding the iPad.

Oh well... I'll still be buying it the day of the release. (Or pre-ordering as soon as it will be available to do so, rather.)

 

[Sketh]

Not to mention they announced it now, and released the SDK so developers can get apps ready for the day it actually comes out.

A good two months head start will do wonders for the apps.

 

[cube]

It's not strange. It's obvious they didn't know how many to build.

 

[dagomike]

Eventhough i will definitely be purchasing an iPad... I'm a little bummed they didn't wait for OS 4.0 for the release.

The GUI of the iPhone is a little tiresome to me, and I had hoped for something really refreshing looking. And I believe with 4.0 we will see multitasking...

So if they had waited for multitasking, I think they wouldn't be catching so much flack in the media regarding the iPad.

Oh well... I'll still be buying it the day of the release. (Or pre-ordering as soon as it will be available to do so, rather.)

Certainly it would be great to have 4.0 now, but given the choice I'd rather have the iPad with 3.2 in March than iPad with 4.0 in July.

 

[below sea level]

Besides, if the release gets held up because the FCC is taking their time with the approval process, Apple can publicly use that as the reason and shift the blame to push things along. It's a gamble to announce before approval at all, but they wouldn't have done so if they weren't comfortable it would happen.

 

[rdowns]

Certainly it would be great to have 4.0 now, but given the choice I'd rather have the iPad with 3.2 in March than iPad with 4.0 in July.

There will be a new iPhone in June/July. No way would they release two new mobile devices at the same time.

 

[Unspeaked]

It's not strange. It's obvious they didn't know how many to build.

Won't that still be the case until they decide to take pre-orders?

 

[cube]

Won't that still be the case until they decide to take pre-orders?

Now that people know what the product is, they can ask in the street.

 

[firewood]

Not too early for developers!

You want apps for that?

I'll bet a lot of developers are scrambling to update their apps in time for the iPad's first shipments to customers. Especially for the more advanced/complicated apps. This code doesn't get specified, written, tested, and go through the App store approval cycle instantly.

 

[abijnk]

@abijnk We do know about FCC clearance. It was at the end of the Johnny Ive video.

That's entirely beside the point. The point is that it wouldn't matter either way as far as the timing of the announcement.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Eventhough i will definitely be purchasing an iPad... I'm a little bummed they didn't wait for OS 4.0 for the release.

The GUI of the iPhone is a little tiresome to me, and I had hoped for something really refreshing looking. And I believe with 4.0 we will see multitasking...

So if they had waited for multitasking, I think they wouldn't be catching so much flack in the media regarding the iPad.

Oh well... I'll still be buying it the day of the release. (Or pre-ordering as soon as it will be available to do so, rather.)

I think announcing it before OS4.0 is genius. They can control what people complain about. No multitasking, no flash, etc etc. They KNOW these things are missing and by not including it now they can pop up in March and say, 'hey, btw, we added multitasking' and whatever else new and all the people who complained will have to eat their "I'd buy it if it had XXX" words.

People would complain about it regardless, so seems better to give them something obvious to attach on that you know you can fix quickly.

Also, giving devs a couple months headstart on updating and creating new apps is only reasonable. The iPad's success will be defined by the apps it has available, and they want some good stuff in the app store on day one.

 

[colmaclean]

Has anyone considered the overhead of multitasking?

At the moment, each app knows it has a set amount of RAM to play with. Let more than one app run at a time and suddenly these expectations vanish.

The OS would require support for virtual memory so that if there isn't enough RAM, the running apps' states are preserved. This would lead to speed issues as app data is swapped in and out of RAM.

Sounds like a world of pain to me. But then again, that's how most conventional operating systems work...

 

[Jaro65]

Certainly it would be great to have 4.0 now, but given the choice I'd rather have the iPad with 3.2 in March than iPad with 4.0 in July.

The new iPhone is likely going to be based on 4.0. As soon as that happens, we'll likely be able to update the iPad as well.

 

[Legolover64]

I think the reason for the preorder is the FCC filing. The device has not yet been cleared (look at the end of the video, someone mentioned this earlier) by the FCC, and therefore cannot be sold. This includes "pre-selling" the iPad to someone.

Also, I am bummed out that all these sites say the wifi iPads are due late March, and the 3G iPads are due late April. Apple.com/ipad will show you that the 3G ones are due in April, with no "late" prepended.