
Apple introduces new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support - Osiris
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/03/apple-introduces-new-9-7-inch-ipad-with-apple-pencil-support/
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sxates
>Schools can purchase iPad starting at $299 (US) and Apple Pencil for $89
(US).

I'm imagining how easy it is to lose a 'pencil' in a school - at $89 each!

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musicpi
They also introduced a Logitech “crayon” for $49

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sathomasga
Sure looks a lot like the (now discontinued) 9.7-inch iPad Pro

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walterbell
_> advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality_

What are these sensors — are they present in existing iPads?

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grzm
Further down in the press release:

> *"The new iPad is a stunning, large viewfinder for immersive AR experiences.
> Its Retina display, powerful chip, enhanced cameras and advanced sensors,
> including a gyroscope and accelerometer for accurate motion tracking, are
> designed to support the next generation of AR apps."

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walterbell
Doesn't every iOS device have a gyroscope and accelerometer? That sentence
does not name the other advanced sensors.

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grzm
I believe so, yes. I only addressed your first question as to what those
sensors are. (Edit to add: I neglected to do a full feature comparison because
I suspected that perhaps initial iPad releases had different but was too lazy
to do the research of a full feature comparison across all models.) The full
sentence mentions the "new iPad", not that the sensors are necessarily new,
not surprising in a press release.

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walterbell
What's new is the reference to _" immersive augmented reality"_.

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grzm
The whole sentence is _" The new iPad is more versatile and capable than ever,
features a large Retina display, the A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors that
help deliver immersive augmented reality, and provides unmatched portability,
ease of use and all-day battery life."_ I read _" that help deliver immersive
augmented reality"_ as referring to the display, the chip, and the sensors as
a whole.

Even then, the "new" just refers to the new iPad, and doesn't say that
"immersive augmented reality" is a new feature. Apple's been touting AR for a
while now, introducing ARKit with iOS 11, so it's not surprising that they'd
include it here. It's a press release, and should be read as such.

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walterbell
Here is the 2017 iPad press release:
[https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-
pro-10-5-and-12-...](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-
pro-10-5-and-12-9-inch-models-introduces-worlds-most-advanced-display-
breakthrough-performance/)

It has no references to augmented reality. The only reference to sensors are
for the Apple Pencil.

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grzm
iOS 11 wasn't released until September 2017. It not all that surprising that
they'd leave out AR until it was actually available in the product.

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oblib
Looks pretty nice for the price. I'm still waiting for a new Mac Mini though.

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lowlevel
Nice, but too bad this didn't come out before I spent $2000 on the iPad Pro.

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mcphage
How?!

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bitmapbrother
Is the screen laminated or are they using the same screen as on the 2017 iPad?

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decacorn
a $300 ipad is still technology for the privileged. come back with $20 tech
that the majority of underprivileged can actually afford, then you (apple) can
boast about making tech ubiquitous. Until then, nothing they have made in the
last 5 years has been significant.

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askafriend
Quite odd to make such bold, sweeping statements about the world with zero
data presented.

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oblio
He’s quite aggressive, but he does have a point. Apple doesn’t serve at all
the bottom 20% of the world. Maybe, maybe it does so through the second hand
market, which doesn’t really count cause every other manufacturer also has it.

You could argue that by pushing the high end the low end is also pulled up
slowly. Still doesn’t seem like a great argument.

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askafriend
Why is the very first piece of criticism on something like this that Apple
doesn't serve the bottom 20%? I can make that argument about tons of things
unfairly. For example, does Toyota serve the bottom 20% of the world? Does
Hacker News? Does Tesla?

Why don't the middle 50% deserve a great experience or progress? There is A
LOT of progress to be made in education in the first world. There is _so much_
low hanging fruit.

Did iPhone serve the bottom 20% of the market when it was released? No. Did it
subsequently change the quality of life for the bottom 20% as it ushered in
the smartphone era? Undoubtedly. Will this particular announcement do the
same? Probably not, but who knows. Does it need to in order for iPad to be
successful? No.

Look at it this way, if a $300 iPad is easy to administer, easy to manage,
easy to get children to use, easy to clean, easy to handle, useful for
teachers and students, and extremely reliable - that is a huge win compared to
the status quo because it will convince schools that implementing and
integrating technology is both a worthwhile and easy endeavor.

Can Google do something similar with Chromebooks? Sure. Is it a different
approach from Apple? Yes. Are both approaches worthwhile? Probably yes, let’s
see what happens.

I feel like there’s a fundamental pragmatism missing in the OP’s snap
judgement and that results in something short-sighted and irrelevant.
Ultimately s/he has a point but not a useful one and there are far far more
useful critiques for us to be talking about.

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candiodari
> Why don't the middle 50% deserve a great experience or progress? There is A
> LOT of progress to be made in education in the first world. There is so much
> low hanging fruit.

Why do they deserve better devices than the poor ? This is why poor people are
poor. Because rich people "deserve" great experience, great progress, great
opportunities, which is another way of saying, of course, that the poor do
not.

> Look at it this way, if a $300 iPad is easy to administer, easy to manage,
> easy to get children to use, easy to clean, easy to handle, useful for
> teachers and students, and extremely reliable - that is a huge win compared
> to the status quo because it will convince schools that implementing and
> integrating technology is both a worthwhile and easy endeavor.

So what you're saying is, it's a great tool for learning and bettering
yourself ... and the poor have no rights to it. (I was very poor as a child,
and lots of people, especially in my classroom, felt this way about things
like nice books/clothes/sports gear (as opposed to secondhand), later
computers, and gameboy/consoles/... thanks, people making this argument really
made one feel good)

> Can Google do something similar with Chromebooks? Sure. Is it a different
> approach from Apple? Yes. Are both approaches worthwhile? Probably yes,
> let’s see what happens.

I don't know if you've been watching chromebooks but they've also become
systematically more expensive, especially the google supported ones. Windows
10 devices are the only thing left that has decent cheap options available
(cheap meaning < $200 and usable).

Also none of the Google devices work, frankly at all, without a constant
internet connection. That's $20/kid/month on top of the basic cost for the
android/chromebook device.

