The cult of Apple strikes again

Lock me up and throw away the key. I pre-ordered a new iPad yesterday. If I wasn't Apple crazy before, I am now. Koolaid drinker. Whatever, I don't even care.

All kidding aside though, the increased screen resolution and beefed up graphics could have been the only change from the iPad 2 that I bought a year ago and I'd still buy it. I still notice a difference between my iPhone screen and iPad, and I will often switch to read things on my phone because of that difference.

I have an ailing laptop where the screen goes in and out of working. This was a problem a year ago, but now, I don't even care. It sits in a dock and we use it as a deskptop (sparingly) For the things I was using it for on my lap, the iPad works just fine. I use it daily, it's become my go-to consumption device at home. I have kids. I spend a lot of time at home surfing the internet. On the few occasions I did travel, I did so only with my iPad. It works for me. I have no desire to get another laptop type device right now.

I bought the 64gig AT&T model yesterday, the same model I have in the previous version. I only used the AT&T connection a handful of times but it was enough to convince me to get it again.

Marco Arment has an excellent post if you're thinking about buying one about things to consider. Totally agree with this:

The Retina screen alone is going to be a huge improvement for the tasks that people do most on iPads: reading and web browsing. It’s also going to be very significant if you like viewing photos on your iPad.

and

Nobody outside of Apple knows what the next iPad will be like, but it probably won’t come for another full year, and it will probably be a more incremental update (faster, better camera) compared to this update with the Retina screen.
If you prefer to skip generations, I bet it will make good sense to buy this one and skip the next one.

 That's pretty much where I'm coming from.

MG Siegler over at Tech Crunch:

It’s one of those things where it may be a little hard to tell at first because the images on the screen are the same. But when you look closer, you get it. And you’ll never be able to use a non-Retina iPad again. The new iPad display makes everything look like a printed photograph. By comparison, the old iPad display makes everything look as if I’ve taken my glasses off. Blurry.

Yep.