Why did The New York Times revise their ‘iPad modest changes’ article and neglect to inform their readers?

95 Comments

The New York Times has changed an article with which we took exception yesterday. The Times seems to have neglected to inform readers of their rather marked changes and the reason for making them. Note that the word “modest” has been expunged.

Both articles appeared, one after the other, at the same URL.

As is our standard practice with articles about which we are critical, we saved the original. 🙂

Below, we present both articles, with their actual headlines, side-by-side, so that the changes made by The New York Times without notifying their readers can clearly be seen:

Original article: Revised article:
Apple Updates iPad With Modest Changes
By NICK WINGFIELD

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple updated the iPad on Wednesday with a high-definition screen, faster wireless connection and several other refinements.

As recent history has shown, though, even those relatively modest changes could be enough for the company to attract waves of new buyers for its tablet computer.

The company said the new iPad will go on sale on March 16 for a starting price of $499, unchanged from the last generation of iPads. The product will have a screen that provides a comparable level of clarity to the iPhone’s “retina display,” with higher-resolution than conventional high-definition televisions, according to Apple executives.

And in a sign that Apple intends to more seriously protect its market share in the tablet market, the company said it would continue to sell its second generation iPad, dropping the price to $399 from $499.

At a company event here, Apple also introduced a new version of Apple TV, the company’s $99 set-top box for accessing Internet video, that streams movies in the sharpest of the high-definition video formats, called 1080p.

The new product, called simply the new iPad with no numbers or letters following the name, is an effort to keep growth chugging along in a two-year-old business that has turned into a major technology franchise for the company. Apple’s $9.15 billion in iPad sales over the holiday quarter were almost double the amount of revenue Microsoft brought in from its Windows software and not far from Google’s total revenue as a company during the same period.

Speaking from the same stage where Steven P. Jobs, the company’s late chief executive introduced the second generation iPad almost exactly a year ago, the company’s new chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said the iPad last quarter outsold the number of PCs sold by any individual manufacturer.

“In many ways, the iPad is reinventing portable computing and outstripping the wildest predictions,” Mr. Cook said.

The new iPad, the third generation of the device, looks virtually indistinguishable from its predecessor, without any of the bold outward design changes often associated with new products from the company.

It features a faster processor — an A5X quad-core chip — and a higher resolution screen — 2,048 by 1,536 pixels, more than 3.1 million pixels, or four times more than the current iPad.

It will also operate on the fourth-generation cellphone network technology known as LTE. In the United States, the new iPad will work on AT&T’s and Verizon’s networks .

The iPad will also allow users to dictate e-mails, though Apple did not introduce an iPad version of Siri, an iPhone virtual assistant feature that can schedule appoints and perform other tasks using natural sounding commands.

Last fall, Apple disappointed some pundits and enthusiasts by making mostly incremental enhancements with its latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S. That product ended up defying doubts to become a smash hit, leading to record sales over the holidays. During that time, Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., solidified its lead as the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of almost a half-trillion dollars, well ahead of its nearest rival, Exxon Mobil.

The new iPad may show how durable Apple’s hold on the tablet market is. For most of the two years the iPad has been on sale, Apple has faced a phalanx of competitors from Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion, Samsung and Motorola, yet none has established a firm beachhead in the tablet business. A few of those competitors, like Hewlett, gave up.

In a recent survey of American consumers with tablets by Forrester Research, 73 percent said they owned an iPad. That is a sharp contrast to the smartphone business, where Apple has seen a steady erosion of its market share as phones based on Google’s Android operating system have swept the market. Phones with Android software accounted for 51.6 percent of smartphone shipments worldwide in the fourth quarter, compared to 23.4 percent for the iPhone, according to Canalys, a research firm.

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester, said the iPad has maintained its grip on the market because most consumers buy it through retail stores rather than through wireless carriers. “Android smartphones are selling like hot cakes because that’s what the carriers push,” she said. “With tablets, carriers are not the main destination for tablets.”

The new iPad, though, is likely to face more serious challenges to the product’s dominance than in the past. Over the holidays, Amazon is estimated to have sold more than five million Kindle Fires, a smaller tablet that has attracted a new group of consumers to the category with its $199 price tag.

