Did you wait in line for the new iPad? How about pre-order? Are you just DYING to get one? I was, at first, then I started to think about it for a bit. Why? What am I going to do with the new iPad that I can’t do on my current one? Without a clear answer in my head, I did what I always do and asked the smartest people I know (my management team) their thoughts. What I found was pretty similar to what I was thinking.
To give you some background, I have an old and ugly iPad 1. It’s actually my second iPad. I found out pretty quickly that WiFi only was too limiting for me and I made someone at CNS very happy and got myself an upgrade. I use it basic things like email, Kindle, travel, and meeting notes. I don’t notice not having a camera and while iOS 5 made it a little sluggish, it’s generally a pretty good device.
Everything starts to unravel now that the new iPad has been launched. My old and ugly iPad 1, is now older and uglier. Common computer trends say that you should upgrade and replace when you are two versions behind (as I now am), but common trends also indicate that a device should last for three years and I’ve still got one to go. In today’s age of Bring Your Own Device and Consumerization of IT, there are simply no studies or good data to support when consumer devices should naturally expire and be replaced.
The best advice I got on the matter came from our Anvil Dataworks manager, Chuck Melton. Chuck suggested that its not the screen or the camera, but what you are going to do with it. He specifically mentioned that the increased RAM and CPU will make FileMaker Go users extremely happy and provide a noticeable improvement. I see that, and I’m all about the noticeable improvements! It stands to reason that any app that is memory or resource intensive would also benefit greatly.
In the end, I don’t really have a good answer. While the gadget fever is still running high, I’ve tempered that and will probably wait until the next iPad comes out before upgrading. For me, I don’t see the purpose. I think the industry is still trying to figure out what to do with these things. While new iPads are hip and sexy, they are also expensive and don’t replace your primary machine. Hip and sexy can only get you so far, and money talks!
What about you? Are you ready to upgrade? If so, what are your reasons?
