So March 2nd is the day we will all find out about the iPad 2.  Since the iPad was such a commercial success, there has been much hype and anticipation for the 2nd generation iPad.  There have been many rumors flying around and many people voicing their opinion about what features it should and shouldn’t have.

I still believe they have a demanding lead as far as brand recognition, ease of use, a low entry barrier, and so forth.  The iPad was the device that created a new computing/gadget segment.  I think this is why Apple will be taking a more evolutionary approach to iPad 2.  There are certain things I would like to see in an iPad.  I am not expecting these will make it to production on this generation of iPad, but I do hope to see this from Apple’s iPad 2:

• Retina Display – Apple made such a big deal about this with the iPhone 4 and spoiled all of us.  We expect this to be in all of it’s flagship products.  There have been multiple articles online saying this will not happen in this iPad, but it will in the next iPad.
• Front and back camera – This is pretty much a given.  Even the lowly iPod Touch has these features.  Again, Apple made a big deal about FaceTime with the iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and the iMac’s and Macbook’s just received the non-beta version of Facetime, that not having front and back camera’s would be a deal breaker for some.
• Increased speed –  Another given.  Rumor has it the A5 chip is ready to go in the iPad and that it is much faster than the A4 that is in the current iPad and iPhone.  The A5 will be shared with the iPhone 5 and the next version of AppleTV.
• Increased RAM – This is also a given this will happen.  The iPhone 4 has 512MB of RAM which makes the much larger iPad seem anemic with only 256MB.
• iOS/OSX OS Hybrid – This would be for people who want more control of the files that are on their iPad.  This would be something for the power users.  I don’t think this will be released in this iPad, but possibly the next as Android’s Honeycomb and HP’s WebOS offer more and more of this.
• Lighter – Many people complained about the weight while using the iPad for extended amounts of time.  Amazon’s Kindle spoiled everyone with it’s lightweight reading.  Since Apple is still trying to push the iPad as a replacement for print media, they will be working to put the iPad on a quick weight loss plan.
• Longer battery life – Rarely does an Apple product come out without it having a longer battery life.  Mark this as a given.

Apple could choose one or two of the items above and sell tens of millions of iPad 2′s.  However, the tablet competition is quickly approaching a point where it will be on par with the iPad’s quality, and perhaps offer more flexibility.  Only time will tell if any company can knock off the tablet leader, but one thing is for sure, as a consumer I love competition!  Let the games begin.

Having the chance now to step back and re-evaluate all of what the iPad is and isn’t, I see that the iPad was not meant for me. It wasn’t even meant for you. It’s meant for the person you know who is scared of computers. It’s made for my grandparents who have a Quad-Core computer with 6GB of RAM to send emails, and most of them are spam forwards. It’s made for the person who has a computer just so they can get on Facebook, send email, and browse the internet.

They don’t need shell access. They don’t need to edit videos. Heck, they don’t even need to manipulate the photos they get because Flickr does this for them.

This is also for the person that are scared of a full blown iMac. They don’t know OSX and heard that it is very different from the Windows PC they know. This helps bridge the gap. Although this was looked at as the middle pillar for Apple between the iPhone and the iMac, this could be the entry “computer” that people need in order to make the next step. Apple says, “Oh, you like how easy the iPad makes things? Do you know it is running the same operating system as the iPhone?” Or they might say, “You say you like what the iPad does, but you need to edit videos? The iMac is just as easy to get up and running.”

This is just the first generation iPad. When has any Apple product done everything you wanted it to on the first iteration? Yeah, I can’t think of one either. It’s easier to accept the iPad as what it is if you remember that the iPad is not for you. It’s for the person you know that uses a computer for email and web surfing.