I went to Best Buy today to look around and was again checking out the tablet computers. Specifically, I was looking at the iPad Mini w/Retina Display and the Google Nexus 7.  There are lots of comparisons of the two devices out there on the web, but I don’t think the articles really convey the difference.

As you would have a right to expect for the extra $170 it costs over the Nexus 7, the iPad is just a LOT nicer. I say this, and I really really really want to love the Nexus 7. I am very drawn to the idea of breaking the bonds of the Apple-verse when I can. But man, the iPad is a hell of a lot nicer. Even the scrolling action on the iPad is better. That’s really the first thing I noticed. when you scroll on the iPad Mini it just glides so smoothly. The Nexus 7 glides smoothly, but no even close to the iPad. This is one of those things that a straight-up numbers-to-numbers comparison doesn’t capture. The feel of the device in use.

Is it worth the extra $170? Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

Really, I probably would have broken my “no new technology in 2014” vow today and gotten a Nexus 7 (even if it isn’t as nice) had one thing not totally pissed me off. The f*#!ing cover for the thing is $50!  That is just out-fucking-ragious. It pisses me off. You spend $229 on a device, and the frickin cover for it costs $50? Insane! And man, you need that cover! I guarantee if I didn’t get a cover for it, I would drop it and break it within 20 minutes.

To be fair, it’s the same for the iPad. Worse, really. The “smart case” for the iPad, which is just a plastic sheet that attaches magnetically to the iPad, is $79.  So if you get a $400 iPad Mini with Retina display, you can look forward to paying almost 25% of the price of the device itself just for a cover for the front of it.

So apparently purchasing these gadgets is actually just a free ticket to take it up the butt on the cover, so Apple/Google can make some real money. None of these covers could possible cost more than $2 to manufacture. I’ll let you do the math and figure out the Rape Percentage/Profit Margin.

Well, again I didn’t buy anything. Sorry Google. I could totally see spending $229 on the Nexus 7. Not as nice as the iPad, but very cool, and it has some very nice functions. But sorry, not spending $50 on the “folio” for it.