Wait... folks. There is no reason to bash piggie. While I hope apple doesn't raise the price, it is very possible that they might since all of you are asking..
1. Retina display
2. 1GB ram
3. 128GB storage
4. more than 1 megapixel camera.
Look at xoom, it costs 799 dollars. Why isn't HP, Samsung, and LG talking about their prices? Yea, because they will be priced high.
15 MBP price has been going from 1599 dollars to 1699 dollars. The price has been changed before. Same thing goes for mac mini.
Price increase could very well happen. iPad is still in first generation and we don't know what is going to happen.
Increasing the price is not always a stupid business decision. Wrong. It is right decision depends on the situation.
Stop asking for so high specs on iPad, and maybe you will see 499 dollars price again.