Just for the sake of discussion, let's say that this retarded rumor turned out to be true. If Apple commits themselves to an amateurish hyper release schedule for some of their products from now on, I can tell you right now that I wouldn't be picking up an iPad3. Why would I when I could just wait a few more months and go for iPad 4, which is going to destroy iPad 3 in terms of features. And the iPad 4 would be available about 1 year after the release of iPad 2, falling in line with the regular yearly release schedule.
This would hurt Apple pretty badly in the long run I suspect. Very few customers are going to be buying multiple iPads a year. There are quite a few customers who would get a new iPad every year though. Apple is not run by morons.
I am going to trash Apple so badly if they come out with an iPad3 according to the schedule in this retarded rumor, and I can guarantee you that I won't be the only one.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
If this is the way it comes down, all I can say is that it's different from anything Apple has ever done before (which is why I think it unlikely), and will probably fail if they try it.
It's generally a bad idea to sell two products that are feature identical with the exception of one has "crappier" parts than the other, so it's cheaper. Some manufacturers do this, Apple doesn't.
It rarely works in any case as it's only a strategy for the budget conscious types who are so cheap they will actually buy a bad device simply because it's cheaper. For instance the netbook market is like this, and Dell sells their computers like this. In almost all cases though, we are talking about the low-end of the market where margins are razor thin, profitability is doubtful, and consumers are looking for cheap crap.
If a person is the type of customer that is willing to look at a fuzzy screen for two years simply because it saved them $50 of the purchase price, then they aren't going to be interested in Apple products anyway (until they get dirt cheap in the long tail of the market).
So the two product strategy is *not* the way Apple usually does business, it's a strategy for the low-end of a *dying* market, (when we are actually in the early stages of a red-hot market), and it generally doesn't work very well anyway.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
It's sort of what happened with the iPod if you think about it. Apple's competitors all assumed it was playing for margin and would be content to sit at 20-30% of the market for personal music players - instead Apple released new product aggressively and cut prices aggressively till they owned the entire segment.
Back in the early days of the iPod (an admittedly simpler product) we'd see minor refreshes sometimes 3 months after a release. We saw the 4gen-photo launch on a few months after the regular 4gen. We saw the nano and the shuffle and minor variations in size, screen, colour, video etc as Apple filled out their product line till there was no room for competitors to break in.
I think they're hoping to do something very similar with the iPad and to be their own competitor - providing a range of options that vary in price and performance but still provide the same build quality and overall experience.
If this is the way it comes down, all I can say is that it's different from anything Apple has ever done before (which is why I think it unlikely), and will probably fail if they try it.
It's generally a bad idea to sell two products that are feature identical with the exception of one has "crappier" parts than the other, so it's cheaper. Some manufacturers do this, Apple doesn't.
It rarely works in any case as it's only a strategy for the budget conscious types who are so cheap they will actually buy a bad device simply because it's cheaper. For instance the netbook market is like this, and Dell sells their computers like this. In almost all cases though, we are talking about the low-end of the market where margins are razor thin, profitability is doubtful, and consumers are looking for cheap crap.
If a person is the type of customer that is willing to look at a fuzzy screen for two years simply because it saved them $50 of the purchase price, then they aren't going to be interested in Apple products anyway (until they get dirt cheap in the long tail of the market).
So the two product strategy is *not* the way Apple usually does business, it's a strategy for the low-end of a *dying* market, (when we are actually in the early stages of a red-hot market), and it generally doesn't work very well anyway.
I find it funny you say all that when that's exactly what Apple did when they introduced the RD iPhone 4 and continued selling the iPhone 3GS alongside it. Circumstances are a little different since the 3GS had a full year run before the iPhone 4 was released, but if Apple were to add another iPad model now, it wouldn't be as "out-of-character" as you say...
It's sort of what happened with the iPod if you think about it. Apple's competitors all assumed it was playing for margin and would be content to sit at 20-30% of the market for personal music players - instead Apple released new product aggressively and cut prices aggressively till they owned the entire segment.
Back in the early days of the iPod (an admittedly simpler product) we'd see minor refreshes sometimes 3 months after a release. We saw the 4gen-photo launch on a few months after the regular 4gen. We saw the nano and the shuffle and minor variations in size, screen, colour, video etc as Apple filled out their product line till there was no room for competitors to break in.
I think they're hoping to do something very similar with the iPad and to be their own competitor - providing a range of options that vary in price and performance but still provide the same build quality and overall experience.
Bingo.
I liked what Apple did with the iPod back then because with all the updates it was always in the news cycle and people were always talking about it. Keeping the buzz around the iPod high is really what brought Apple market dominance. It wasn't until recently that the updates of the lineup slowed down to once a year minor refreshes.
