Maccast 2013.11.01 - Show #466
Opening
- Apple released it’s iPad Air today and I figured I would be doing my usual episode how the release went and talking with new iPad Air owners about how they’re liking the new device.
- But a funny thing happened on the way to the Apple Store
- First Apple changed up how they handled this launch, at least in the US, from an online ordering perspective. So, we’ll talk about that.
- And second, the radical redesign in the iPad Airs form fact seems to be raising more questions for a lot of you on if you should upgrade and if so which is the right model for you. So we’ll talk to a few folks about how they are dealing with the “What iPad should I buy” question.
Sponsor: Squarespace
- Building and designing a web site can be hard. Throw in ecommerce and it can be almost impossible, not to mention costly.
- Well, it doesn’t have to be. At least not if you have Squarespace and Squarespace Commerce
- They make it easy to set up an build your site using their award winning, mobile ready, site designs. And guess what? All their designs support their ecommerce system.
- You can sell physical or digital type of products all from a single interface.
- One of the biggest headaches when doing a eCommerce site is setting up the payment processing. Merchant accounts, payment gateways, complicated fee structures. It’s a hassle.
- Squarespace Commerce covers you there too.
- They have a 30-second merchant sign-up with Stripe with instant approval and no paperwork. You can begin receiving money for purchases via direct deposit in moments.
- And Squarespace imposes no additional transaction fees. You just pay the Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction.
- Combining Squarespace and Squarespace Commerce gives your customer a better fully integrated experience vs. redirecting them off to some other 3rd party hosted cart
- They even make it easy to move your existing Shopify or Big Cartel inventory over to Squarespace with just a few clicks.
- Squarespace Commerce is currently available in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
- And has lets you have full tax and shipping rules by region.
- You can start a trial with no credit card required and start building your website.
- And when you decide to sign up for Squarespace, make sure to use the offer code ‘maccast11’ to get 10% off (your first purchase).
- Squarespace — everything you need to create an exceptional website.
The new iPad Air
My Buying experience
- So once again Apple decided not to have pre-orders on a new device, just like the iPhone 5s.
- But there were rumors leading up to the launch that they would be offering online orders with in-store pickup on launch day.
- I decided to fire up the Apple Store app just before midnight and see if the rumors were true.
- Luckily it was, although I didn’t see the pickup option at first. I think I had to go to the ‘Store’ tab and pick a store first. Once I did that I had the option and my order was placed in minutes.
- I got a confirmation with a note that said I would be getting another email when my order would be ready for pick-up. This made me a little nervous, since it didn’t show up right away
- Another confusing thing is that I also ordered a new black Smart Cover in the same order, but I received individual order numbers, confirmation emails, and in store pickup emails for each item separately.
- In the morning, at around 6:30 AM, I had my “ready for pick-up” emails.
My pick-up experience
- So this was very different than other launches.
- I arrived at the Apple Store in Carlsbad when they opened right at 8AM.
- There was a small line, maybe 40–50 people, but much smaller than pervious launches
- They had a separate line, to the left of the door, for people who were there for in-store pickup. That was myself and one other guy when I got there.
- Simon from iDownloadblog also showed up for his in-store pickup about 15 minutes after me.
- They got me in pretty quickly, but when the assistant helping me went back to get my order, she came back saying the “shooed” her out of the back room and that they would bring up the order when it was ready
- That then became a 20 minute wait during which the Associate just kept apologizing for the delay
- It was a bit awkward and I was nervous about my order.
- Luckily the “chit chat” with the associate and a store manager yielded some intel
- The delay was just them working out some of the kinks in the new launch day in store pick-up process.
- They had had a pretty good volume of pre-order with in-store pick-up for that store. About 140 order over night.
- For launch events where I’ve been at that store lines have been in the 100–200 custom range, so that 140, plus the 50 or so people who were in line brings it right up to a typical level
- Customer who did line up got there just at around 6:00 AM, with most just showing up right before opening at 8:00 AM.
- Many of these customers were unaware of the in-store pick-up option for launch.
- When my order was brought up, I was out of the store quickly with my new iPad Air (64 GB wi-fi) and Smart Case.
- Pictures and unboxing video available on Flickr and YouTube soon.
- Overall it was a great experience, despite the small delay at the back of the house.
- I heard stories from you and others that lines were indeed shorter than normal at most places and that supplies seem to be plentiful
- There were some stories of sell outs of specific sizes and colors at some locations
- I heard that in the UK, and I would guess other countries, that in-store pick-up wasn’t an option.
