The original iPad is only two years old, but Apple has announced that version 6 of iOS, due to be released this fall, won't support it.

Just one of the many reasons I don't like Apple.

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

That happens across all devices, not just apple.

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Yes, but typically not after only two years, and not for a device as massively popular as the original iPad was (and continues to be).

If you're willing to put up with Apple's product cycles, great. I'm not.

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Lots of diesel W126s in the past
Current: 1991 Toyota 4Runner with an OM603

Yes, but two years is a pretty quick time frame for non support. It wreaks of planned or maybe more accurately, forced obsolescence.

I spent 20 years in the HMI software industry, and we NEVER stopped supporting, at least for a reasonable fee, a product in anywhere near such a quick time span. In fact one of the companies I worked for, continued to support their very first version that was copyrighted 22 years previous until the point, that what was left of the company had been sold off a few times.

I have an IPad2 on which I run an aviation application that is very important to me. Thus far I am an Apple fan after almost 30 years of working with Gates' stuff. If my IPad2 is obsoleted for my purposes in two years, I will be as AGAINST Apple then, as I am FOR Apple at this point.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

And Crapple calls themselves environmentally conscious. Planned obsolescence. MAKE that e-waste, baybee. Ending is better than mending!

As I understand, iOS 5 was no picnic on original iPad, with many reports of sluggish response. With the load of changes, the original iPad would likely be glacier like.

Obsolete, in what sense? You won't be able to run the thousands of existing apps? One of my iMacs is stuck with Snow Leopard due to the processor being a mere CoreDuo and not a Core2Duo. However, it gets onto the 'net, downloads mail, speaks to the other computers on the home network, oblivious to the fact that it doesn't have Lion.

Unlike the walled garden of iOS, Macs aren't (yet) forced to use an App Store. I wonder if App Store keeps old versions of apps around that are compatible with an older iOS, or if older OS users are just out of luck when the app is updated. Yeah, you can jailbreak and sideload, but most people won't.

Richard M. Stallman was 100% right -- Jobsie was the inventor of computing as a jail. And as Stallman said: "not glad he's dead, but glad he's gone."

Right, landfills are going to be awash in iPads, Touch and iPhones . . .

You really think that designing a device to have severely diminished utility after less than two years is environmentally responsible? It's not only the landfill issue. It's an issue of the chemicals used to manufacture the devices themselves, combined with Chinese environmental non-regulations.

Typing on my 03 Powerbook 17 at the moment. It'll only run 10.4.7, but still handles CS2 for photos, pdfs etc, copies and burns DVDs, and does all things internet just fine. It's obsolete too.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
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Severely diminished utility . . . do you even own an iPad? I'll be first in line at the landfill with a semi, to collect all the original iPads being thrown out.

Your concept of obsolescence is pretty funny.

I guess looking at the history of Jobs/Wosniak against Gates would shed light on what led to "Jobsies" mindset about closed platforms.

Its not as if Gates did everything in the open. Most people are not familiar with the "undocumented features" found in early Windows OpSys versions. There were hooks in the operating systems for which no technical data was made available outside MS except for certain leaks by MS engineers to certain software developers. This allowed MS to easily put all sorts of features in their own applications such as Excel, Word, Access and the like while the ISV's that developed competing products beat their brains out trying to catch up.

If Janet Reno would have had just a little bit of computer literacy, she could probably have nailed MS on this practice instead of running up the dead end street that she decided to travel.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

The boys at Apple have always done things their own way.

But consider the dramatic differences in the hardware platform between the first iPad and the V3. Trying to write compatible software for both is much harder. This is always the difficulty Apple faces since they are both a hardware and a software company and want to control both for the maximum profit...er, user experience.

Add to that the fact that the 1st Gen iPad is coming to the point where its battery will have to be replaced. The average user is not going to approach that as a DIY and it's going to be an outlay of cash that will not be insignificant. Faced with that choice and the limitations of the Gen1 device, many if not most of the i-crowd will upgrade anyway.


I was more surprised to hear that the new MacBook Pro won't have an ethernet connection, just built-in WiFi. For browsing the web and reading email who cares, but if you're doing video/picture editing, etc., WiFi is an awfully slow way to move data on and off the device. You'll have to purchase a usb/ethernet adapter if you want a truly secure connection with the best speeds. Probably $29 at your nearest Apple store (that is like the default base price for any Apple accessory, it seems) and something else you have to remember to carry -- and not damage, since it's exposed.

My 2g iPhone's battery lasted more than three years, and I used it heavily. This is simply untrue.

This is a great idea ... get people into the store ... OH, BTW, we can sell you this super duper fast Airport hub for the low low price of $211.44. Apple have turned from hardware makers into hucksters, and it will cost them in the long run.

The problem is when you go to a place that's not YOUR apartment or workplace. You either have to carry the dongle or deal with slow/non-existent Internet.

There's two Thunderbolt ports, the "all in one" multiport, which Apple has been promoting for the past year.

Airport Hub? I don't suppose you've priced the Apple Airport Express, a wireless N router with AirPlay which is under $100. . . or the clones, which do the same for about $40. I use it on the road in hotels that provide a wired ethernet connection and it brings 802.11n to the entire room.