I liked what Apple did with the iPod back then because with all the updates it was always in the news cycle and people were always talking about it. Keeping the buzz around the iPod high is really what brought Apple market dominance. It wasn't until recently that the updates of the lineup slowed down to once a year minor refreshes.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
It'll shuffle between 320 and 340 like it has all year. And it'll keep doing that until the whiners in Wall Street see a press release saying Steve Jobs is back.
By the third iPad release no matter where Steve is the stock will take off. The company will have been run for several quarters with increased growth, year over year, with Cook at the helm.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
It's amazing there are millions more Android devices out in the wild but iPhone users still browse the web more than Android users and iPad users web consumption is unprecedented considering there are far fewer iPads in the wild than Android or iPhone.
As far as Apple implementing Shock and awe tactics with the iPad now would be the time.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
Android is and will continue to get squeezed on two fronts.
I'd think it would need a new A chip with 1) a faster CPU , 2) more RAM, and 3) a faster GPU to offer a good enough experience on that display. They would also need to have a new SDK ready so that devs can immediately start taking advantage of the display.
Not that I'm lending any credence to the iPad 3 rumour, but as of iOS 4.2, the SDK already supports retina displays on iPhone and iPad. To support retina graphics on the iPhone, pretty much all you have to do is add images named [email protected] to the app, so that's probably all you'd need to do on iPad 3 as well, and in fact some of Apple's own iPad apps already have such images embedded in them, which was one of the reasons the retina iPad rumour started in the first place.
It's almost certainly already possible to make and release iPad apps that are 'retina-ready' for when the iPad 3 eventually comes out.
It's amazing there are millions more Android devices out in the wild but iPhone users still browse the web more than Android users and iPad users web consumption is unprecedented considering there are far fewer iPads in the wild than Android or iPhone.
As far as Apple implementing Shock and awe tactics with the iPad now would be the time.
I think the iPhone segment also includes iPod touch, but still the iPad section is astonishing.
DIdn't Steve Jobs say 2011 was the year of iPad 2?
Yes, but that doesn't mean the iPad 2S (2R, 2HD, 2louselautrec) can't come out in [insert fall month here] and give us [insert pointless new feature being screamed about here].
I've had 3 iPod touch first generations and all of them had to be replaced with malfunctioning headphone jacks (the current one is starting to malfunction after having it for less than 1 year)
I've had many classic iPods that never had the headphone malfunction, so I am determined that there is a flaw in the design of the 1G iPod touch.
Anyway, this has prompted me to finally give in and buy an iPhone, and I might as well wait until September when the usual announcements are for the iPhone 5. Is there a possibility that there will be a CDMA unlocked iPhone available so I can use it on MetroPCS? I don't need much of a data plan as I use bandwidth heavy apps on Wifi only so I do not want to shell out $100+ a month like my friends do for their iPhone contracts (and then wonder why they never have any money to do anything). Currently I am paying $37 a month for unlimited minutes and texts, and I think an additional $20 would get me a basic data plan, which sounds like a good bargain.
On another note, when do case manufacturers typically supply their products for new iPhones on the market? Would like to buy a nice high quality case for my new iPhone 5, like an Otterbox.
I love new gear and products, but an iPad 3 just after the iPad 2 is going to alienate customers, especially if it's significantly better. I literally just bought an iPad 2 for my wife for her birthday next week (I have the original) which I'd have done regardless of knowing a new one may or may not arrive in 4 months time.
Even so, releasing a new product more than once a year on these consumer devices will harm the longevity of the device and eventually annoy customers.
That's silly. Phone manufacturers are literally upgrading their phones as fast as physically possible and nobody begrudges them for it. There would be some people who would be mad about it (Apple already has their money and they really have nothing to be mad about), but there would be many more people who would go right out and buy the upgraded iPad. I'd jump on an iPad3 with upgraded display. I have an iPad now and can't justify the upgrade to the 2.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
I'm in on this too +1
The interesting thing to consider is that Apple wants every member of a household to have their own iPad... it's a magical personal device.
Regardless of whether you have an iPad 1 or 2, they lose very little of their value. They can be sold, or moved down the food-chain at home, or with relatives, etc.
Apple envisions every family member having their very own iDevice, possibly 2 or 3 even. It's what iCloud is for.
An iPad HD or Pro, with a mark-up, does nothing to hurt iPad2 IMO.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
I agree and want to throw some of my ideas in on top of that.
