Still, I think them not actually calling it iPad 3 is weird. I've heard some say they want to get away from this numbered naming system, but that doesn't make sense to me--it seems to be working just fine for them so far.
It works great up to a point, and then it sounds stupid. Should I get the iPad 16, or wait for the iPad 17? See what I mean?
I too was thrown by the change in naming, but I'm starting to figure it out. Ever driven a Thunderbird? The name on the side of the car says "Thunderbird." It doesn't say what year it is, that's something the customers added to differentiate your 64 Thunderbird from my 69 Thunderbird.
I suspect this is what Apple is aiming for there.
As for the rest, let me quote you:
I mean, come on, a better screen, and marginally better camera, connectivity, an processor? That's it?
"That's it?" This is what drew such a visceral reaction -- you are glossing over levels of engineering that make the moon shot look like a kid's high school science project there.
To borrow the overworked car analogy again, do you think Ford could (or ever would) completely redesign their top-selling car every year or two from top to bottom, and by the way while they're at it can they double the performance of the engine every year, give me twice as much glass space in the body, and double the mileage while they are at it?
THAT is what the new iPad brings to the table over the iPad 2 and more. Have you LOOKED at the iPhone 4S camera galleries compared to the iPhone 4? That's a SERIOUS jump in quality. The new screen (in addition to other improvements) is FOUR TIMES as many pixels to push around, and yet Apple found a way to make the processor do all that AND still be faster AND still get the same battery life as when it had to do 1/4th as much work? And I haven't even gotten to the problem of LTE radios and their power drain versus 3G radios ...
Let's just say that if every company could improve their products as much as Apple does, we would be living in a fantastic world that George Jetson would drool with envy over.
I'm just trying to decide whether or not it's worth the price, and if I did pay for a new one and a new iPad came out before Christmas (which I'm thinking is less likely, now), I'd be pretty angry with myself.
There's absolutely no chance of a new iPad before another 11 months (at least) have passed, for three reasons:
1. As we just saw, the fact that the iPad 2 was nine months old at the time didn't stop them selling more than 5M of them PER WEEK during the holiday season? Why? Because it was still better than EVERYTHING ELSE OUT THERE.
2. That level of innovation is simply not being done anywhere else, period. All the other companies do is wait for Apple, then copy it as fast as they can. Some can copy faster than others, but basically this is what's going on, which is why they can't get any traction.
3. iOS 6.
