Last week Apple CEO came off his medical leave to make a special appearance and announce the iPad 2…

Actually I was going to go into a long detailed recap of the event and tell of all the features of the iPad 2. But in my opinion there’s nothing ground breaking. Apple released this product to stay competitive. Yes it has dual-cameras (a front facing and a rear facing camera). It has a dual core A5 processor. It is thinner than the iPhone 4. All of these were necessary for a next iterative product, but all of these were also what was expected of Apple. Apple added things, especially the cameras, that were hoped and expected to have been included in the first iPad. Apple is very smart in its consumer purchase strategy. These types of iterative upgrades and additions worked on its iPod line and somewhat in the iPhone devices, why wouldn’t the same strategy work in the tablet market?

Here’s why: the price. 

iPods may be expensive, but no where near as expensive as the price of a tablet. Sure no one wants to spend another $150 - $200 on a newer model iPod. But if I purchased an iPad for $500, I’m definitely not going to get a new one just because they added some cameras. People are hurting in this current economic landscape and the tablet market is a new field that people are still trying to not only understand but to also fit this device into their lives. If the manufacturers like Apple or Motorola or Research In Motion (RIM) or Samsung or any of the other tablet makers want to market tablets as laptop/netbook replacements that’s all well and good, but they need to have the product cycle stand as if consumers are going to hold on to these devices for more than 9 months. 

What are my thoughts on the new iPad? It’s going to sell well, as Apple products generally do, but I don’t think this product is worth the hype. If you already have an iPad I wouldn’t upgrade to this 2nd generation tablet from Apple. If you don’t own a tablet already, then I would wait before purchasing this device. Sure it has all the hype surrounding it, it has tons of apps. However I see the forecast for tablets and it’s about to be a downpour of devices from HP, RIM, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Dell all of which could possibly fit into your life better than an iPad. They may not have all of the apps, but in this new market place having apps isn’t going to be the prime selling tool. I believe if you can find a tablet that will fit seamlessly into your life and complete the tasks that you need it for than it will be the correct tablet, the correct extension of your computing life for you. 

New products are always coming out, this is true, but Apple don’t make consumers who have purchased your device feel as though their product which may be no more than a few months old feel as though they are driving a Ford Model T in 2011.

So T-Mobile is bringing back its Sidekick line…you remember the sidekick. It was, for most of us, our first phone with “real internet”. (I think the browser on the Sidekick is actually better than the BlackBerry…) T-mobile is looking to strengthen the Sidekick line by having it on Android (and made by Samsung) instead of the propietry Danger OS (which is now owned by Microsoft).

I have a few questions:
1. Will people feel comfortable buying a Sidekick after what happened in 2009? If you don’t remember its when the Sidekick servers crashing causing people with Sidekicks to lose all their data and making their phones very cool looking paper weights.
2. Who is the Sidekick going to be marketed towards? T-Mobile’s consumer brand is the MyTouch. The G series (G1, G2, G-slate) is the higher end series.
3. Would YOU buy a Sidekick? (Why or why not)

http://www.tmonews.com/2011/01/sidekick-4g-in-the-wild/