Apple is in a unique position in the tablet market: the only brand who is able to make money out of it. With the iPad 2, demand went to the roof and can not be satisfied to date. Fantastic for Apple, but they could do even better. Releasing another model and keeping the fantastic iPad2 would be a smart move IMHO. Apple gives revenue away still.
Two models make sense for Apple because:
a) It is easier to ramp up production to demand with two products, by replacing bottleneck parts for the new model.
b) With two models on the market, Apple can cover a broader price range and grow the addressable market.
c) Two models makes it easier to handle the supply chain: some customers will choose the available model instead of waiting to the preferred one and with the pricing Apple can balance demand between the two models.
d) With a fast pace Apple raises the bar to enter the market and makes it even riskier for the competition to stay in the game. It's not easy to get that kind of money to compete with Apple, without showing to be able catching up.
Apple broaden its range of products with the iPod, the iPhone and will do it sooner or later with the iPad too. Did I say sooner or later? I'd better say likely sooner than later!
a) It is easier to ramp up production to demand with two products, by replacing bottleneck parts for the new model.
b) With two models on the market, Apple can cover a broader price range and grow the addressable market.
c) Two models makes it easier to handle the supply chain: some customers will choose the available model instead of waiting to the preferred one and with the pricing Apple can balance demand between the two models.
d) With a fast pace Apple raises the bar to enter the market and makes it even riskier for the competition to stay in the game. It's not easy to get that kind of money to compete with Apple, without showing to be able catching up.
Absolutely, in fact the optimum number of models may be more like four or five - the key is to have enough models that they reduce their component risks and general supply problems, while not resulting in significant platform fragmentation.
Yes, but that doesn't mean the iPad 2S (2R, 2HD, 2louselautrec) can't come out in [insert fall month here] and give us [insert pointless new feature being screamed about here].
Or so they'd have you believe.
just go away. Your ability to deliver ad hominem attacks without getting banned should earn you a trophy on your way out the door.
If you honestly believe that a high resolution screen on the iPad is at all "pointless" then you have no valuable opinion to offer, as you're incapable of understanding why a mid-year iPad refresh is likely.
Comments
Just for the sake of discussion, let's say that this retarded rumor turned out to be true. If Apple commits themselves to an amateurish hyper release schedule for some of their products from now on, I can tell you right now that I wouldn't be picking up an iPad3. Why would I when I could just wait a few more months and go for iPad 4, which is going to destroy iPad 3 in terms of features. And the iPad 4 would be available about 1 year after the release of iPad 2, falling in line with the regular yearly release schedule.
This would hurt Apple pretty badly in the long run I suspect. Very few customers are going to be buying multiple iPads a year. There are quite a few customers who would get a new iPad every year though. Apple is not run by morons.
I am going to trash Apple so badly if they come out with an iPad3 according to the schedule in this retarded rumor, and I can guarantee you that I won't be the only one.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
If this is the way it comes down, all I can say is that it's different from anything Apple has ever done before (which is why I think it unlikely), and will probably fail if they try it.
It's generally a bad idea to sell two products that are feature identical with the exception of one has "crappier" parts than the other, so it's cheaper. Some manufacturers do this, Apple doesn't.
It rarely works in any case as it's only a strategy for the budget conscious types who are so cheap they will actually buy a bad device simply because it's cheaper. For instance the netbook market is like this, and Dell sells their computers like this. In almost all cases though, we are talking about the low-end of the market where margins are razor thin, profitability is doubtful, and consumers are looking for cheap crap.
If a person is the type of customer that is willing to look at a fuzzy screen for two years simply because it saved them $50 of the purchase price, then they aren't going to be interested in Apple products anyway (until they get dirt cheap in the long tail of the market).
So the two product strategy is *not* the way Apple usually does business, it's a strategy for the low-end of a *dying* market, (when we are actually in the early stages of a red-hot market), and it generally doesn't work very well anyway.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
It's sort of what happened with the iPod if you think about it. Apple's competitors all assumed it was playing for margin and would be content to sit at 20-30% of the market for personal music players - instead Apple released new product aggressively and cut prices aggressively till they owned the entire segment.
Back in the early days of the iPod (an admittedly simpler product) we'd see minor refreshes sometimes 3 months after a release. We saw the 4gen-photo launch on a few months after the regular 4gen. We saw the nano and the shuffle and minor variations in size, screen, colour, video etc as Apple filled out their product line till there was no room for competitors to break in.
I think they're hoping to do something very similar with the iPad and to be their own competitor - providing a range of options that vary in price and performance but still provide the same build quality and overall experience.
iPhone 5 will have a 4 inch 1080x720 resolution screen. Advertised as having a High Definition Retina Display
I'll buy that. Literally!
