Flashback: the iPad is not just a large iPhone, but never fulfilled its potential

02 February 2020
The tablet market is shrinking, leaving the iPad a big fish in a small pond. It's not the big money maker like the iPhone and now the AirPods.

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400mill is no joke and jobs was right... It is neither a laptop nor a phone. It doesn't need to be one. It is perfect as it is. True not every career is possible with ipad pro, but same goes for laptop as well. In my country, i have seen numerous people use ipads in nursing homes, as a menu view in restros, as a notepad in colleges, as a dock control in shops. The use is numerous. I absolutely love it qnd can't live without it. Playing pubg, taking notes, drawing illustrations, watching movies on the go is better than any smartphone in the planet. Even 9.7 inch feels small. I will move to ipad 12.9 this year.

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    • Anonymous
    • 6vx
    • 02 Feb 2020

    potato4k, 02 Feb 2020What kind of “potential” did the writer expect for the iPad... moreApple might rule tablet marketplace , but the market itself is shrinking, as players and consumers leave it. And that means that idea of iPad didn't live up to expectations. You're mistaking market concentration with market growth. Tablet market doesn't grow. They were once a thing, when laptops weighted 5 pounds (2.3kg) , had huge bezels and lasted 2 hrs on web browsing. That's no longer a case. And for something which is not as mobile as smartphone and not as practical as laptop, iPads live in a rather niche market.

      What kind of “potential” did the writer expect for the iPad? I mean look at the market today, and iPad pretty much rules the tablet market. The rest of Android tablets are just toys to entertain toddlers.

      Jobs wanted to make a “computer” appliance. The iPad, imo, managed to fulfill that potential. It’s just that the tech bloggers and geeks are expecting something else.

        I use tablet mostly for reading, sometimes watching movie/series. Usage of tablet with w10 is way different however. Cannot replace full size computers or hi performing laptops, but its just matter of time as cloud computing gets better.

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          • Anonymous
          • xj5
          • 02 Feb 2020

          If they allow apps to be installed from web or downloadable like android does it would be a whole different story. i my self have the ipad air 2 i find it good for web browsing and spotify while training other than that is complete useless.

            • L
            • Love the Community
            • Fv4
            • 02 Feb 2020

            The glorious PC Gaming Master Race prevented that from happening. Gamers and Internet Cafe owners contributed a little bit more money than the overall iPad sales.

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              • Anonymous
              • vry
              • 02 Feb 2020

              Post PC world.

              Nice try, Jobs.

              Lul

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                • Sboy
                • 3xa
                • 02 Feb 2020

                If you're making phones with bigger screen the need for tablet is much less.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • PZa
                  • 02 Feb 2020

                  I was one of those guilty of claiming it's just a large iPhone when it was released. Having bought one initially for use as a screen for an IP cam, I had to admit that it was something else and was better than an iPhone or laptop for surfing the internet and watching YouTube.

                    • I
                    • I'mPhone
                    • thv
                    • 02 Feb 2020

                    I had a first-gen Galaxy Tab, then the iPad 2.

                    The Galaxy Tab was one of the first tablets I had, but it's let down by laggy UI and chipset. While the tablet won't play demanding games, I like the idea of the wireless calling feature. It is a Bluetooth-connected earpiece (resembles modern-day wireless earphones). It allows you to make calls with it. Cool feature, so actually wireless earphones are already there since long time ago.

                    Then realizing how slow the Tab is (it also caught malware), I moved to the iPad. It is a great tablet. It can run demanding games that time (Asphalt 6, Sims Freeplay, Shadow Guardian, MC3/MC4) and it's generally a lot faster. It's a lot more sturdy than the plasticky Tab. Camera is passable, too. OS is refined and you're in the Apple ecosystem.

                    Apple was a legend of innovation (also quality) a long time ago. Now it's not (although it still sells great devices with high quality), the innovation is already gone. Samsung is a catch-up in terms of quality. Look at old gen Samsung Note and S series, they were a flop (I knew because I had a Note 3 and iPhone 5).

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                      • AnonD-889996
                      • Kx1
                      • 02 Feb 2020

                      [deleted post]Apple would never make iPad a laptop replacement. It would hurt their MacBook sales

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                        • Cs
                        • wpi
                        • 02 Feb 2020

                        I still own the ipad 1

                          Doesn't matter how big my daily smartphone , I would always need to have an iPad.

                            • g
                            • gilda
                            • S1c
                            • 02 Feb 2020

                            Ipads and anything running iOS are too limited. No torrents, no .exe files, everything through itunes. Had the Pro 10.5 and the only use was web browsing and ebooks...now got a Surface Go and its a whole other world.

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