Why not a range of iPads? Maybe an iPad Mini, Midi, and Maxi?
The latest rumor suggests that the standard iPad will get an upgrade as the little iPad is launched. But why not follow skirts and offer a range of options?
One of the very lovely things about most Apple products is that they are not merely devices for computing.
They are things to be seen with, to display, to touch and coddle like your favorite leather trousers.
And yet, when it comes to the iPad, Apple seems to be unusually controlling about one's ability to mix and match.
Yesterday, as the rumor that the standard 9.7-inch iPad would be given something of an upgrade at this week's little show wafted into the wind, I wondered why Apple wouldn't offer the iPad in more sizes.
If skirts can come in mini, midi, and maxi, why can't iPads?
CNET's live coverage of Apple's event next Tuesday
It's not as if Macs don't come in a variety of sizes -- anything from 11 inches to 17 inches. Why might Apple not want to offer a larger iPad, just for those who simply like things -- any things -- larger?
Not all such people are called Americans, though one can surely imagine a market here for something that is as portable as a MacBook Air, but larger than the retina iPad.
Despite what Apple would love you to believe, many people still use their iPads primarily for consuming vast and varied amounts of media.
A larger screen would surely make watching a movie on your iPad -- while you wait for an American Airlines pilot to stop playing labor relations roulette -- a little more entertaining.
And we're all being told that the PC is in a terminal state, as portability devours it before going for a lunchtime jog.
I know you'll tell me there will be technical complications. Perhaps no great mind has discovered a way of making a larger iPad that isn't a little too heavy. Indeed, the current retina iPad feels slightly heavier to pick up than you might expect.
The inevitable iPad Mini -- or iPad Air -- will surely be an exceptionally light little thing.
But Apple's shows have been somewhat lacking in surprise of late.
It seems awhile since gasps of surprise were heard from the apostles in the audience who crave surprises like horses crave, well, apples.
Wouldn't it be more than mild fun to see Tim Cook reveal a larger iPad, one that might even force the sartorially sensitiveto buy a new manbag?
