Apple's long term plans

I was reading the news this morning and there was a story on Cnet that said the next iPad is likely to have a camera.  There was a huge amount of speculation about this before the iPad was launched and it was one of the most desired features. Well, I can confirm that a future iPad will definitely have a camera. It's a certainty. What isn't so certain though is when we'll see a camera in the iPad and what it will be capable of. Apple largely sells to existing customers and to keep them coming back and buying new products, it introduces new features and functions gradually rather than all at once. The company has a long term plan and you can see this with the iPhone. The original model had a 2 megapixel camera that could only take photos. The next generation could also take videos, the next one had a 3 megapixel camera, and now we have a 5 megapixel camera. We also have cameras front and back. This isn't cutting edge technology, this is Apple holding back features so they can be introduced gradually at regular intervals to make existing owners upgrade.

The iPad could easily have had a camera in it. After all, it's old technology and every mobile phone has one (or two) and even Apple's iPhone has cameras, so it knows how to do it. There is absolutely no technical reason why the iPad could not have had a camera and it must surely have been because it is part of a long term plan. The company will introduce features gradually so that people that bought the original iPad will upgrade to subsequent models. Apple's long term plan could look like this: iPad 1 with no camera, iPad 2 with low resolution webcam that shoots video, iPad 3 with higher resolution camera that shoots photos too, iPad 4 with front and back cameras like the iPhone.

I don't know if this is the exact order that features will be added, but you can bet that it will look something like this. We may well see new iPads introduced on a yearly basis as with the iPhone, with a gradual introduction of new features. It will sell mostly to the same people - after all, which iPad owner wouldn't want a new one with a camera in? Of course, not all sales are to existing owners and Apple fans, and as new features are added the device will become more attractive to the wider world. Most sales will be to Apple fans though.

The iPad could have had a camera from the start, but Apple chose not to put one in. It's all part of the company's long term plan to keep sales going as long as possible. It's a brilliant business plan, but it's irritating as a consumer. I'm holding off buying an iPad until it has all the features I need. I may have to wait several generations, but there's sure to be one at some point down the line. Maybe it'll be an iPad 3 or 4. We'll have to wait and see.