
Wooden iPad 2 cover outsmarts Apple's Smart Cover - shawndumas
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/24/wooden-ipad-2-cover-outsmarts-apples-smart-cover/#continued
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cletus
Really? A wooden cover for the iPad 2... with magnets. That's what makes the
top of HN?

I can see this belonging on Engadget but what's the value here?

Don't get me wrong: I have an iPad 2. I _love_ my iPad (1 & 2). I just don't
see how a wooden cover for it is HN-worthy.

~~~
TomOfTTB
A few reasons (as far as I'm concerned)

1\. Startups could learn a lot about presentation from this guy. I don't know
about anyone else but I was struck by the video's simple, matter of fact
style. No flash or funny animations. Just a smart guy showing what his company
had done (and then thanking me for my time)

2\. People deify Apple too much. Apple's great but you can compete with them
if you put some effort into it. Sure most people won't want a wooden iPad
cover but some will and it very well may be enough to make a profit off of.

3\. Some people might want a wooden iPad cover and this lets them know about
it (isn't that the same thing all those "Tell HN" threads do)

For a community centered around startups I think those insights are valuable
which is why I up-voted it.

~~~
viraptor
> No flash or funny animations. Just a smart guy showing what his company had
> done

Well... the product does come from Holland. Try watching some Finish videos if
you want more of that. People in both of those countries are pretty
straightforward in life (based both on personal experience and anecdotes,
YMMV).

~~~
mixmax
Actually, being from Denmark, this is one thing that annoys me about a lot of
Americen advertising. It's awfully obnoxious and in-your-face.

~~~
kirubakaran
Not a fan of Billy Mays, I take it.

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dstone
If that's a solid sheet of microfiber on the inside, then I'm sold. The thing
that irritates me most about the Smart Cover is that it leaves streaks on the
glass where the indentations are.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
can't be solid. if it was tight when rolled up it would be loose when flat.

~~~
s3graham
Maybe making it elastic-y would be enough extra length to work in both states?

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vnchr
A lot of really negative and unnecessary comments on this blog. did the
TechCrunch trolls ousted by their new FB commenting plugin find a new home?

~~~
jobu
No kidding. I haven't seen this many useless comments since people were
spamming HN with blog posts about Ruby.

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yumraj
Whats amazing about Apple is that even a cover for one of its products makes
it to the top of HN.

Update: If it wasn't obvious, I was being sarcastic and sad.

~~~
Terretta
This isn't about Apple. It's about an innovative 'hack' using organic
materials to beautify and humanize a technology device. At least, that's how I
see this case.

~~~
yumraj
Of course its about Apple. Think about it, would it have made it to the top of
HN if it were a cover for Galaxy tab, or something else for that matter.

~~~
beaumartinez
The key in the title is that it says it " _outsmarts_ Apple's Smart Cover".
The Smart Cover was incredibly well-designed yet incredibly simple.

Anything capable of giving it a run for its money should be equally as
interesting (at least from a design stand-point).

~~~
edw
How exactly does this cover outsmart Apple's? I can't fold it in half. I can't
fold the whole thing over save one quarter, so that the rear camera lens is
exposed.

It's nifty, it's another option, but is it _better_? Better for what? I'd ask,
and I'm sure it's more exclusive but from an everyday use perspective, I just
don't see it.

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dotBen
Still trying to work out how this wooden iPad cover _outsmarts_ Apple's own
cover (as promised in the title). Can anyone help me out?

~~~
bane
It's similar, but the customer pays more for this one instead.

~~~
fakelvis
I'm not quite sure that's entirely true, as is pointed out in the article.

In the NL Apple Store, polyurethane Smart Covers costs €39 each while a
leather one costs €69 (in Apple's eyes €1 = $1).

This wooden cover costs €50.

I don't think it's fair to compare wood to polyurethane, but feel free to do
so in order to make your argument stand.

~~~
bane
No you are right, in the US store, the leather case is ~$70 and this wooden
one is ~$70 (not counting shipping or anything).

Ugh, when did _cases_ get so ridiculously expensive? These are really rather
exorbitant prices IMHO. For what these things are, I'd maybe part
with...$12-15 for the polyurethane one and $20-25 for a leather?

At $40 or $70 (respectively), I'd need a case to protect my case.

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samirg
Only thing they didn't show was whether the hinge snaps on/off as easily as
the Smart Cover.

