For the hundreth time people ...the only reason the iPad 2 is still in the line is for education supply contracts. Lots of local school boards are under fire for bilking taxpayers out of millions for the folly of giving these to students. As long as it stays in the product line,the charge of "discontinued technology" can't be leveled which give the boards and apple a bit of cover for this scam. Its 399 because they can get it from institutions spending other peoples money. Thats what you as a taxpayer are paying for it. I doubt they will even stock them at most apple stores. It just has to stay in the line.
And yes it sucks they are discontinuing the covers. But that is always how it is at apple. Did you ever try finding a replacement case for an iPod the second the next generation came out? All of the third-party cases would get taken off the shelves at the apple store the second the new generation iPods came in.
You make an excellent point, if all that is indeed true it would certainly go a long way to explaining what everyone is so baffled about!
...
However, you lost me at the iPod cover, as there is a very logical, non-diabolical reason why this happens the second a new one comes out.
Many customers at the Apple Store can't tell an iPod Touch cover from an iPhone cover half the time, likewise, mixing similar but different older gen cases with the latest cases when the store only sells the newest gen is a recipe for disaster... as long as you consider lots of returns and potentially angry customers a disaster.