By
JENNIFER THUNCHER
Just in time for Christmas, Apple and
Microsoft have released new tablets.
The iPad Mini is smaller and lighter than
the Microsoft Surface while the Surface has more screen space and a larger
memory.
The Mini has a seven-inch screen and costs
$329.
The Mini has 1 GB of RAM. It runs on IOS 6, as does the larger version
of iPad, and includes 1080p HD video.
Nora Young, host and creator of CBC Radio’s
Spark, said in a written statement, “I wonder whether we need a tablet smaller
than the regular iPad that isn’t as cheap as the competition?” She said the Mini
is a way for Apple to compete with Android and Amazon’s Kindle.
Fekete Istvan, technology writer for jaxov.com,
also has issues with the clarity of the Mini.
“When I compare it with the iPad with
retina display [iPad 3], it is a huge step back. Anyone who has held the new
iPad in his [or] her hands knows that it can’t go back to the non retina
display,” said Istvan by email.
The $519 Microsoft Surface has a 10-inch
screen.
The Surface boasts twice the amount of
RAM as the Mini with 2 GB. It runs the
new Windows 8 and has 720p HD video.
Both products are sold at Oakridge Centre
in Vancouver and at Metrotown mall in Burnaby.
The Surface was recently named as one of
Oprah Winfrey’s favourite items to buy, ranking 22 of her 49 recommendations.
Peter Baker, Langara computer science
instructor, doesn’t think the Surface will succeed. The product is marketed
towards youth.
“But to date I see few of the
applications the youth market would use available via the Microsoft store,”
said Baker. The Surface does not have a Facebook application while the Mini
does.
Fellow general studies student Henry Lee
was less convinced about the new offerings, “No, I have the new iPad so not
interested [in the Mini]. It is just smaller.”
Lee also would not consider buying the Surface.
Langara astronomy instructor Bradley
Hughes has an entirely different take on the release of these two new tablets.
“Another symptom of capitalism’s need to
endlessly produce goods we don’t need,” he said.
thuncher@shaw.ca
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