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Don’t be evil, Apple, just sit on the iPad 3

By | February 14, 2012, 7:41am PST

Summary: A tongue-in-cheek look at what the iPad 3 will do to Apple’s evil reputation.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that Apple is getting the next generation iPad ready to release to the masses. There are no shortage of rumors what we might expect the iPad 3 to contain, I’ve added my own to the mix. One thing we know for certain about the next iPad, the launch will trigger a sales boom for Apple as these things usually do. Since Apple certainly doesn’t want to be considered evil, perhaps it would be only fair to hold off on the next iPad, at least for a while.

Let’s face it, the current iPad is selling like hotcakes, so a refreshed model is not required to continue Apple’s dominance in the tablet space. Triggering a sales spike over already dominant sales numbers by releasing the iPad 3 would only be rubbing it into the face of competing tablet makers. Given your desire to be a good neighbor I’m sure you don’t want to make all those other companies feel bad. People would end up getting fired, and you don’t want that on your heads.

It’s not like you need more profits, Apple, you’ve already got more money than most countries. Profits indicate greed, and you don’t want to be known as the evil, greedy company. It’s not like you don’t have enough money. Heck, you’ve got enough to give free textbooks for every student in the U. S. if you wanted. You’ve recently convinced us how much you want to help the nation’s kids so giving them textbooks instead of charging for them as indicated would be a very non-evil thing to do. You’d still have more money than God left over.

You can make the argument that a new iPad would really take it to the Android folks, and we know how much you hate them. That may be, but it would also derail the big Windows 8 effort at Microsoft. I know you wouldn’t want to do that, given the history of Microsoft stepping in at Apple’s darkest hour years ago and putting money on the line to keep you in business. That has to make Microsoft dear to you, and tanking the Windows 8 tablet effort before it even gets started would fly in the face of your close relationship.

So just sit on the new iPad, Apple, and keep the status quo. You’ll continue to make more money than all the other companies combined, and have that new iPad in your pocket for whenever you need it. The competition still won’t be able to give you a run for the money, and you’ll have fun watching them try. Don’t be evil, Apple.

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James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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James Kendrick

James Kendrick has no affiliations or relationships that need to be disclosed.

Biography

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile technology sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered well over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile technology topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.

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RE: Don't be evil, Apple, just sit on the iPad 3
lskong 22nd Feb
@willyampz
a "pro-capitalist" complaining about big profits and talking about sacrificing margins to save jobs? this must be the confused generation.
....by showing them today the type of tablet they will ship next year.
@alsw
Its true - I actually thank apple for starting the whole next gen thing, with smartphones and pads. The iPad is nice but too limited for the price, and in within another year I think the top competition will have surpassed them. They are becomming a grotesque evil company, filled with greed and hate, as shown by the agressive lawsuits they are launching, and fanbois calling motorola and samsung bad guys for going after apple in response.

They now seriously make me ill. I am totally pro-capitalist but with their profit margins they should be manufacturing in the US still be doing great. Companies typically choose not to cross certain lines, but now apple is blinded by greed and hate even in the face of massive success, with no end in site. Where the occupy apple movement? I used to be rooting for apple just to stick it to microsoft, but now I am actually questioning that, and maybe MS isn't so bad after all. I am actually concerned about the potential dominance of apple. It would be just terrible, like the 1984 commericial. This is why we need Google to rush in and smash them. Go google. I love that company. And, I may actually start praying for windows phone now.
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Hey, Willy
Userama 14th Feb
@willyampz
If you lay down with a cold cloth on your head for a little while, you might feel better.
@willyampz You are only a fan of capitalism until they make too much in profits. Of course, we have you to decide when that amount would be. Who died and left you to the "decider"? Take the wet towel you were offered and go sit in the corner of that padded room and suck your thumb.
  • Flagged
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@willyampz
Manufacturing in the US, bugger that. What would happen is that a few hundred thousand Chinese people would lose their jobs and the prices of iDevices would go up. Nah, I'm quite happy for the Chinese people to keep their jobs, no welfare in China, as long as the working conditions continue to improve. And I am definitely happy keeping the prices where they are; I don't feel like subsidising US jobs.
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@willyampz
HAHAH!!! GOOGLE TO THE RESCUE?!?? Hahahahaha!!!
@willyampz
a "pro-capitalist" complaining about big profits and talking about sacrificing margins to save jobs? this must be the confused generation.
"I know you wouldn???t want to do that, given the history of Microsoft stepping in at Apple???s darkest hour years ago and putting money on the line to keep you in business. That has to make Microsoft dear to you, and tanking the Windows 8 tablet effort before it even gets started would fly in the face of your close relationship."