Apple sold 15.4 million iPads over the holiday quarter and 55 million of the devices in total since they first went on sale in 2010.

Mr. Cook told the audience Wednesday that Apple had sold 315 million iOS devices sold through end of 2011 and that iPads, iPhones and iPods are now responsible for 75 percent of the company’s revenue. Mr. Cook said that the 15 million iPads Apple sold exceeded the number of personal computers any one maker — that would include Hewlett-Packard, the largest PC maker — sold around the world. Later this year, the first tablet devices to use Windows 8, a new operating system from Microsoft, are expected to hit the market. The software has been redesigned by Microsoft to take advantage of touchscreen devices.

The chief criticism that some stalwarts of the PC industry have leveled at the iPad is that the device is not well suited for creating content, even if it is good for consuming it. Apple, though, sought to undermine that argument with a number of new apps. Those include a new version of its Mac software, iPhoto, for editing photographs. A new version of Apple’s Garage Band music software lets up to four people to play in a virtual band together with four iPads that are connected together wirelessly.

 Apple Adds Sharper Screen and Speed to New iPad
By NICK WINGFIELD

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple updated the iPad on Wednesday with a high-definition screen, a faster wireless connection and several other refinements, all packaged in a device without any major design changes.

As recent history has shown, though, Apple may not need a bold overhaul of the look of its tablet computer to attract waves of new buyers.

The company said the new iPad would go on sale on March 16 at a starting price of $499, unchanged from the last generation of iPads. The product will have a screen that provides a comparable level of clarity to the iPhone’s “retina display,” with higher resolution than conventional high-definition televisions, according to Apple executives.

“That is distinctive and is a kind of leapfrog above existing and announced products,” said A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.

And in a sign that Apple intends to more seriously protect its share of the tablet market, which is expected to get more competitive this year, the company said it would continue to sell its second-generation iPad, dropping the price to $399 from $499.

At a company event, Apple also showed a new version of Apple TV, the company’s $99 set-top box for accessing Internet video, which streams movies in the sharpest of the high-definition video formats, called 1080p.

The initial reaction to the tablet computer was mixed, as has frequently been the case of late with Apple’s new iterations. Apple’s stock price was about flat in regular trading, ending up 43 cents higher, at $530.69, a 0.1 percent gain.

The new tablet, called simply the new iPad, with no numbers or letters after the name, is an effort to keep growth chugging along in a two-year-old business that has turned into a major franchise for the company. Apple’s $9.15 billion in iPad sales over the holiday quarter was almost double the amount of revenue Microsoft reported from its Windows software and not far from Google’s total revenue as a company during the same period.

Speaking from the same stage where Steven P. Jobs, the company’s late chief executive, introduced the second-generation iPad almost exactly a year ago, the company’s new chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said the iPad last quarter outsold the number of personal computers sold by any individual manufacturer.

“In many ways, the iPad is reinventing portable computing and outstripping the wildest predictions,” Mr. Cook said.

The new iPad, the third generation of the device, is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, though it is slightly heavier and thicker. The most visible of its changes is the screen, which can display text and images that appear as sharp as they would on a printed page. The company said the screen has more than 3.1 million pixels, or four times more than the current iPad.

It will also operate on the fourth-generation cellphone network technology known as LTE. In the United States, the new iPad will work on AT&T’s and Verizon’s networks to get data.

The iPad will also allow users to dictate e-mail, though Apple did not introduce an iPad version of Siri, a voice-command virtual-assistant feature that proved popular on the iPhone 4S.

Last fall, Apple disappointed some pundits and enthusiasts by making mostly incremental enhancements with the iPhone 4S. That product ended up squashing doubts to become a smash hit, leading to record sales over the holidays. During that time, Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., solidified its lead as the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of almost a half-trillion dollars, well ahead of its nearest rival, Exxon Mobil.

At times, Apple has wowed people by radically rethinking the design of its products. Several years ago, it overhauled its MacBook Air with a drastically thinner case. It gave the iPhone 4 a novel, hard-edged case that looked very different from the design of early iPhones.