If this is the way it comes down, all I can say is that it's different from anything Apple has ever done before (which is why I think it unlikely), and will probably fail if they try it.
It's generally a bad idea to sell two products that are feature identical with the exception of one has "crappier" parts than the other, so it's cheaper. Some manufacturers do this, Apple doesn't.
It rarely works in any case as it's only a strategy for the budget conscious types who are so cheap they will actually buy a bad device simply because it's cheaper. For instance the netbook market is like this, and Dell sells their computers like this. In almost all cases though, we are talking about the low-end of the market where margins are razor thin, profitability is doubtful, and consumers are looking for cheap crap.
If a person is the type of customer that is willing to look at a fuzzy screen for two years simply because it saved them $50 of the purchase price, then they aren't going to be interested in Apple products anyway (until they get dirt cheap in the long tail of the market).
So the two product strategy is *not* the way Apple usually does business, it's a strategy for the low-end of a *dying* market, (when we are actually in the early stages of a red-hot market), and it generally doesn't work very well anyway.
I find it funny you say all that when that's exactly what Apple did when they introduced the RD iPhone 4 and continued selling the iPhone 3GS alongside it. Circumstances are a little different since the 3GS had a full year run before the iPhone 4 was released, but if Apple were to add another iPad model now, it wouldn't be as "out-of-character" as you say...
It's sort of what happened with the iPod if you think about it. Apple's competitors all assumed it was playing for margin and would be content to sit at 20-30% of the market for personal music players - instead Apple released new product aggressively and cut prices aggressively till they owned the entire segment.
Back in the early days of the iPod (an admittedly simpler product) we'd see minor refreshes sometimes 3 months after a release. We saw the 4gen-photo launch on a few months after the regular 4gen. We saw the nano and the shuffle and minor variations in size, screen, colour, video etc as Apple filled out their product line till there was no room for competitors to break in.
I think they're hoping to do something very similar with the iPad and to be their own competitor - providing a range of options that vary in price and performance but still provide the same build quality and overall experience.
Bingo.
I liked what Apple did with the iPod back then because with all the updates it was always in the news cycle and people were always talking about it. Keeping the buzz around the iPod high is really what brought Apple market dominance. It wasn't until recently that the updates of the lineup slowed down to once a year minor refreshes.
Bingo.
I liked what Apple did with the iPod back then because with all the updates it was always in the news cycle and people were always talking about it. Keeping the buzz around the iPod high is really what brought Apple market dominance. It wasn't until recently that the updates of the lineup slowed down to once a year minor refreshes.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
It'll shuffle between 320 and 340 like it has all year. And it'll keep doing that until the whiners in Wall Street see a press release saying Steve Jobs is back.
By the third iPad release no matter where Steve is the stock will take off. The company will have been run for several quarters with increased growth, year over year, with Cook at the helm.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
It's amazing there are millions more Android devices out in the wild but iPhone users still browse the web more than Android users and iPad users web consumption is unprecedented considering there are far fewer iPads in the wild than Android or iPhone.
As far as Apple implementing Shock and awe tactics with the iPad now would be the time.
This is what I meant by 'Shock and awe', Apple just rained down updates so that every time competitors thought they had a point of differentiation or a price advantage they found that they didn't, and had to go back to the drawing board, invest a load of money on a new product and lose a ton of money on product that they couldn't get out of channel.
Edit:
Just saw this graphic on The Register and it kinda blew my mind
Android is and will continue to get squeezed on two fronts.
I'd think it would need a new A chip with 1) a faster CPU , 2) more RAM, and 3) a faster GPU to offer a good enough experience on that display. They would also need to have a new SDK ready so that devs can immediately start taking advantage of the display.
Not that I'm lending any credence to the iPad 3 rumour, but as of iOS 4.2, the SDK already supports retina displays on iPhone and iPad. To support retina graphics on the iPhone, pretty much all you have to do is add images named [email protected] to the app, so that's probably all you'd need to do on iPad 3 as well, and in fact some of Apple's own iPad apps already have such images embedded in them, which was one of the reasons the retina iPad rumour started in the first place.
It's almost certainly already possible to make and release iPad apps that are 'retina-ready' for when the iPad 3 eventually comes out.
Trust me, I'm an iOS developer ;-)
It's amazing there are millions more Android devices out in the wild but iPhone users still browse the web more than Android users and iPad users web consumption is unprecedented considering there are far fewer iPads in the wild than Android or iPhone.
As far as Apple implementing Shock and awe tactics with the iPad now would be the time.
I think the iPhone segment also includes iPod touch, but still the iPad section is astonishing.
DIdn't Steve Jobs say 2011 was the year of iPad 2?
