It’s that time of year again, friends. That glorious few days in the spring when everyone is waiting in anticipation for the start of something big… the new iPad release! What, did you think I was going somewhere else with that? Don’t worry, we’ll get to basketball. But first we’re adding another device to our extensive line of MacBook, iPod and iPhone repairs. As we mentioned previously, we’re sitting on iPad 3 parts just in case you are unfortunate enough to need repair the day you get your new iPad. With the iPad 2 we had a pair of digitizer repair orders come through the day of its release. Sad but true.
Now, on to the competition… between the iPad 3 and other tablets! Seriously, I’ll get there soon. I went to dinner with my wife’s extended family last week and as I walked in the door, one of her cousins who is an IT professional immediately asked, “want to see something that’s better than an iPad 3?” Now, while I’m clearly a big supporter of Apple’s devices in general, I’m not blindly going to swear that the iPad is unbeatable by something else in the consumer electronics marketplace. So I took a look.
He handed me a Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T, and this is what I observed: First, I asked in earnest (not to be clever or sardonic) why it was so heavy. Ok, ok, other manufacturers don’t have Jony Ive and the world’s best designers to make things streamline. I could probably look past a much heavier tablet that has a few extra inches of LCD. Then, I noticed how awkward and irritating the touch screen was. Sure, Apple has hundreds of patents on their digitizers, so the competition probably won’t live up to it. Surely, based on his assessment of the processing power, this thing must be lightning fast. Except that it’s not. It’s running Windows 7 in full, which is nice if you’re not willing to learn a mobile OS, but incredibly frustrating if you want to run a tablet at all without waiting for processor lag. Finally I assumed that the draw must be the price. Since Windows PC laptops can be assembled and sold for hundreds less than Macs, this 2 pound (37.5% heavier than the iPad) behemoth must cost a fraction of iPad’s sticker price, right? Well, nope. In fact it costs twice as much. So, to answer the original question that started this whole rant, yes. Yes, I would like to see something that’s better than an iPad 3. Show me.
Ah, now I’m out of time for basketball. Well, in short: several of our local teams are in the Big Dance. Mizzou at the 2 seed in what appears to be the weakest region, so a first Final Four appearance could be in their future. Kansas, if they can actually play to their ability, might have a chance of taking on UNC and former coach Roy Williams. Then there’s Kansas State and Wichita State who should be able to squeeze out a second round win. The brackets are out, and we’re ready with highlighters. Go Basketball.