Yeah, but let's not forget - Microsoft stole the idea for the graphical interface of Windows from Apple. At the time, Apple needed software written for their systems, which Microsoft was going to handle for them. After releasing Windows, Microsoft's head weasel told Apple "If you try and take us to court for stealing your intellectual property, we won't write any software for you."

So - Microsoft owed Apple the bail out, I figure.. Now they're even. So I say, gloves off Apple - put 'em on the floor.

After all, competition fuels the market wink
@Cory Crenshaw
Apple stole the idea for a GUI and the mouse from Xerox's lab. There were pads a dozen years before Apple. There has been voice recognition for decades. Apple steals ideas, but it executes very well.
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RE: Don't be evil, Apple, just sit on the iPad 3
Pete "athynz" Athens 15th Feb
@bigsteve666 Nice try with the FUD and lies... allow me to correct your ignorance.

Apple stole the idea for a GUI and the mouse from Xerox's lab.


FALSE! Apple licensed the GUI tech and mouse from Xerox in return for stock options.

There were pads a dozen years before Apple.


Yup there was the Newton... oh wait, that was an Apple product. Sure there were other pads prior to the iPad and some bulky prototypes prior to the Newton but NONE of them sold like the iPad.

There has been voice recognition for decades. Apple steals ideas, but it executes very well.


Apple is not the only company that "steals" ideas: Microsoft did so with Windows, Google did so with Android, all modern manufacturing companies did so with the assembly line Henry Ford invented... I could go on.
Are you guys in US and A aware that we from Europe just don't get your sense of wasting money! Having a iPhone and iPad (which as far as I can recon is common in US and A) is like having two TVs in home, one 40 and one 60 inch just because you like watching some show on large screen. Get real and get life (don't make Apple investors rich by buying every item they serve to you)
@AdnanPirota

All US and A citizens have at least three TV's in our homes and at least one DVD player in one of our cars. (Not two HDTVs. Do you think we are that cheap?)
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@AdnanPirota
Are you guys in the European Union aware that we in the US and A don't really care about your opinion? Seriously. If we like buying iPads and iPhones, that is really our business. You're already doing your part in striking a blow against The Evil Apple Corporation by not buying anything from them. I'm sure that the company is really reeling from the economic impact of your non-purchasing decisions. Hey, while you're drawing a line in the sand, how about taking a moment and getting a life of your own?
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@justadcomics
heck, they could use it.
@justadcomics "Are you guys in the European Union aware that we in the US and A don't really care about your opinion? "
My first thought as I read the post happy
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Maybe if you Europeans would get off your butt
Snooki_smoosh_smoosh 14th Feb
@AdnanPirota... and work, you wouldn't have the Euro Crisis right now. Enjoy your recession when the Euro collapses. wink
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@Snooki_smoosh_smoosh the usa is not so rosy the dollar has lost 50% of it's purchasing power post housing crisis and there are no signs of letting up.
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@AdnanPirota
United States [of] America, not "The United States and America"

Just helping you out a bit
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@William Farrel
It's a reference to Borat, which was a television character later made into a movie a few years ago.
That's rich. Had a look at Greece lately?
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Had a look at Greece lately?
@AdnanPirota
I know. If I weren't trapped here because of family I would be gone. This culture is embarrassing.
@lippidp... are also iPad owners? I know it some cases there is likely to be such but I would guess it's only a percentage. Just like there are plenty of Windows users who likely own either an iPad or iPhone maybe both? There could be people who own an Android phone who own an iPad and maybe on their desk they have a Mac? Hard to say but to state it as a fact is foolish especially with no hard numbers to back said up and I'm guessing neither you nor AdnanPirota have said and are using you own biases and prejudices in your statement and assumptions. Guessing I hit that one on the head!

Pagan jim
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@lippidp - please do get untrapped then and leave. The door is over there, and don't let it hit you on the way out.
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RE: Don't be evil, Apple, just sit on the iPad 3
Pete "athynz" Athens 15th Feb
@lippidp Then by all means go ahead and leave. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out... buh bye, buh bye, buh bye!
@James Quinn

I feel embarrassed - own an iPhone and an iPad (and iPod Touch and Macbook and iMac, wow), live in Europe -- in one of those "former" countries, that is, as you call them.