MacDailyNews Take: The MacBook Air was an entirely new product with a drastically thinner case from the start, not an “overhauled” existing product. How different the iPhone 4 is to previous iPhone is debatable. All iPhones – we’ve owned them all – are virtually the same size and present nearly identical forward faces to the user.

Look at the iMac, Mac mini, iPad, yes, iPhone, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro – they have stayed the same or very similar on the outside for years. One would assume that’s because Jony Ive already did that hard work; why mess too much with near perfection?

Our point: In reality, Apple’s exterior designs rarely change, contrary to Wingfield’s original flawed premise that the new iPad offered only “modest changes” because the outside did not change dramatically. Seriously, iPad is a blank canvas. What did Wingfield expect, a circular screen? A hexagonal one?

Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, said those kinds of radical redesigns did not happen every year, partly because the smaller components and other underlying technologies that made them possible did not change at that pace. Mr. Wolf said he believed that more of Apple’s innovation was happening in software because it was not as encumbered by the development of outside technologies in that area.

“I always look at Apple as a software company,” he said.

The new iPad may show how durable Apple’s hold on the tablet market is. For most of the two years the iPad has been on sale, Apple has faced a phalanx of competitors from Hewlett-Packard, Research in Motion, Samsung and Motorola, yet none has established a firm beachhead in the tablet business. A few of those competitors, like H.P., gave up.

In a recent survey of American consumers with tablets by Forrester Research, 73 percent said they owned an iPad. That is a sharp contrast to the smartphone business, where Apple’s market share has steadily eroded as phones based on Google’s Android operating system have swept the market. Phones with Android software accounted for 51.6 percent of smartphone shipments worldwide in the fourth quarter, compared with 23.4 percent for the iPhone, according to Canalys, a research firm.

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester, said the iPad had maintained its grip on the market because most consumers bought it through retail stores rather than wireless carriers. “Android smartphones are selling like hot cakes because that’s what the carriers push,” she said. “With tablets, carriers are not the main destination for tablets.”

The new iPad, though, is likely to face more serious challenges to the product’s dominance than in the past. Over the holidays, Amazon is estimated to have sold more than five million of its Kindle Fire, a smaller tablet that has attracted a new group of consumers to the category with a $199 price tag.

Later this year, the first tablet devices to use Windows 8, a new operating system from Microsoft, are expected to hit the market. The software has been redesigned by Microsoft to take advantage of touch-screen devices.

Apple sold 15.4 million iPads over the holiday quarter and has sold 55 million iPads in total since they first went on sale in 2010.

Mr. Cook told the audience Wednesday that Apple had sold 315 million iOS devices through the end of 2011 and that iPads, iPhones and iPods were now responsible for 75 percent of the company’s revenue. The chief criticism that some stalwarts of the PC industry have leveled at the iPad is that the device is not well suited for creating content, even if it is good for consuming it.

Apple, though, sought to undermine that argument with a number of new apps. Those include a new version of its Mac software for editing digital photographs, iPhoto. A new version of Apple’s GarageBand music software lets up to four people play together in a virtual band with iPads that are connected wirelessly.

Related article:
The New York Times continues idiotic vendetta, claims Apple’s new iPad only offers ‘modest changes’ (UPDATED) – March 7, 2012

95 Comments

        2. Now that is a story. No wonder he wants Mt. Everest style gas prices. The communist doesn’t even own a car??????

          That is what the NY Slimes should be reporting on. Not trying to make capitalist hero Apple Inc. look bad.

        5. Christoff, Truth, you’re both fuckwits. You have no fucking idea what a real Communist actually is, or what it’s like to live in a country under a Communist dictator. I suggest both of you ignorant pricks go and live in Zimbabwe or North Korea and find out just how miserable you shitty little lives could actually become.

        6. Horshack you jack ass, you have no idea what the Democrats are trying to do to us all. Or maybe you do and you lie like the rest of them. You go live in North Korea or Zimbabwe. You would love it there and feel right at home you commie lover you.

        13. Heh. NYT has supported every corporate wing nut military industrial complex endeavor since its inception. How far gone do you have to to call them left wing? Also commie..doesn’t mean what you think it means. Not that I see any actual thought in your comment.

