I’m getting older yes, but am I getting wiser or are technology updates becoming easier to spot?

I headed into the city yesterday with a mission – to look at the new iPad Mini. My iPad first impressions so far have been:

* iPad original – this feels heavier than what I expected it to feel.. but the experience is amazing.. I will buy one.

* iPad 2 – now this feels much lighter and much more what I would expect.. I can easily justify it.. I will buy one.

* iPad 3 – this feels heavy (like the original) but the display is totally amazing.. I will buy one.

Then then iPad 4 comes out. My hope was that the weight would be reduced but it wasn’t. I realised just how heavy the iPad3/4 is the other week when I took my 15″ Retina MacBook Pro instead of my usual work combination of ThinkPad/iPad and my bags felt significantly lighter !

So, the only benefit of buying the latest iPad is the new lightning connector (vs. 30 pin) that would mean I wouldn’t have to carry around a 30-pin connector in addition to the lightning (for my iPhone 5) oh and a better processors/graphics (I don’t play games and so I don’t think it would be an issue). In short, common sense prevailed and I’ve decided not to get the iPad 4 in the hope that the next generation will have a compelling reason to buy it (i.e. lighter!).

Now onto the iPad Mini. Well the first stress was actually getting my hands on one ! The Apple Stores in the city were packed full of students and families playing with them. Even tourists taking a picture of themselves holding the iPad Mini (Apple have done an amazing marketing job here). Eventually I get my hands on one and I think ‘wow that is really light’. Then I explore the display more and I think ‘it isn’t retina and I know that the chances are the next version will be’. So I walk out the store (okay, partly down to the fact that the cellular ones aren’t available yet). Yet more common sense.

So, there you have it. 2 instances where common sense prevailed. Maybe I’m getting old, or maybe I’m getting better at thinking ahead to the next generation updates !