ipad negativity similar to this site's reaction to first ipod...

[thermal]

Here's a frame of reference for the ipad negativity: a link to this forum for when the original ipod was introduced:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

Some of the comments:

Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve!

I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!

All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.

 

[Hawkwind]

Here's a frame of reference for the ipad negativity: a link to this forum for when the original ipod was introduced:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

I've been reading the various fora over the last few days... just get a feeling that there's been a slight mood swing back to the ipad and rationality after the intial kneejerk reactions.

As with most things, those unhappy shout far louder and distort the image a bit.

 

[Bodhi395]

Exactly, everytime a new device comes out there are always people complaining and pointing out all the flaws. Yet, Apple usually comes out the ones who knew what they were doing in the end.

Oh, and about the people complaining about the name iPad, I'm sure they were the same that thought iPod was a dumb name which made no sense too.

 

[cjthebest]

Here's a frame of reference for the ipad negativity: a link to this forum for when the original ipod was introduced:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

Some of the comments:

Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve!

I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!

All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.

WOW! Thanks for posting that, it is really interesting! I think that the iPad will turn out to be as big of an success as the iPod. Apple is a billion dollar company, they know what they are doing.

 

[bozzykid]

Just because a few people didn't like the initial iPod doesn't mean it correlates to the iPad. Heck, I wasn't a fan of the first iPod myself even after having one. However, the iPad is not a new product in a sense that it is using the same platform as the iPod Touch. So really, any comparisons to the reactions to the initial iPod isn't really related and certainly can't be used to predict the future.

 

[G4R2]

I've been reading the various fora over the last few days... just get a feeling that there's been a slight mood swing back to the ipad and ratonality after the intial kneejerk reactions.

As with most things, those unhappy shout far louder and distort the image a bit.

The same has been true for almost every Apple product release. I would never blame people for sincerely not wanting a product from any manufacturer. People who are disappointed by their own expectations is another matter and they sadly diminish the quality of discussions on this board.

 

[Eidorian]

Just because a few people didn't like the initial iPod doesn't mean it correlates to the iPad. Heck, I wasn't a fan of the first iPod myself even after having one. However, the iPad is not a new product in a sense that it is using the same platform as the iPod Touch. So really, any comparisons to the reactions to the initial iPod isn't really related and certainly can't be used to predict the future.

We're at the top of the mountain with content stores and an application repository but the iPad is called a gamble after Apple's successes with devices.

Linking back to the original iPod thread is becoming the knee jerk defense mechanism. It isn't just 5 GB of songs in your pocket. Everyone knows about Apple, the iPod/iPhone, and hell froze over for iTunes.

I just don't see the connection in negativity between the iPod launch in 2001 and the recent iPad one.

 

[KnightWRX]

I just don't see the connection in negativity between the iPod launch in 2001 and the recent iPad one.

And let's face it, it's not like the iPod as launched in 2001 was a huge overnight success. It saw very bad sales numbers for the first year. And it was "just another MP3 player". Except the MP3 player market was booming and was poised to destroy the portable CD market.

The tablet market ? Not so much.

There are enough key differences between both products/announcements/markets that you can't reliably try to draw conclusions from the iPod's history.

 

[bbadalucco]

Just because a few people didn't like the initial iPod doesn't mean it correlates to the iPad. Heck, I wasn't a fan of the first iPod myself even after having one. However, the iPad is not a new product in a sense that it is using the same platform as the iPod Touch. So really, any comparisons to the reactions to the initial iPod isn't really related and certainly can't be used to predict the future.

Its everyone who presented the product at the media event last weeks fault...I mean they were acting like they just created something that nobody had ever seen before and that its just amazing...ITs Magical!

Sure it could be cool and will probably gain popularity over time...but the reaction/marketing to it was WAY overdone!

 

[uraniumwilly]

The similarity between the iPod criticism and the ipad criticism is people blurt out before: 1) carefully examining what's going on with the players in the industry; 2) respectfully and rationally deliberating on its faults and attributes without all the "ha ha's" "LOL's" and GOTCHA!'s. (Whoever it was that portrayed nerds as polite victims REALLY was an idiot.)

