iPad 2 Underwhelms

The following was written by an iPad fan *before* the iPad 2 came out.

~~
XOOM vs. iPad vs. iPad 2

I hope that the recent rumor that iPad will ship with an extremely weak
1MP rear camera doesn’t come true though. 1MP doesn’t bode well for video
and if true, you can toss out 720p video capture. Putting a low-res rear
camera in iPad 2 would be a huge mistake and allow a whole generation of
Android tabs to move in on its turf. iPad 2 needs to include a camera as
least as good as the iPhone 4’s.

I’m also starting to lose hope that the iPad 2 will have a Retina Display,
although I still hope that Apple finds a way to pull it off. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see Apple settling on 1280 x 800 — it’d be bump up from the
iPad 1 and would match up better against the likes of Samsung, Motorola
and Toshiba.

Let’s all collectively cross our fingers that Apple finally comes to its
senses and includes a removable memory card slot and Micro USB port in the
new iPad. Since it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a removable battery from
Apple again, SD and USB would be huge steps in the right direction.
~~
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/xoo...pad-2/9257

Looks like most of his "hopes" went south. The iPad 2 has a VGA rear
camera. No Retina Display, not even the 1280 x 800 he considered the
"fallback" position. Instead it has the same screen resolution as the
original iPad (1024 x 768). No removable memory card and no USB port.

The iPad 2 lags behind the Motorola Xoom in almost all hardware
categories. And it won't have an option for 4G connections.

Unlike Motorola, who can freely release the best possible tablet (taking
into consideration the price points), Apple has to worry about
cannibalizing their higher cost laptop sales, so they purposely limit the
specs on their iPads -- a balancing act. Too anemic the specifications and
they can't sell the thing. Too powerful the specifications and it cuts
into their laptop sales. Dilemma, dilemma.

So, when will the iPad 3 come out? Next year? How far behind will the iPad
have fallen behind by then? The iPad 2 is "born" behind and it won't be
catching up.

And this article doesn't even mention the superiority of the much more
flexible and customizable Android 3 OS. Its tabbed web browser and its
upcoming Flash support are two of the main advantages.

RonB
Registered Linux User #498581
CentOS 5.5 or VectorLinux Deluxe 6.0