- I got a report from a UK Apple Authorized Reseller location that while they had plenty of 16GB Space Grey models they only receive one or two of each of most other models and none of the 128GB cellular models.
Thoughts on iPad Air
- While waiting around in the store for my order I got my first hands on time with the iPad Air
- Immediate reaction was that I wasn’t sure if felt that much lighter. I think my expectations had been set that I would notice a dramatic and immediate difference. Like the first time I held an iPad mini.
- Two possible reasons. First, I have been using my iPad mini more and more, so I used to that being the weight of my daily iPad. Second I didn’t have my 3rd gen iPad to do a direct comparison. Once I did, it’s extremely obvious that the iPad Air is much lighter.
- Love the thinness and the look.
- It’s a bigger iPad mini, vs. a smaller thinner iPad.
- Size wise it’s the same height and slightly narrower than the iPad 3rd and 4th gen. Just a little thinner than my 3rd gen iPad (0.29 inches vs. 0.37 inches) and a hair thicker (0.01 inches) than my iPad mini
- Love the look of the Space Gray. Hate the “mirrored” Apple logo. Looks awesome for all of a millisecond until it gets a fingerprint or smudges on it.
- I haven’t had it long enough to make a call on the performance of the A7 chip beyond saying everything feels smooth and snappy, but then I have felt the same about performance on my iPad mini and 3rd gen iPad.
- Smart Cover is much better than the one for the iPad mini.
- Much stronger in attaching to the iPad. Doesn’t just fall off. Have to give it a good pull.
- Magnets in the cover flap also hold good and stays shut until you want to open it.
iPad Buying Decisions
- After Apple announced the iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display I immediately started having a lot of conversations and questions with people about which iPad is the “right” iPad to buy.
- I personally found myself conflicted.
- Going into the event I was almost certain that I would get the Retina mini and skip, again, the full sized iPad.
- My non-Retina mini had pretty much become my “go-to” iPad because of the size and weight.
- But because of this I also found myself gravitating back to lugging around my 15-inch Macbook Pro if I left the house and felt I might have the need to do, “real work”. Prior to owning the iPad mini I had often taken my iPad 3rd gen in lieu of the laptop and would do show prep and notes.
- With the iPad mini I don’t like typing on it.
- While I knew the iPad 5th gen was going to be narrower, I wasn’t expecting it to be as light as it turned out to be.
- So after the announcement I think my “right” iPad thoughts did a complete 180.
- I skipped the 4th Gen, but now the iPad Air looked to be the perfect compromise of size and weight with a large screen
- Time will tell if that prove to be true. I have had a family member hide my iPad mini from me and am going to force myself to have the iPad Air be my only iPad for the next few weeks
- My assumption is now that I may be able to skip getting an iPad mini with Retina display.
- I still love my Mini and I’ve not really had an issue with it’s lack of Retina display
- I’ll tell you that when I left the house this afternoon and grabbed the iPad Air I had a “double take” moment.
- It felt like I grabbed my iPad mini
- The shape of the back case, the weight and feel in my hand told my mind I was holding my iPad mini
- That’s a good sign for my little experiment.
- It’s obviously bigger and a little heavier than the iPad mini, but it might be just close enough to become my new “perfect” iPad.
- But here’s the thing I’m quickly learning. One persons “perfect” iPad might not be the same as another persons.
- Apple has, in one shot, made choosing an iPad a very different decision than it was just a couple weeks ago.
- We still have the “how much storage” question, but gone is the internal specs comparison. After storage all else between the iPad Air and iPad mini are equal (except for size and a slight difference in display pixel density, but I’m calling a Retina display, a Retina Display).
- Now the choice is big or small and turns out there are still a number of things that might factor into that choice.
- So I spoke with Katie Floyd from Mac Power Users and Kelly Guimont from the Mac Show, the Comic Show, TUAW Talkcast, and Angry Mac Bastards about how they are looking at the iPad Air vs. Mini decision.
- Play Interview with Katie
- Play Interview with Kelly
Closing
Podcast Marketplace
- Thanks to my sponsors
- Smile
- Transporter by Connected Data
- Get the benefits of the cloud, but with control and security privacy of a physical hard drive or NAS
- Get $50 off your own Transporter by using the code ‘MC50’ at filetransporter.com/maccast
- Offer is valid on the Transporter models with or without a drive, but not the new Transporter Sync and valid through 11/11/2013
- Gazelle
- Gazelle. The fast and simple way to sell your used gadgets! Find out what your used iPhone, iPad and other Apple products are worth at Gazelle.com.
- Squarespace
- The all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use offer code ‘maccast11’.
- Keep emails coming. Audio comments.