People like to dis the reigning champion. In this case it's Apple. To them I say: "Yawn."

Also, trolls have no life. Really. The kinds of personalities you find here on the ipad forum, babbling on and on about a product that has not had its industry potential hashed out is the equivalent to hanging out at a high school online bulletin board.

 

[ARF900]

heh good point, I think that as with the iPod, people misread what apple wants the ipad to be used for, I dont think this is a netbook killer, this the internet on your coffee table, I just think its a bit pricey, but for a 1st gen product the future is bright.

 

[IBradMac]

Its everyone who presented the product at the media event last weeks fault...I mean they were acting like they just created something that nobody had ever seen before and that its just amazing...ITs Magical!

Sure it could be cool and will probably gain popularity over time...but the reaction/marketing to it was WAY overdone!

How do you expect them to announce it?

Yeah, we got this new device. We're calling it the iPad. It's just like all the others ones out there but ours is cooler, so you should but it.

The keynote is a sales pitch.

 

[FCDP]

While the comparison doesn't make much sense when you bring up the fact that the iPod was something new, and the iPad resembles more of a rehashed idea that already exists (iPhone, iPod Touch).The real reason there is so much disappointment over the iPad, were the lavish expectations based on nothing more then the hype being generated by all the tech blogs and speculators.

But seeing how the iPhone and iPod Touch launched, Apple has always kept things simple. Apple has provided a new platform for Developers, in which to come up with new and interesting ways of taking advantage of this new larger screen format. Look at the iPhone. If you take away all the amazing third party apps, it really is just a glorified smartphone with a really good web browser. The email client is pretty basic, yeah it does MMS, and has an iPod built it, but again, it's very basic.

Now look at the iPad, it's the same foundation, and they've even provided a little inspiration of what kind of UI functionality Apps can do with iWork. It's up to the third party Developers to take the ball and run with it.

 

[Julien]

While the comparison doesn't make much sense when you bring up the fact that the iPod was something new, and the iPad resembles more of a rehashed idea that already exists (iPhone, iPod Touch)...

There were many MP3 players available when the iPod was introduced so it wasn't "something new". On the other hand there aren't any tablets available so the iPad is new. As far as being a rehash of the iPhone/iTouch this is incorrect. It will run legacy Apps (big plus) but by the time it's introduced there will be 100's or 1000s of iPad specific Apps that won't/can't run on the iPhone. Just look at iPad's Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Contacts, Safari...etc and you can clearly see that this is all new with features not available on the iPhone or even OS X versions.

 

[Full of Win]

As a counterpoint, how many people here thought the iTV, later to become the Apple TV was going to revolutionize media as we knew it? We all know how that turned out.

 

[Eidorian]

On the other hand there aren't any tablets available so the iPad is new.

I don't think it's 2001 anymore.

 

[ElectricHermit]

History does repeat itself in this way.

This time is a little different, though. With the iPod and iPhone, Apple was entering established markets so their 1st generation products were premium devices targeted at rich consumers - key features being revolutionary new ones like the scroll wheel or multi-touch. A lot of opposition each time came from disgruntled Apple fans worried that Apple was losing its Mac focus, complaints of 'style over substance', and of course the high cost.

With the iPad, Apple wants to create a new product category. So the product's key feature is price. It's evolutionary so that iPad can leverage the iTunes ecosystem and App Store right away.

This, of course, makes complete sense. Just consider on the alternative: a $900 entry-level tablet, with a new hybrid Mac/touch OS, with no existing 3rd party apps. Sounds great to some people, but it would be D.O.A. sales-wise. And what good is that?

I was disappointed on Wednesday because I was expecting at least some of the rumored 'good new bit of sexy', the 'steep learning curve', the 3D UI, the facial recognition... but a few days later I can see why it has to be this way to succeed. And I do want one... just give us multitasking Steve?

