Charles Stross speculates on Apple's next moves. He anticipates a beefed up iPad and a 7-inch iPad.
As for me, would I buy a 7" iPad?
Well, the full-sized first-gen iPad is the best ebook reader I've ever owned — except that it's heavy. With a case on, it weighs 50% more than a 400 page hardback. What I'd kill for would be much the same guts, squished into a case the size of the Sony Pocket Reader or, at most, the basic Amazon Kindle, at the weight of a paperback (250-400 grams). If you want an ebook platform the regular iPad is comparable to the Kindle DX; however, the iPhone/iPod touch is too small. The current iPad requires a shoulder bag or backpack. A 7" iPad, in contrast, would stick to my pocket like glue, everywhere I go. I'd buy the bottom end model with 8Gb or 16Gb of FLASH and no SIM slot, and I'd use it as an app platform (games and information) and ebook reader.
In contrast, I plan to upgrade to an iPhone 4 and iPad 2.0 when the latter comes out. I use the iPad as an e-reader, but that's probably only 10% of the time. As a replacement for a laptop for email, blogging, web surfing, and so on, the bigger screen (and my aging eyes) and virtual keyboard will be much more useful than a 7-inch version.
The interesting question is whether I'll talk myself into thinking I also need a 7-inch iPad to complete the collection. What would it offer (besides a lighter e-book reader) that the iPhone and iPad don't?
