iPad 2

[Bryancd]

The ugly

•Display is the same old resolution as the original
•Still no Flash support, probably never will be

Man, as a consumer and user of the product, those are just such non-issues for me. I think the sceen resolution looks great.

[Feathers]

I think there's a real possibility of iPad 3 being announced in Sept. for the holiday season.

It makes me wonder how much capability enhancement can be implemented in that short time. Why drive such a rapid update cycle?

[Bryancd]

I think there's a real possibility of iPad 3 being announced in Sept. for the holiday season.

It makes me wonder how much capability enhancement can be implemented in that short time. Why drive such a rapid update cycle?

They will do it ONLY if they feel compelled to put all of their portable devices on the same update cyclical. Right now the iPad is sort of out of sync. Apple felt the need to respond quickly to the competition in this space, which was an inspired move on their part. By doing so, they have established real dominance in the space unlikely to be overcome anytime soon.

[Feathers]

OK. I couldn't remember when the iPhone announcements generally were but September still feels wrong. I thought they were earlier?

[Bryancd]

OK. I couldn't remember when the iPhone announcements generally were but September still feels wrong. I thought they were earlier?

I was thinking more along iPod.

[Jobydrone]

It reminds me of the current generation of console hardware (not accounting for Nintendo) in the video game world.  Xbox 360 released almost a full year before Playstation 3, and I believe that earlier release gave Microsoft a huge advantage of an installed base of users that continues to impact software sales even five years later.  Sony could never recover.  Apple having the first tablet to market and the huge publicity surrounding it over the past year, and now releasing it's second generation hardware revision before some of it's potential competitors have even released their first has given Apple what appears to be an unsurmountable advantage.

[Bryancd]

Exactly right, Joby. And the product has delivered on the expectations and experience and continues to build off the existing Apple ecosystem, capturing even more new users and adopters.

[Dangelus]

The ugly

•Display is the same old resolution as the original
•Still no Flash support, probably never will be

Man, as a consumer and user of the product, those are just such non-issues for me. I think the sceen resolution looks great.

Higher Rez would be nice but if we got it now the device would hugely expensive.

Flash support is an issue as it is still industry standard but my hope is that Apple's dominance will help get rid of it. It is inefficient and a resource hog. I have a couple of netboxes that can playback 1080p video but struggle with 480p flash content.

[billybob476]

I guess the question is do you need 1080p on a 10" screen? I mean it's running at 1024 x 768 already which is basically 720p (which is 1280 x 720). My eyes are not that good!

[Dangelus]

See Rico's previous response. Higher rez not just for video content but other graphics are games would be beneficial.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

It reminds me of the current generation of console hardware (not accounting for Nintendo) in the video game world.  Xbox 360 released almost a full year before Playstation 3, and I believe that earlier release gave Microsoft a huge advantage of an installed base of users that continues to impact software sales even five years later.  Sony could never recover.  Apple having the first tablet to market and the huge publicity surrounding it over the past year, and now releasing it's second generation hardware revision before some of it's potential competitors have even released their first has given Apple what appears to be an unsurmountable advantage.

Xbox held this advantage because their hardware and software were reasonable and popular.  Lets face it, they have a lot of exclusive titles and hardware that works.  Unlike Sony who overpriced their hardware and pulled a lot of features out of it before release.  And a lackluster set of games on release doesn't exactly help either. It was a terrible PR move on their part.  

I really don't see Apple adding an iPad 3.0.  This would be a PR mistake.  Because then we will expect iPads to come out ever 6 months, not every year throwing consumer doubt and some rage onto the fire.  I can see them adding a special iPad 2.0 possibly.  The high-end version if you will.  I just don't see them pushing out a next generation iPad so soon.

But I could be wrong.  

King

[Rico]

I guess the question is do you need 1080p on a 10" screen? I mean it's running at 1024 x 768 already which is basically 720p (which is 1280 x 720). My eyes are not that good!

Like I've stated before in this thread, higher resolution will help text quite a bit.  Also, keep in mind that Apple needs something flashy to upgrade in the next model/version.  They've increased the basic hardware inside already, added cameras, made it lighter/thinner, so what's left?  Basically at this point higher resolution and possibly more memory/storage.  Maybe a card reader slot.  So, based on that I think they definitely will upgrade the screen next go round.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I guess the question is do you need 1080p on a 10" screen? I mean it's running at 1024 x 768 already which is basically 720p (which is 1280 x 720). My eyes are not that good!

Like I've stated before in this thread, higher resolution will help text quite a bit.  Also, keep in mind that Apple needs something flashy to upgrade in the next model/version.  They've increased the basic hardware inside already, added cameras, made it lighter/thinner, so what's left?  Basically at this point higher resolution and possibly more memory/storage.  Maybe a card reader slot.  So, based on that I think they definitely will upgrade the screen next go round.

More memory probably, higher resolution would be very tricky, Apple has been very anti-fragmentation so it'll be curious to see how they manage that.  Card Reader maybe, but they do have an accessory for the iPad that does that already sooooo who knows. 

King

[Rico]

Tim - I really I don't your point about fragmenting the market.  The iPad is a tablet.  It competes with tablets.  If people want a laptop (or need one) I don't see them having an issue that a tablet may end up with higher res. than a laptop at some point.  It's like saying a small car can't have a higher horsepower engine than say a sedan from the same company.  They serve different needs.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Tim - I really I don't your point about fragmenting the market.  The iPad is a tablet.  It competes with tablets.  If people want a laptop (or need one) I don't see them having an issue that a tablet may end up with higher res. than a laptop at some point.  It's like saying a small car can't have a higher horsepower engine than say a sedan from the same company.  They serve different needs.

The problem is, is that a different resolution requires everyone to update their apps to the new resolution.  I wasn't referring to hardware fragmentation but software fragmentation.  Apple dislikes this.

King