When the iPad 2 came out, I was really happy upgrading from my iPad. It felt slimmer and sleeker. I was not a fan of the iPad 3:
1. It was heavier. This is one of the few times this has happened with Apple products I think, and to me it was significantly heavier. The iPad 2 was already stretching it as a one-handed device, the extra weight on the 3 was the deal breaker and it wasn't that fun to have it for reading in bed anymore for example. The iPad 4 has not fixed this as it is even heavier than the 3. I used a hover bar ( http://twelvesouth.com/products/hoverbar/ ) and it could no longer support the weight too :/ (yes this is less of an issue but was still annoying and really highlighted the "trade-off" feeling of the iPad 3).
2. The performance sucked. The chip was just not ready to spit out retina-number of pixels. I prefer not losing frames to sharper text or whatever, and as much I'd like to, I really can't tell the difference that much when it comes to retina. I hear a lot of "if you use it for X amount of time you won't be able to go back". This doesn't seem like a great value proposition to me: "after X time this will seem normal (not exciting), and everything else will seem like shit!".
3. I could fit less stuff than before (unfortunately this is true no matter what given the silly way Apple handles "universal" retina/non-retina apps). I had a 64 GB iPad 2, and when moving to a 64GB iPad 3 and upgrading the apps they all increased in size by so much that I couldn't fit them all anymore (plus music, etc). This is particularly frustrating because it is 100% fixable by just having a system that distributes different binaries with different resources (with NO extra work to the developer).
I am incredibly excited about the iPad mini. I bought it at midnight when it went on sale and sold my iPad 3 without a second thought (which basically paid for the mini). As the article mentions, I always felt kind of silly taking a Macbook Air and iPad 3 with me, and after the Nexus 7 came out I would always really wonder which of the two to take (NOT a fan of the OS/feel, but couldn't beat the form factor). I now think this one tiny aspect of traveling will feel really good.
I agree that all three of your points are significant disadvantages, but I do think the retina display makes up for them. I upgraded from the iPad 2 and have no regrets (especially after selling the old model for $350). Even before there were rumors of a retina display iPad, I always thought the one flaw of the iPad 2 was the relatively ugly display.
On a related note, the added thickness and weight of the 3rd generation iPad does show Apple's prioritizing of battery life over portability. I actually have the opposite preference: I would love a retina iPad with the same size and weight of the iPad 2, even if it had half the battery life.
1. It was heavier. This is one of the few times this has happened with Apple products I think, and to me it was significantly heavier. The iPad 2 was already stretching it as a one-handed device, the extra weight on the 3 was the deal breaker and it wasn't that fun to have it for reading in bed anymore for example. The iPad 4 has not fixed this as it is even heavier than the 3. I used a hover bar ( http://twelvesouth.com/products/hoverbar/ ) and it could no longer support the weight too :/ (yes this is less of an issue but was still annoying and really highlighted the "trade-off" feeling of the iPad 3).
2. The performance sucked. The chip was just not ready to spit out retina-number of pixels. I prefer not losing frames to sharper text or whatever, and as much I'd like to, I really can't tell the difference that much when it comes to retina. I hear a lot of "if you use it for X amount of time you won't be able to go back". This doesn't seem like a great value proposition to me: "after X time this will seem normal (not exciting), and everything else will seem like shit!".
3. I could fit less stuff than before (unfortunately this is true no matter what given the silly way Apple handles "universal" retina/non-retina apps). I had a 64 GB iPad 2, and when moving to a 64GB iPad 3 and upgrading the apps they all increased in size by so much that I couldn't fit them all anymore (plus music, etc). This is particularly frustrating because it is 100% fixable by just having a system that distributes different binaries with different resources (with NO extra work to the developer).
I am incredibly excited about the iPad mini. I bought it at midnight when it went on sale and sold my iPad 3 without a second thought (which basically paid for the mini). As the article mentions, I always felt kind of silly taking a Macbook Air and iPad 3 with me, and after the Nexus 7 came out I would always really wonder which of the two to take (NOT a fan of the OS/feel, but couldn't beat the form factor). I now think this one tiny aspect of traveling will feel really good.