~~~
mattberg
the part around the 41 second mark where he flips open the cover concerns me a
little, notice him placing his left hand on the hinge area for support. i
wonder if maybe it comes off too easily.

~~~
calloc
Or it is a completely natural gesture when rolling up the cover in a certain
position to help create the stand ...

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linker3000
One thing's for certain: leave that thing on the kitchen while food's being
prepared and your iPad will soon smell of chopped onions and garlic.

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tlowrimore
Wow. I never really wanted an iPad until I saw this sexy little cover. Hmmm...
I may have to go stand in line.

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CoachRufus87
Did Apple patent their cover design?

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pohl
Do watch the video. Great design!

~~~
spoiledtechie
This is getting ridiculous. Why do we up vote something that is a given? HN,
stop it! You only up vote things that make you learn something. Why on earth
did pohl just get 16 points for nothing.

We need to stop with the promoting of things like "thank you" or "good job"

Im sorry, I just went on a little rant. The cover is awesome, but did I just
learn anything from pohl? I don't care to see this comment over more
informative comments below.

~~~
mcav
No, it's _useful_. It means that with N upvotes, N people agree with the
comment.

That gives a great indicator as to whether or not the video is worth my time.
The comment could have easily said that the video is a _waste_ of time, which
would also be helpful. People won't upvote it if they disagree.

~~~
mbreese
An upvote doesn't necessarily mean that you agree with the comment. They are
supposed to mean that the comment is worthwhile or adds something to the
discussion. IMO, the ggp comment doesn't.

~~~
mcav
They mean whatever the upvoter wants them to mean: agreement, approval, or a
meant-to-click-downvote instead. In practical use, people often _do_ upvote
because they agree.

~~~
jarek
So I'm a newbie here, my account is less than a year old, god knows I've
trolled and flamed my share, etc. But when I first joined, I saw the
guideline/notion that upvotes _should_ indicate contribution to discussion
rather than agreement and was impressed. I'd be sad if this position was
abandoned. Upvoting for contribution to discussion promotes good discussion.
Upvoting for agreement promotes hivemind, of whichever variety.

~~~
mcav
In 2009, I wrote a little parody of the Zen of Python that includes a bit
about what I felt upvotes were/should be used for:
<http://marcuscavanaugh.com/zen-of-hn/> \-- I think that regardless of what
guidelines were created initially, people _do_ upvote as agreement, whether we
like it or not.

I like upvotes as an expression of agreement because it gives an indication of
the truthiness of the comment (wisdom of the crowd). If someone says something
in a field I'm not familiar with, and I don't know if they're right or not, I
know that the following will occur:

\- If they're right, people will upvote.

\- If they're wrong, people will either downvote or reply stating why they're
wrong.

And since I don't think any of us want comments like "I Agree", upvotes are
our only option for providing a vote of confidence in a comment.

~~~
mbreese
But you're only going to up vote things that you agree with that _also add to
the conversation._ Of course people up vote things they agree with, but in the
case of something like the comment that started this all off, did it really
add much to the conversation? I didn't think so, but it wasn't frivolous
enough for me to down vote it. You're free to disagree and up vote all you
want.

As a side note: _truthiness_ , as defined by Colbert [1] isn't something that
a crowd can tell you. It's something that only your gut can tell you. And my
gut says that your comment wants a burrito.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness>

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cegascon
Simple, Great, presentation

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apotheon
That's easily the best thing about the iPad.

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barista
What's cool about AAPL is that it inspires such innovative designs. Beautiful.

~~~
HelloBeautiful
Someone have drunk too much Kool-Aid ...

What's so uncool about AAPL is the closed platform, that killed so many
innovations.

~~~
fleitz
I do like apple products but really what innovation did they kill?

Do you know how unthinkable an app store model was 5 years ago? Sure there are
innovative things happening on android but would it even exist without iPhone?

~~~
HelloBeautiful
>>I do like apple products but really what innovation did they kill?

All kind of products that would've competed with Apple bundled apps, or
could've been seen as illegal in some state, or had some erotic content ...

>>Do you know how unthinkable an app store model was 5 years ago?

Microsoft had a store 5 years ago. What does it have to do with Apple closing
their platforms, to make higher profits, while stopping a lot of innovation?

>>Sure there are innovative things happening on android but would it even
exist without iPhone?

Symbian, Windows CE and many more existed before the iPhone. As the price of
hardware falls and mobile devices become more powerful/useful more and more
users are getting smartphones. Android would've made perfect sense, w/o
iPhone.