Worse of all, am already considering the new iPad 3 ...

Oh, and Petter Perry, I wonder if an Apple TV would be fine addition to my Sony network multimedia player, home theater system, multimedia server (bsd unix box) and HDTV. The Apple TV would save me from having to attach any cables to my iPhone/iPad.. what you say?
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@AdnanPirota - It's not up to you how we do or do not spend our cash on anything. Please keep you opinion to yourself as we really don't care what you think.
@AdnanPirota I don't know if you realize this or not but, some of us don't buy any iOS devices and umm, some of us don't even watch TV. I know, crazy right?

Now with that said, yes about 20% of us have an ereader or tablet and I would say more that 40% have smartphones. However, we do not all rush ot and buy everything that Apple releases (Just look at Apple TV, nobody wants that thing).
@Peter Perry ... products sells well enough. I guess because Apple is doing so well in so many different areas the little engine that could does not shine as well as it might if it were being sold by another company:)

Pagan jim
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@AdnanPirota
No offense... It's US "of" A.
The United States OF America...

Any way, all Americans do not have Apple products. In fact, it's really only a small segment of the "Hipster" crowd here. The thing is, the "Hipsters" are buying their parents and friends products made by Apple now, so it is growing. Most of the people I know consider Apple to be a smarmy, arrogant, greedy, obnoxious, abusive, bunch of AzzHoles, and Steve JO-BS was the number ONE Ass. Apple has sent hundreds of thousands of good US jobs overseas to China, and they still seem to find a way of abusing their workers. There are no "i" products permitted in my household. But, yes... We Americans do blow a lot of cash on petty items..
@Mrwirez

I would imagine all this fretting about the conditions in Foxcon etc were large amounts of gadgets for many company's are probably better than the norm in China.That Apples name is synonymous with gadgets and huge profits that they are ,rightly,being picked out for the workers conditions?
@Mrwirez Hipster crowd? That's really what your going to go with? It's a new twist, using the word hipster, on a very old and very lame hater talking point but if believing that helps you sleep at night keep on dreaming little boy. Who really cares what you or most people you know think. The only person I care about what they think is myself. You might base your decisions on what others think but I don't. Could you please point to the reports verifying that Apple shipped hundreds of thousands of US jobs overseas? Oh, that's right, they didn't do that did they. There might be that many people overseas working for Apple but that was not at the cost of the some US jobs. If Apple manufactured here they would not have the same success due to the much higher cost and would not have a fraction of the people working to build their products. Of course I am sure you are perfectly fine with the fact that your electronics of choice are also built in the same area but that's OK isn't it because they don't have an Apple logo on them.
@AdnanPirota
I have neither and live in the US. I don't do Apple products. The closest I have to a tablet is a 2 year old Kindle that I'm quite happy with. My money does go into my PC which I use for work. I spent close to 8G on my PC, but I work in the 3D Graphics field, so I need a beast render machine. I don't see the need to spend the kind of money on all the latest Apple toys that they demand and my decision NOT TO has been justifiably verified by their labor practices. So please, don't lump all Americans in with what you see in commercials. There are plenty of us out here that don't crave the latest gadgets like heroin.
@chaserblue I don't see the need to spend the kind of money on all the latest Apple toys that they demand and my decision NOT TO has been justifiably verified by their labor practices.
Could you please clarify this statement since the independent auditors have already stated that the Foxconn facilities are first class and vastly better working environments than they are used to seeing in Asia.
@AdnanPirota

1. US of A (United States of America), not "US and A".
2. Reckon, not "recon". Recon is short for reconnaissance. "Determine" would be a better word for this context.
3. get a life, not "get life". European languages have articles too, you don't sound more foreign by leaving them out.
4. Most of the really spectacular ways to waste money focus on things made or done in Europe (i.e., Bentley, Lamborghini, fashion industry in general).

The analogy is more appropriately a Desktop and a Laptop. Different productivity devices for different work situations. However, to continue the television analogy, it's more like having 13" and 19" sets. A 13" set is good for monitoring news and goings on, but you wouldn't want to relax and watch a movie on it.

