Slight iPad Shipping Delay Due to Software, Not Hardware?
Daring Fireball's John Gruber claims to have heard from his sources that the slight shipping delay (about a week in the U.S. and on the order of a month in the first batch of international markets) for the Wi-Fi iPad is due not to hardware production issues but to Apple putting the final touches on the software for the device.
It was the software, not the hardware, that took a week or two longer to finish than they'd hoped. Nothing extraordinary or unusual, just the usual hard-to-predict timing of turning software that's almost ready to ship into software that's ready to ship. In the grand history of major OS release date slips, one week is pretty tame.
A report early this week indicated that a "manufacturing bottleneck" would be responsible for limited iPad quantities at launch and possibly a delay of the entire launch. Another analyst claim yesterday offered similar information, but noted that the issues were not related to "glass or manufacturing process". If Gruber's sources are correct and the delays were simply due to software, Apple should be able to quickly deploy the final software version to units in production and rapidly fill its sales channels for launch.Top Rated Comments
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best way to build up hype is to have a "shortage". suddenly people that didn't want one, decide they want one.
i bid on some real estate two months ago and same story. place is on sale for months and no one wants it. as soon as my wife and I bid, someone else decided they wanted it as well
Apple wants to release the iFad by April before more and more companies jump on the netbook/tablet/e-reader bandwagon and steal the thunder and/or develop relationships with media providers.
If Apple wasn't able to release the iFad till Sep or later, it would very likely have been too little, too late. I think the iFad was 80% baked when it was showcased...which is fine...many product announcements physically showcasing are 80% baked.
-Eric
Exactly...software delays...I am 100% sure that Apple has been working 24x7 since the iFad announcement to stuff more features/bells and whistles/stability/ease of use into the iFad.
Apple wants to release the iFad by April before more and more companies jump on the netbook/tablet/e-reader bandwagon and steal the thunder and/or develop relationships with media providers.
If Apple wasn't able to release the iFad till Sep or later, it would very likely have been too little, too late. I think the iFad was 80% baked when it was showcased...which is fine...many product announcements physically showcasing are 80% baked.
-Eric
Someone needs to grow up and gain a bit of maturity.
BS
best way to build up hype is to have a "shortage". suddenly people that didn't want one, decide they want one.
i bid on some real estate two months ago and same story. place is on sale for months and no one wants it. as soon as my wife and I bid, someone else decided they wanted it as well
Yes, I'm sure its all hype... because we all remember how bug free all the reviewers said it was when they got their demonstration...... oh wait, lots of stuff didn't work correctly? Huh, I'm sure you are right, its all about generating hype and not making the product work
The iPad has presumably been in a manufacturing ramp for a month. That means there are shipping containers full of built iPads. You can't change the software at this point. Or more exactly, a software change at this point would not affect the units already assembled.
The most plausible explanations are that they are A.) working on an immediate download to be released when the device starts shipping and/or B.) Apple's iTunes Store servers aren't ready to deliver the new content.
If they're saying that iPhone OS 3.2 for iPad was RTM-ed a week late, yeah, that's plausible although it's curious that we're learning about this so late in the game.
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