 

[alent1234]

with the ipod there was a big demand at the time for digital purchasing of individual songs. that's the reason why Napster and other p2p "services" started. people wanted music without going to the store. iTunes with it's minimal DRM became a trusted way to buy music. PlaysforSure was hated even by us Microsoft fans. and the ipod was a niche product until 2002 or 2003 when Apple released iTunes for Windows. Most ipod/iphone users are still Windows users.

iPhone is still the best smartphone even with it's limitations and it launched when smartphones started crossing over from the business user to the consumer

the iPad is trying to fill some perceived niche between smartphones and laptops. netbooks are popular because they are cheap. you can buy 4 for the price of one MBP. and they run everything short of 3D games and other RAM heavy apps.

people were expecting the iPad to offer portability, low price and the ability to do anything a laptop can. or most things. the idea is you buy an extra device to use the internet on or whatever instead of using your laptop. Apple crippling the software to tie it to itunes to make you buy stuff is what people don't like.

and this time there will be a lot of competition without the idiocy of PlaysforSure to keep it back. HP Slate is already said to run a full version of Windows 7. Same size and price as the iPad, similar specs but the freedom to run almost anything a laptop can.

 

[FCDP]

Just look at iPad's Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Contacts, Safari...etc and you can clearly see that this is all new with features not available on the iPhone or even OS X versions.

Which is my point exactly at the end of my post. The iPad has created a new platform for developers. Whether the iPad succeeds or fails is in the devs hands, not Apples (except for the part where Apple either approves or denies their apps... ).

 

[sumzero]

Rob Sheridan Posted this on his Twitter.

I saw this the other day it was hilarious

 

[dukebound85]

WOW! Thanks for posting that, it is really interesting! I think that the iPad will turn out to be as big of an success as the iPod. Apple is a billion dollar company, they know what they are doing.

hows that cube, apple tv working out?

 

[sumzero]

History does repeat itself in this way.

This time is a little different, though. With the iPod and iPhone, Apple was entering established markets so their 1st generation products were premium devices targeted at rich consumers - key features being revolutionary new ones like the scroll wheel or multi-touch. A lot of opposition each time came from disgruntled Apple fans worried that Apple was losing its Mac focus, complaints of 'style over substance', and of course the high cost.

With the iPad, Apple wants to create a new product category. So the product's key feature is price. It's evolutionary so that iPad can leverage the iTunes ecosystem and App Store right away.

This, of course, makes complete sense. Just consider on the alternative: a $900 entry-level tablet, with a new hybrid Mac/touch OS, with no existing 3rd party apps. Sounds great to some people, but it would be D.O.A. sales-wise. And what good is that?

I was disappointed on Wednesday because I was expecting at least some of the rumored 'good new bit of sexy', the 'steep learning curve', the 3D UI, the facial recognition... but a few days later I can see why it has to be this way to succeed. And I do want one... just give us multitasking Steve?

Well see this isn't really creating an all new market it... its kind of stealing the light from netbooks & Ereaders... I don't care what people say it will be a cool E-reader...plus as soon as apple scores a deal where you can buy a real book and get a digital copy I am sold.

 

[Yr Blues]

I bought the first gen iPod when it came out. I needed that. It had 5 gig harddrive and a great interface. nothing else like it at the time.

the ipad isn't for me right now. macbook and iphone is all i'll ever need.

 

[bobob]

The same has been true for almost every Apple product release. I would never blame people for sincerely not wanting a product from any manufacturer. People who are disappointed by their own expectations is another matter and they sadly diminish the quality of discussions on this board.

+1

 

[wackymacky]

Just because a few people didn't like the initial iPod doesn't mean it correlates to the iPad. Heck, I wasn't a fan of the first iPod myself even after having one. However, the iPad is not a new product in a sense that it is using the same platform as the iPod Touch. So really, any comparisons to the reactions to the initial iPod isn't really related and certainly can't be used to predict the future.

Too true!

If we didn't already have the iPhone 3G and the app store and Apple unveiled the iPad we would have all been blown away.

The iPad is a great device, it's just not novel, and we were all expecting something new.