To be fair, after releasing one of their disruptive technologies (i.e., iPod or iPhone), Apple product releases are generally a case study in incremental change. Also in the interest of fairness, if you're invested in this ecosystem, falling behind more than two releases tends to significantly degrade productivity. This was my experience with the iPhone3G, both in terms of iOS updates and battery life.

Happy Trolling,
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I will be sure to buy a Win 8 Tablet, own 3 Android tablets and don't everz.... plan on buying an iPad any time in the future!!!
@KronJohn.. Or maybe he only has issues with Apple? Seem's you and he share that particular issue however except you spend more than he? Now as for your impact on Apple.... You do realize it is not so much. Apple has never been the company that feels it has to get everyone or try to please everyone. Apple leaves that to others and instead focuses on the bottom line. Which is very good indeed:)

Pagan jim
@James Quinn Apple leaves that to others and instead focuses on the bottom line. Which is very good indeed:)

It's true... The mega-billion dollar corporation that was always the underdog is the new M$. Congratz Apple! You're right where you wanted to be. So much for being "different".

Funny how things change. I used to hear that Apple was the company that cared about the consumer, maybe they weren't the biggest... but it made high quality products that not too many could afford. Now they're everywhere and don't really care as much about the consumer. But hey, they're making tons of cash...
@Badgered... I think Apple's concern for it's customers is shown to be very high indeed. Why else are these customers some of which came from the MS world and other's remain satisfied year after year after year!?!

Pagan jim
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@James Quinn

It's certainly not all roses but the product is pretty good. We offer Macbook Airs for our sales staff to use because they're light and can do pretty much everything they need. But we also had to setup VDI on the back end because they complained about the Mac version of Outlook and/or iMail not handling e-mail as well as they wanted. Which is true.
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@Badgered

Now they're everywhere and don't really care as much about the consumer.

You couldn't be more wrong. Certainly you didn't look at Apple's consumer satisfaction ratings before posting the above. Top consumer ratings with iPads, iPhones, computers and notebooks. If that's not showing they care about consumers then I don't know what is. They're also at the top year-after-year in consumer service. This is why the Apple brand is at the top globally, and Apple see top brand loyalty.
@LiquidLearner Issues with how Outlook for the Mac handles mail is not an Apple issue, it's a MS issue. Of course iMail is an Apple issue but expecting it to work just like Outlook for Windows isn't really realistic since they are two different programs.
Then why do you fall into trap of the evil? Whose fault is it?
@mymisc ... Just saying evil is MUCH more fun!!!

Pagan jim
Wow this article is dumb. Apple is not your buddy. It has no conscious. It is a money-making machine that preys on weak-minded consumers that need to prove their worth by buying stuff they don't need every year. All this stuff about caring about their slave labor is simply publicity to pacify those that were starting to understand they've been duped.
@lippidp ... If you have a list of said I'd love ot know cause I want to make sure I don't own any stock in them pronto if not sooner! Oh and as for the middle part of your emotional rant... Generalize much!?! Then there is the last part of which you point to slave labor. Yet the company provides housing and food to their employee's and a wage far better than the national average so those people have economic power that few do in China. They aslo have HUGE lines of Chinese people's waiting to get work there. But regardless of those facts and the fact that the suicide rate at Foxconn is far less than the national average in China lets skip over those facts and ask the question so which companies don't use "slave labor" either Foxconn or some like manufacturer? Please tell:P

Pagan jim
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@James Quinn

James, James, James ... you have GOT to stop clouding the issue with the facts! I mean, c'mon now! How are these people supposed to cling to their self-righteous indignation and fury if you rub their noses in little things like Reality?
@James Quinn I think he was pointing out the flaws with the argument JK is presenting and not singling Apple out... You should try not to be so defensive.
@James Quinn They aslo have HUGE lines of Chinese people's waiting to get work there.

I suppose getting my hand cut off is better than getting my head cut off too, but I'd prefer something better.

Not saying that conditions are "slave" labor-ish, because I don't know. Just that simply saying people are waiting in line to work there, doesn't mean a whole lot.
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It does in China....
James Quinn 14th Feb
@Badgered.. Having a job is better than not having a job. Having a job that pays above average wages is better than having a job that pays average or less than average wages. Having a job that supplies you with a place to live and food to eat is better than a job that does not. Having a job where the suicide rate is actually lower than the national average in China is also better. Could it be better!?! Certainly but I've never had a job here in the states where it could not be better.

Pagan jim

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