      2. Faux Newz Channel IS the Ministry of Truth.

        Where a moderately conservative nominal Democrat like President Obama becomes a wild-eyed radial liberal who plans to socialize the US economy and destroy private enterprise. If only we could really have the progressive Democrat the Cons fear…

        Reply

        2. You are stupid. Look where his money comes from and who is in his cabinet. All corporate financial people.
          The military industrial security complex loves Obama.

        5. How’s this for apocalyptic literature. This was written by a pastor’swife in biblical prose as a commentary of current events. It is brilliant.

          And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as “The One.”

          He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you.” My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. I shall save you with hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who proceeded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed. And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what “The One” would do, he had promised that it was good; and they believed. And “The One” said “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!” And the people said, “Hallelujah! Change is good!” Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats.” And the people said “Sock it to them!” “And redistribute their wealth.” And the people said, “Show us the money!” And the he said, “redistribution of wealth is good for everybody..”

          And Joe the plumber asked, ” Are you kidding me? You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats?” And “The One” ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized. One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?” And she was banished from the kingdom.

          Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?” And “The One” said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!” And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”

          Then “The One” said “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.” And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes” So “The One” said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!” And the people said, “Hallelujah! Show us the money!” Then “The One” said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!” And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed. And He said. “I shall mandate employer-funded health care for every worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every
          person unlimited healthcare and medicine and transportation to the clinics.” And the people said, “Give me some of that!” Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.” And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”

          Then “The One” said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!” And the people said, “Coal isdirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.” So “The One” said, Not to worry. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with the ACORN and you troubles are over!” Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing…” And the people said, “Hallelujah!” and they made him king!

          And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The bank banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to acrawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.

          Then “The One” said, “I am the “the One”- The Messiah – and I’m here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!” But our foreign trading partners said unto Him. “Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more… And “The One” said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!” And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic program s you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”

          And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?” But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung . And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change “The One” had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

          And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, “give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!” But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

          You may think this a fairy tale, but it’s not. It’s happening RIGHT NOW

          THIS really tells it like it is. After reading it — and before you go into the bathroom to throw-up — forward it to your friends and those you know who care about our country and what is happening to it under the rule of Commissar Obamanation.

          P.S. — Yeah, this is too true to be funny.. Tragic, but not funny; tragic but true.
          IF YOU CAN’T SEE THIS HAPPENING…. JUST RUB YOUR EYES AND BLINK A FEW MORE TIMES REALLY GOOD.

        1. I still don’t know why, but this site seems to love to bait political blogs. I honestly have more than enough to do in my work and life than to use a supposed tech/apple site to spew venom about politics. It’s everyone’s right to say what they want, anonymously, online, but I don’t’ get why this site more than any of the other eight Apple sites I go to, seems to harbor sometimes vile and nasty politico’s pundit remarks. Why not go to a political site? Maybe it’s a hobby for retirees or people who have a lot of time to drag it on, but, well, seems to slow down what sometimes is revealing about tech ideas, options for software and upcoming events. I’m probably much younger than most posters and maybe with age comes different priorities. OK, enough.

        3. @kenh: your immaturity is noted. MDN’s vendetta against any publication that includes any less than full-court-press adulation of Apple is pathetic.

          Yesterday i challenged MDN to identify anything in Wingfield’s article that wasn’t either quotation or verifiable truth. MDN removed my comment and continues its semantics arguements. Significance means different things to different people, but MDN insists that everyone must yield to its OPINION of what should be considered “modest”.

          When Wingfield revises his article to clarify that what he was referring to as “modest” is the external design — the original article covered all the significant internal updates — MDN didn’t say “thank you”, it doubled down on its attack. How juvenile.

        5. post wasn’t about the article at all, not sure you understood or really care.

          ‘jack ass” and “numb nuts” is funny. reminds me of my uncle who is a pretty cynical guy and loves to say things in a way to show how macho or something he is. rofl, especially when it’s from ‘wise one’.

