The iPad Mini (if there is one) is actually worse. Both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs stated that a smaller tablet would be a bad idea, yet here we might see one in a few days’ time. This means that Apple has taken an idea that multiple other companies has had for a number of years (about 4 by our count) and is now making a device to match. If you need a list of companies that make a 7-inch tablet you have Samsung, Motorola, Archos, Asus, Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and numerous others whose band names are not as recognizable. Still the press if going crazy about Apple; anything they say is news worthy and everyone else if just trying to copy Apple. Steve Jobs would have been very happy to see this continuing. Then again we have a feeling that Jobs might have had a few personality problems that gave him a slight messiah complex.

It has become very much a part of what the mass media and many analysts do these days. Instead of actually looking at the market and what it does they load up the consumers with predictions, studies and more that have no real basis. By doing this they can actually manipulate the market to some extent. One of our favorite examples is Piper Jaffrey; this is the company that went so far as to poll a group of 65 people and claimed that was a valid study. The reason that these studies, articles, commentaries are all bad for the consumer is that they are opinions (just as this is), but they are opinions with a motive. The motive here in many cases is to build on the equity that the investment firm or analyst firm has. This is not true of all investment firms, but is very true of many of the more vocal ones.

This misinformation gets onto the internet where it is read by millions of people every day. It becomes almost toxic in its effect on the consumer. People think they are getting unbiased information on the market and products, when in many cases these articles, reviews and advice  that pops up is more like an advertisement than a real product review or analysis of the current market situation. What would be nice once would be to see someone actually report on the facts of the products that come out. We have heard rumor and speculation about the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, but what is missing the most is the coverage of how little is being changed and how much Apple is following the rest of the market while trying so very hard to kill them in court for copying. We doubt that anything will change with the majority of the technical press or even the analysis from investment firms, but maybe if this article gets around it will open the eyes of some consumers and investors to look at what they are actually eating as opposed to what they are being told is on the plate. They might find the dish is not all that appetizing in the end.

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