I have had a lot of time to play around with different tablets. I own a Kindle Fire, I have used 2 different versions of the iPad at work, and have even had the chance to play around with the Nook a bit. I feel like each of these tablets fills a role in the tablet market. The Kindle Fire, and tablets like it, are great “around-the-house” tablets. By this, I mean they are great to leave on the kitchen counter or coffee table to be used when you need to look something up really quickly. The iPad is great at this too. However, the iPad is also a very effective business tool as well. An iPad is great to take to meetings or on business trips in which you don’t need the power of a full laptop. I wouldn’t say that a Kindle fills this role very well.
The new iPad mini will be competing with the smaller tablets like the Fire HD, the Google Nexus 7, etc. I am sure that the iPad will match up quite well with these tablets. Looking at the hardware, it is right in line with the other 7 inch tablets. The problem I have with the iPad mini is the price. The most inexpensive iPad mini you can find will be $329, and they range up to $529. I have a lot of trouble paying this kind of money for an “around the house” type of tablet. The Fire and Nexus 7 just seem to small to use as reliable business tools and it seems like the iPad mini will be in the same boat.
Too Close to an iPhone when it comes to Size
One great thing about the iPad is that it is big enough to easily distinguish itself from the iPhone. This allows for a bigger and easier to use keyboard, a much better video watching experience, and much more. The new iPhone 5 has a larger screen size that Apple is talking up as one of its key features. With this increased screen size, the iPad mini and the iPhone aren’t different enough for me to get excited about. I am not saying that the iPad mini and iPhone are indistinguishable, I am just saying that the size difference isn’t enough for me. I don’t think the video watching experience will be that much better. I don’t think the keyboard will be that much easier to use. I could go on, but you get my point.
It is quite possible I am incorrect and Apple has figured out how to make a great business tool at the 7-inch size. Also, some people may disagree with me that $329 is too expensive for the purpose that this tablet serves. However, at this point in time, I am not that excited about the iPad mini.