Apparently you missed the sarcasm. You made my point very clear though, why call it anything other than iPad. It's the one and only, and "air" doesn't differentiate it from the last iPad any more than just being "the latest iPad" ... the mini has it's differentiating qualities that match the mini size.
So as you pointed out, it's the latest model, so why the need to call it anything different. Did you realize you had just stated my point by the time you finished typing it, or do you only now realize it a day after?