Tablet computers: Difference Engine: The iPad's third coming | The Economist

Excerpt from an Economist tablet market snapshot

So, unless you are looking for a cheap tablet that lacks a camera, cellular connection, gyroscope and other bells and whistles, but works brilliantly as an e-reader, buy an iPad 2. According to Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies, a technology consultancy in Campbell, California, the iPad 2 is the most desired gift this holiday season in America, especially among children aged six to 12 years of age. Interestingly, the second most avid iPad 2 owners are people 65 years and older. That both children and old folks lust after the iPad 2 says much about the device’s ability to deliver computing while shielding the user from the more daunting aspects of a PC.
But a word or two for prospective iShoppers: if possible, wait until next spring. By all accounts, the iPad 3, due in March or April, corrects many of the flaws in the current version that users have been grumbling about all year, and raises the performance stakes considerably. And it does so without sacrificing the killer feature, which, more than anything else, differentiates the iPad 2 from the throng—namely, its ten to 12 hours of battery life.

Tablet computers: Difference Engine: The iPad's third coming | The Economist