So…today is the day.
This post will have gone live a few hours before the much-anticipated Apple announcement is made, which many believe to be the debut of the latest iPad. i will not be watching the announcement, nor will i be paying attention to anything online up until at least noon Pacific so i can avoid the barrage of thoughts, opinions and editorials that will undoubtedly be clogging the pipes.
Don’t get me wrong – i enjoy quite a bit of what comes out of these events in terms of written content. i will eventually sit down and read up on the writings of those i know and like (The Next Web’s Matt Panzarino, Ben Brooks, Shawn Blanc, Stephen Hackett, John Gruber, Marco Arment, etc.), but i won’t be waiting for it.
Just like i won’t be waiting in line for the new iPad.
That’s not to say i won’t be getting the new iPad. History has shown that i usually skip generations when it comes to the mobile realm. i have owned the original iPhone, the iPhone 3GS and i now own an iPhone 4S. i also still own the original iPad, so you will more than likely hear about an iPad purchase in the not-too-distant future.
But before i go out and pick something like this up, i have to think about the possibilities on both sides of the equation. i have to offer up why it is possible i will buy the new iPad and why it is possible i will not buy the new iPad.
So here goes…
Why i Won’t Buy the New iPad
- It might be more of a want than a need. This does go without saying for a lot of people, but it’s mostly listed here because my wife will probably read this. Frankly, i already have an iPad that works perfectly for my needs, so adding a new iPad to the mix without getting a decent return on my existing one seems unwarranted. While i have no idea how much my 32GB iPad with 3G would fetch right now, i have a feeling it won’t be enough to satisfy all parties involved (re: my wife).
- What will the new one do for me that my current one can’t? Well, other than down the line possibly run an iOS that the original iPad won’t, I’m not sure. i didn’t pull the trigger when the iPad 2 boasted a camera; i didn’t need a camera in my iPad. i had one on my iPhone and one on my MacBook Pro. As for thickness, it honestly isn’t a huge factor for me. What will the new edition bring? Despite all the rumours and punditry…no one who knows is telling until they hit the stage in San Francisco.
- i have 3 iPad cases that work with my iPad. i already know that at least one of them won’t work properly with the current model, so i am pretty certain that at least that one won’t work with the newest one. In fact, i would bet that at least another one of my cases becomes obsolete when the new iPad drops. And i am not so sure i want to pony up the dough for another case right now.
Why i Will Buy The New iPad
- Because i can give my wife my old iPad, giving her the ability to do much more than what she can on her iPhone 3GS…which i also gave her.
- Because i have always wanted one of those Smart Covers.
- Because i have a Bluetooth keyboard for my soon-to-be-retired MacBook Pro that i could use with it, so i really don’t need the ZAGGmate anymore…now do i?
- Because i don’t know what it will have going for it yet, but that doesn’t really matter.
- Because my wife says i can’t. That’ll show her.
- Because i will get to see the joy on my kids’ faces when i show them their “new iPad” since my wife won’t be getting it anymore for saying i couldn’t buy it. That’ll further show her.
And the last reason that i will buy the new iPad?
- Because it’s the newest iPad.1
Photo credit: Ben Robinson (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
1Weird. The number of reasons against buying it is 3 and the number of reasons for buying it is 7. Isn’t today 3/7? Yep…too weird. Oh, and I went all E.E. Cummings with this piece, i hope you caught that.
