The title is slightly misleading - I'm actually talking about what I decided regarding buying one for my wife. I've had my own 32 GB 3G model since May.
Anyway, I see a lot of people waiting on the iPad 2, and hoping for huge upgrades like a retina display. Here's my opinion - just food for thought.
If I told my wife to wait, she'd be waiting 5 months or more. This assumes they'd release the iPad 2 in late April, which is pretty much the consensus. That's a lot of weeks lost not enjoying her iPad. I think that is a big consideration. Heck, even if the iPad 2 is so much better that we decide to upgrade and sell the old ones on eBay (a net cost of about $200 each I'd guess), it might be well worth the added $200 for 5 months of iPad use, don't you think?
My second thought is that I don't think the iPad 2 is going to be that big of an upgrade. Here's why. First, the iPad 1 is selling very, very well. There is a lot of competition popping up, but the tech blog reviews I've seen indicate a lot of shortcomings on these competing devices, particularly lack of tablet-optimized app selection compared to the iPad (by a huge margin). I don't see the competition being a serious factor for about another year. IMO a moderate upgrade is all Apple needs next year to keep their momentum going.
Next, Apple's pattern with iOS devices seems to be major upgrades every other year. Disregarding iPhone 1, which was their first real foray into mobile, the iPhone 3GS was a moderate upgrade to the 3G. This happened in spite of the rising of Android as a competitor, and people saying that Apple had to hit one out of the park to stay on top. In reality they had more time than that. Then the following year, the iPhone 4 was released and it was a huge upgrade.
Likewise, I expect the iPad 2 to add a few things like Facetime cameras, perhaps 512MB memory, and a few other tweaks. Nothing more. The iPad 3, however, will be a big design change.
I don't expect a retina display. In my mind there are serious cost and technical hurdles with that kind of density on that size screen. I just don't see it, not this soon. I also don't see them tossing another curve ball at app developers at this stage. Just my opinion.
My wife and I have iPhone 4's, so Facetime is covered. Therefore, for me it was an easy decision to go with an iPad 1 now rather than wait 5 months for the 2. I'll add that I believe the iPad can be improved mostly through software upgrades, and we're already going to get that with iOS 4. It will only keep going from there.
Anyway, I see a lot of people waiting on the iPad 2, and hoping for huge upgrades like a retina display. Here's my opinion - just food for thought.
If I told my wife to wait, she'd be waiting 5 months or more. This assumes they'd release the iPad 2 in late April, which is pretty much the consensus. That's a lot of weeks lost not enjoying her iPad. I think that is a big consideration. Heck, even if the iPad 2 is so much better that we decide to upgrade and sell the old ones on eBay (a net cost of about $200 each I'd guess), it might be well worth the added $200 for 5 months of iPad use, don't you think?
My second thought is that I don't think the iPad 2 is going to be that big of an upgrade. Here's why. First, the iPad 1 is selling very, very well. There is a lot of competition popping up, but the tech blog reviews I've seen indicate a lot of shortcomings on these competing devices, particularly lack of tablet-optimized app selection compared to the iPad (by a huge margin). I don't see the competition being a serious factor for about another year. IMO a moderate upgrade is all Apple needs next year to keep their momentum going.
Next, Apple's pattern with iOS devices seems to be major upgrades every other year. Disregarding iPhone 1, which was their first real foray into mobile, the iPhone 3GS was a moderate upgrade to the 3G. This happened in spite of the rising of Android as a competitor, and people saying that Apple had to hit one out of the park to stay on top. In reality they had more time than that. Then the following year, the iPhone 4 was released and it was a huge upgrade.
Likewise, I expect the iPad 2 to add a few things like Facetime cameras, perhaps 512MB memory, and a few other tweaks. Nothing more. The iPad 3, however, will be a big design change.
I don't expect a retina display. In my mind there are serious cost and technical hurdles with that kind of density on that size screen. I just don't see it, not this soon. I also don't see them tossing another curve ball at app developers at this stage. Just my opinion.
My wife and I have iPhone 4's, so Facetime is covered. Therefore, for me it was an easy decision to go with an iPad 1 now rather than wait 5 months for the 2. I'll add that I believe the iPad can be improved mostly through software upgrades, and we're already going to get that with iOS 4. It will only keep going from there.
