The iPad 2 is quite old now. Is it worth me "completing my iPad collection with the iPad 2/3 and Air 3?
True, it is. However, statistics show that the iPad 2 is also the most used iPad (as of Oct. 2015) and the Air 2 is one of the least despite all of the upgrades that have occurred since 2011. It's slow, has a non-retina display, and gets left out of a lot of the new features that iOS has brought to the table since it was originally released. Keep in mind, the iPad 2 shipped with 4.1. So, why is this? Why do 30% of iPad users cling to a tablet that has been outclassed time and time and time again?
I think it has a lot to do with what was said right here:
I would buy iPad Air 3, but won't because of iOS. I own several iPads and I love them for what it is. But for me to upgrade, iOS needs to do more for iPad. I think it's time for iOS to be split into 2, phoneOS and padOS (joining 2 other iOS variants, tvOS and watchOS).
iOS just still isn't quite what it could be. Tablets were originally billed as consumer devices that you could, ya know, also do a few work-related things on and I think that idea of what tablets are supposed to be for hasn't escaped the minds of the public yet. Nowadays, there has been a shift and manufactures and software devs are trying to turn tablets into our main computers, but the shortcomings and limitation of our present days versions of iOS and Android (ew) are preventing them from becoming as such. Apple can make the iPad as powerful as they want, but without turning iOS into an operating system as capable as OS X, it just isn't going to be a viable computing option for
everyone. Sure, there are all kinds of people out there that just don't need a computer for much. For them, the tablet a perfect device that is cheaper, easier to use, and far more portable than a laptop. Plus, there just isn't any guesswork to iOS as there is with OS X and other desktop environments. It's pretty fool-proof. This is appealing to a lot of people out there that want
something that can connect them to the digital world, but don't have a lot of knowledge and are therefore occasionally intimidated by using a standard computer. However, for those of us who use computing devices for more than just consumption need more than that.
I'm not trying to down-play what the iPad is in its current form; I love my iPad just as much as my Macbook Pro. I would just like to see Apple turn it into something that I could do even more with and the way to get there is to put the work into making iOS a truly capable operating system.