fasterquieter

Can somebody please just make a nice lightweight leather case for it. That's all I want and it doesn't exist.

After much thought I went with the 10.5". I love the screen size of my 1st gen 12.9", but its bulk was such that I'd often use my 7 Plus at home thinking the iPad was to much of a hassle to pick up. Now I have the 10.5", I am sure I made the right choice. That is the device I grab when I want to do something online. The phone has become the device I use outdoors, as is surely intended. If the 12.9" loses half a pound in its next iteration, I'll likely go with that again.

$40 is so much money for access to what should really be free over the air channels. I know there are basic cable channels included, but they show ads. These ads should fund the content. Maybe not all of it, but most. For $40 you can get Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and HBO. There is more on those 4 services than most of us have time to watch. There are no commercials and none of the silly legacy scheduling issues. Having "DVR functionality" as a perk sounds about as silly as throwing in a DVD recorder. If this service was $10 a month I might consider it. I'd use it for the odd basic cable show, live news if something dramatic were happening, like a big storm, and possibly The Oscars. $40 is crazy money for that.

A 5.1" usable area would be disappointing. I can't imagine wanting to go smaller than the Plus size after 3 years.

"I don't buy that the echo has been a hit."

I don't buy that it hasn't. I love my Echo(s) and my Google Home. I use them every day and would hate to live without them at this point. The people I know who own them also love them. Apple made a real mistake taking their eye off the ball with the continued development of Siri. I think they get it now, but it may be too late.