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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Opinion   >   The problem with the iPad Mini isn’t the price: it’s the disappearance of the reality distortion field

The problem with the iPad Mini isn’t the price: it’s the disappearance of the reality distortion field

By on October 24, 2012

Apple yesterday announced the iPad Mini. My Twitter feed was full of discussion, disappointment and tweets to articles on Gizmodo like this one.

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The heart of the article is that, compared with the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7, the iPad Mini is underpowered, has less memory, won’t be able to “push the pixels” and, to cap it all, is priced at over $300, a 65% premium to its competition.

Nintendo has proven that power does not have to be a deciding factor, but to me, this is a sign. A sign of what the absence of Steve Jobs at the helm means for Apple.

It means that the rules of Apple’s engagement with its competition has changed.

It means that Apple now has to compete on features, price and capability.

It means that Apple can no longer automatically charge a premium for its products.

The iPhone converted me to Apple. My household now owns 2 iPhones, an iPad, expects another one this year and may even consider buying a Mac. (Just saying that makes me shiver in PC fanboy horror).

Some of their products are undeniably amazing. But back in the days of Steve Jobs, commentators and fans would cut the company slack. A lot of slack.

People called it Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field. Unfortunately for fanboys, sharedholders and staff, the reality distortion field is no more.

It died with Steve.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com