I think I might be the only one on this site with this opinion, but I don't think a .6 mm difference from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 was a big deal at all. Look at that width on a ruler and tell me that you would actually be able to tell the difference just holding the two side by side and not looking at them. I think the iPad 3 LOOKS thicker because the back is designed slightly differently than on the iPad 2, but in reality, it's a hair's width difference in actual thickness.
The heat issue......I don't know. My iPad got a bit warm when I was playing Infinity Blade 2 one day--but that was after an hour and a half straight of playing the game. I think this one is pretty overblown and Consumer Reports, the propagator of all the controversy, even admitted as much.
Battery? I am getting 5 or 6 days out of one charge, and I use my iPad anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day. If I'm doing any heavy gaming or anything like that, of course it drains faster, but for just reading my news and magazines, watching video, listening to music, etc. (normal day to day) I get several days worth of use. It may help that I turn my wifi off during the day because I don't want my company to see that I know the wifi password. I will say that if I charge the iPad up to 100% and take it off the charger right away I get less battery life than if I plug it in an hour or two before bed time and then let it sit all night (probably sits on 100% for at least a couple of hours on the charger during the night when I do it this way).
I think people are also underestimating the effort it takes to re-set up manufacturing for something like this. I think it's likely that this is an idea for next year's model.
