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I think this is a very screwd decision.
If one looks closely at who buys a lot of hardware reliably replacing it every every 3-5 years it'll be school districts in OECD countries, and they generally go with mature tech from well established brands.

I can see the appeal of the 9.7 in form, especially for small hands, and I can see how making the entire ui 10% bigger would benefit those small hands that tend to be less coordinated.

Kids probably don't really need 4 speakers, but a 3.5mm audio would be useful. No smart connector, but pencil support.

This is not anti consumer. It's about giving their best customers exactly what they want.

I refer you to the eMac, iPad 2, Apple II series, and the still persisting iPad mini 2
 
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