Absolutely, I get why they did it, and its a nice device (if a bit big for me). However I feel its more about getting it into as many markets as possible as well.
Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android. Its no secret that HN is heavily biased against Apple (and to some extent MS). I don't know, must be all the Google employees here or something. Its always interesting to watch how these conversations turn out. Its been getting a lot more noticeable over the years on here.
No its more like people being interested in the application, finding value in it and actually wanting to buy it. When I got my Nexus 7 it came with £15 free content on the play store and I couldn't even spend it all because there was so little quality applications available.
I got my ipad mini on an impulse buy (actually was after I went to Apple's website to see the apology thing) and looking over the design and spec's and went to my local Tesco's to pick one up. Its a really impressive device, way lighter feeling than my busted Nexus 7 and with a nicer balanced screen. Its really tough feeling as well. Not to mention fast, its just snappier feeling and im getting 12+ hours battery from it as well. Great all round device.
It wasn't even technology blogs per say, they were talking about it in the Guardian and BBC online. It was rumor for months and spreading by word of mouth. My granny was talking about getting one before it was actually released and she doesn't have a clue what a blog is, she found out from friends at the bowls. True story :)
Well, I consider myself a 'normal' consumer and I was waiting for an ipad mini and I think you consider that a proof (of sorts). I don't think its much of a leap in logic to work out that a lot (hundreds of thousands...millions even) were waiting off for something like a smaller ipad. I mean it was in practically every technology blog prior to announcement.
I have always wondered what the probability of hitting a near-c object/dust particle/micrometeorite is between solar systems is within the galaxy. No doubt a near-c object (of any size) would end up trashing a spaceship, but whats the chances of it actually happening? Is it significant?
Looks like your opinion is not welcome on HN anymore. Unless we are bashing Apple and praising Android its not going to get anywhere in afraid. I completely agree with you on all those points, for instance if it was an Apple device it would be 'featured' on HN every day for weeks ripe for the trashing. Its an uninspired device with little to offer, built down to a price to undercut to competition.
I didn't when I got a cheap device that was faulty and fell apart more than once. I have since decided it is a false economy. 159 quid plastic tablet vs 259 quid aluminium one is what it comes down to for me. The extra 100 quid gives me as the consumer a much more pleasurable device that's much more durable and lasts longer. It pays for itself because I can actually use it before it breaks. That's just my experience so far.
Google and amazon have started a race to the bottom and no one will win that way. It has to be profitable for all concerned otherwise there is no point.
I went to the page to see what all the bother was about and ended up buying an iPad mini (to replace nexus 7). Thanks Samsung. You can't pay for this publicity.
The UK legal system is a complete joke. Apple should consider using its considerable resources to take legal action with this demand and simply post " X is not as cool as Y" and leave it at that. I can not fathom why this has been pulled up, and would challenge the appeals court to explain why the original passage is non-compliant and if they cant give a reasonable answer I would be meeting them in court.
Yeah I have had that experience about 4 times now, like you said, when cracked its completely useless. I broke the first one by sitting the device on the top of a stack of books and research material and then proceeding to pick that bundle up. My thumb holding the nexus 7 and that was enough to put a split from corner to corner. I have given up on the device and Android. I went back to using my old ipad 1 which has been dropped and thrown about for 2-3 years now and not even a scratch or buff on the back and certainly no cracks or chips on the screen. I made the mistake of getting a nexus 7 for my brother and both parents and they have ALL had problems with it (each was about £209 in the UK). They are all getting ipads now.
This is exactly how I feel, there is no comparison, Siri is king of the hill for an Engineer like me. I use it all the time (in very noisy environments think power plant levels of noise) to set appointments, countdown timers/alarms, dictating texts, opening applications (as well as playing songs or other content) and asking it Engineering calculations with the help of Wolfram Alpha integration. Google's attempt can barely understand me at times and is useless in every other sense.
I think its terrible, perhaps its just my Scottish accent which is probably one of the harder English speaking languages to account for however its especially terrible. Siri doesn't have very many problems with me, but the Google services on my iphone and now guffed Nexus 7 were really terrible to the point it was embarrassing how inaccurate it was.
I use Siri a lot, and its powerful because it actually feels par of the phone. I can actually do useful things with it.
Oh yeah, another pro Android/Amazon/Google anti-Apple comment/article/submission. This is not getting tired, not one little bit. This specific point has been covered recently as well. While this points out select bits where 'on paper' the Kindle HD is 'better' its not the entire story is it? Nothing there about build quality or durability for instance, or the ecosystem or UI/UX or that the user can most probably update the OS (compared to Android where updates are few and far between and tend to never come if you are talking about Samsung)
I loved my Nexus 7, right up until it broke (for the 4th time). This time round the screen split from corner to corner previous times the screen developed faults and once the screen actually came loose from the body. It cost 209 quid in the UK (including delivery) and I wished to hell I waited off to get the iPad mini because apart from the beautiful responsive UI/UX, applications, app store and iTunes store its probably like most Apple devices in that its built like a tank.
I sometimes feel that papers or news/media outlets that do this should end up getting fined huge amounts and made to run public apologies (full page or TV) because its such a dangerous topic to mislead people on. That said, its no surprise its coming from the Daily mail.
I made the mistake of getting the Acer chromebook in the UK when it came out and it was probably the worst computing experience I have ever had. Slow, laggy, frequently crashed, terrible video playback (couldn't watch YouTube videos), cheap hardware (screen developed a crack which split corner to corner completely), terrible battery performance, no cellular connectivity and flaky wifi behaviour. All for 400 quid! It looked like a fisher price toy and behaved like one as well.
As someone with little faith in the UK judicial system, this just doesn't make any difference to my views. I can already tell when someone is guilty of plagiarism. Samsung sinks of it. Anybody can see that. This verdict is not going to have any effect on people, and as i have found out at work among many colleges it more than solidifies peoples opinion that Samsung has done nothing but rip off Apple. Where as for instance when you compare the ipad/iphone to Microsoft's attempts its quite clear they are trying something different and people can see that as well.