        7. pacificfilms, if you’re sick of the immature, imbecilic, racist, paranoid political drivel spewed all over the pages of MDN, just quit reading the comments… i happen to like reading the comments for material i can use in my new screenplay, “Dumb, Dumbest, Dumbshit and FullOfShit.” cheers!

  7. At least the print version has the correct heading.

    “A version of this article appeared in print on March 8, 2012, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Apple Adds Sharper Screen and Speed to New iPad.”

    Reply

  10. It’s all because, in the release keynote for the first iPad, Steve showed the NYT site with a big flash-hole in the middle. It was back when the flash “war” was going on. The audience laughed.

    Reply

  11. The Pundits still don’t get it. There is an iPad market owned by Apple; then there is a ‘Tablet’ market with everyone else competing for whatever meager profit is left on the cheap, low margin end of things.

    As for the iPhone, the comparison is Apple to Androids. Apple has the top 3 selling models of smartphones. The 3GS, a 2 year old phone is outselling new Androids. Compare on a me del vs model, and Apple blows the competition away. Enoug of a rant, I’ll let someone else rant for awhile. 🙂

    Reply

  14. NYT likes to fsck around. This isn’t the first time. If they do it for tech articles, I shudder to think what goes on with “real” news.

    MacDailyNews caught them red-handed. In fact, MDN may have prompted the revision in the first place!

    Good job, MDN!

    (Brought you you by Carl’s Jr.)

    Reply

      1. Please identify where the “partisan crap” is in my comment. Or are you simply reading your own biases into my comment?

        As per your biases, I presume that you think the NY Times leans one way or the other politically (towards whichever side you lean) and you’re looking to protect it from criticism or doubt?

        Thank you in advance for your answer.

        (Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.)

        Reply

        4. You are right about one thing and one thing only Sucker, we conservatives hate your commie asses and will be laughing at you all the way to Victory this November!

  15. So, tech pundits are only tech literate enough to recognize changes in form factors as “major changes”? OMG, they only put in an advanced screen that no one else has!!! OMG? That’s only incremental.

    Just like the dumbshits that thought Siri and iCloud were incremental.

    Reply

  19. I gather the point is that when early editions of afternoon papers on Nov. 22, 1963, said that the president had been shot and wounded, they weren’t allowed to mention in later editions that he had died. The Chicago Tribune was required to treat Dewey as president from 1948 until 1952 as well, I suppose Stories are edited, refined, re-headlined, and silently corrected from one edition to the next hundreds of times a day. You may not have noticed it, but they have been doing it since the 1700s. It is a bit late in the day for this sort of paranoia. Apple is the richest company in the world; it can take care of itself.

    Reply

    1. So what do Google/Android, and /or Micro$loth have that comes close to the first iPad? much less the 3rd generation iPad? Four times the density of pixels is earth shattering when you consider that graphics and battery life managed to keep up with the display, i.e., no degradation of graphic quality or of battery life. They are not modest! 🙂

      Reply

    3. ivid you don’t know anything.
      Retina display
      Quad core
      Bluetooth 4
      LTE
      1 GB app memory
      All at the same price and battery life with fantastic app selection, build quality and support. No Android tablets comes close. Run along now. You don’t see BOGO firesale prices for Apple products like the Android phone your dad got you.

      Reply

    1. @ EN Oh, please. Show me an online publication that doesn’t update its stories. any publication. come on, can’t you come up with a single publication that prints perfection in every first edition? why not?

      Reply

  23. The single most important tech story of the year (if not our lifetimes) breaks..being the reported hacking of Olivia Munn’s cellphone, with the resulting photos that have brought joy to millions of former AOTS viewers – and the NYT technology writers are MIA on the subject. No photo reprints…no hardhitting investigative journalism to find out when we can expect more images, no full-page color tribute covering OM’s career…nothing. Just off rewriting their lame iPad article for the NYT’s declining readership. How can anyone take these people seriously as tech writers.

    Reply

  24. NYT previously placed Apple in the crosshairs for working conditions in China and released the story the week of Apple record earnings. Intentional?

    That is up to your fair minded critical thinking skills.

    I applaud MDN For calling them out.

    I left the same old, same old FUD decades ago …

    Reply

Reader Feedback

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Tags: , , , , , , ,