I think the lack of numerical naming of the new ipad is a sign of...

I think the lack of numerical naming of the new ipad is a sign of that the outward design will not be changing much in the near future. Giving each new generation a new number is great when it shows significant outward cosmetic differences (iphone, iphone 3G, iphone 4) , but if the product is going to look visually the same for many years it's better to get rid of the number. For a while imacs were often referred as the imac G3, imac G4 , imac core-duo when each generation looked different, but over the last 6 years or so their outward appearance has changed little and no one really bothers with differentiating imacs by processor names anymore.



If the next iphone looks almost the same as the 4S, but only slightly thinner (gorilla glass 2 on each side), slightly larger screen, no physical home button, 4G LTE, same A5 processor (no need for a hotter running processor anytime soon), better batteries for longer life, and maybe an increased amount of ram. I think the next iphone will either be the last to use a number or be the second one without it.

It's no longer about how the products look anymore, from here on out it's about how the iphone, ipad, iTV (whatever its called) work together with iCloud and with all those amazing apps. This new digital ecosystem will eventually create and give birth to new types of devices that we can not even imagine at this point, but those devices are most likely a decade away and will be created by some kids in their garage somewhere.

Even in a 'worst case scenario' if we started to see a plateauing of major technological advancements in the iPhone and iPad, it will only lead Apple down the path of lowering the retail price. As the retail price falls (and with the possible introduction of an iPad mini) more people will be able to afford Apple products and they will only become even more popular with the masses. Sure this will run its course and come to a dead end eventually, but they could milk it around the globe for the next 5 years pretty easily as volume skyrockets but margins per unit decline (but won't disapear).

That is the problem. Apple will always be held back by their suppliers and as Apple sales volume continues to climb up through the stratosphere it becomes increasingly harder for suppliers to innovate and at the same time meet the daily production needs and required high quality demands. The continued production volume to meet Apples needs is going to be signicantly more than any one PC manufacture required at the peak of the PC era.

Even HP, M$, IBM, and etc at the peak of the PC era had good and really smart people working for them, but true innovation that leads to the next big thing often comes from the 'crazy ones' laboring in their garage and not in a lavish office building designed to satify the finicky tastes of billionaires.