Yes, but that doesn't mean the iPad 2S (2R, 2HD, 2louselautrec) can't come out in [insert fall month here] and give us [insert pointless new feature being screamed about here].
Or so they'd have you believe.
I've had many classic iPods that never had the headphone malfunction, so I am determined that there is a flaw in the design of the 1G iPod touch.
Anyway, this has prompted me to finally give in and buy an iPhone, and I might as well wait until September when the usual announcements are for the iPhone 5. Is there a possibility that there will be a CDMA unlocked iPhone available so I can use it on MetroPCS? I don't need much of a data plan as I use bandwidth heavy apps on Wifi only so I do not want to shell out $100+ a month like my friends do for their iPhone contracts (and then wonder why they never have any money to do anything). Currently I am paying $37 a month for unlimited minutes and texts, and I think an additional $20 would get me a basic data plan, which sounds like a good bargain.
On another note, when do case manufacturers typically supply their products for new iPhones on the market? Would like to buy a nice high quality case for my new iPhone 5, like an Otterbox.
I love new gear and products, but an iPad 3 just after the iPad 2 is going to alienate customers, especially if it's significantly better. I literally just bought an iPad 2 for my wife for her birthday next week (I have the original) which I'd have done regardless of knowing a new one may or may not arrive in 4 months time.
Even so, releasing a new product more than once a year on these consumer devices will harm the longevity of the device and eventually annoy customers.
That's silly. Phone manufacturers are literally upgrading their phones as fast as physically possible and nobody begrudges them for it. There would be some people who would be mad about it (Apple already has their money and they really have nothing to be mad about), but there would be many more people who would go right out and buy the upgraded iPad. I'd jump on an iPad3 with upgraded display. I have an iPad now and can't justify the upgrade to the 2.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
I'm in on this too +1
The interesting thing to consider is that Apple wants every member of a household to have their own iPad... it's a magical personal device.
Regardless of whether you have an iPad 1 or 2, they lose very little of their value. They can be sold, or moved down the food-chain at home, or with relatives, etc.
Apple envisions every family member having their very own iDevice, possibly 2 or 3 even. It's what iCloud is for.
An iPad HD or Pro, with a mark-up, does nothing to hurt iPad2 IMO.
If an iPad is unveiled this fall this is exactly what we'll see. Apple will just sell the current iPad alongside a new iPad 2 RD.
Drop the price of the iPad 2 and offer the high-res one and the competition won't know what to do. It'll be game over before it even starts
I agree and want to throw some of my ideas in on top of that.
Apple is in a unique position in the tablet market: the only brand who is able to make money out of it. With the iPad 2, demand went to the roof and can not be satisfied to date. Fantastic for Apple, but they could do even better. Releasing another model and keeping the fantastic iPad2 would be a smart move IMHO. Apple gives revenue away still.
Two models make sense for Apple because:
a) It is easier to ramp up production to demand with two products, by replacing bottleneck parts for the new model.
b) With two models on the market, Apple can cover a broader price range and grow the addressable market.
c) Two models makes it easier to handle the supply chain: some customers will choose the available model instead of waiting to the preferred one and with the pricing Apple can balance demand between the two models.
d) With a fast pace Apple raises the bar to enter the market and makes it even riskier for the competition to stay in the game. It's not easy to get that kind of money to compete with Apple, without showing to be able catching up.
Apple broaden its range of products with the iPod, the iPhone and will do it sooner or later with the iPad too. Did I say sooner or later? I'd better say likely sooner than later!
Two models make sense for Apple because:
a) It is easier to ramp up production to demand with two products, by replacing bottleneck parts for the new model.
b) With two models on the market, Apple can cover a broader price range and grow the addressable market.
c) Two models makes it easier to handle the supply chain: some customers will choose the available model instead of waiting to the preferred one and with the pricing Apple can balance demand between the two models.
d) With a fast pace Apple raises the bar to enter the market and makes it even riskier for the competition to stay in the game. It's not easy to get that kind of money to compete with Apple, without showing to be able catching up.
Absolutely, in fact the optimum number of models may be more like four or five - the key is to have enough models that they reduce their component risks and general supply problems, while not resulting in significant platform fragmentation.
Yes, but that doesn't mean the iPad 2S (2R, 2HD, 2louselautrec) can't come out in [insert fall month here] and give us [insert pointless new feature being screamed about here].
Or so they'd have you believe.
If you honestly believe that a high resolution screen on the iPad is at all "pointless" then you have no valuable opinion to offer, as you're incapable of understanding why a mid-year iPad refresh is likely.
Apple, certainly does NOT think its "pointless".