Who should pass on Apple's iPad 2?

Jason Hiner, blogger and technology researcher for TechRepublic lists reasons why some should buy and why some shouldn't buy Apple's latest tablet the iPad 2.

Who should pass? The following is taken from his post.

• Fans of iPad 1.0 - The worst reason for upgrading — and I’ve heard this a lot more than expected — is “I really like the original iPad so I’m going to get the new one.” If you’re not going to do much video calling and you’re not going to experiment with the iPad for creating videos and podcasts, then there’s really not much reason to upgrade from iPad 1 to iPad 2. You don’t really need the dual core if you’re not doing all the video calling and multimedia creation, and the slightly thinner/lighter form factor of the iPad 2 is nice but far from essential. The original iPad is still a great device and holding on to it for another year until the iPad 3 and the next generation of competitor tablets arrives could be a very wise choice.
• Heavy readers - If one of the main reasons that you want an iPad is to use it as an e-reader then I wouldn’t recommend the iPad 2. For hard-core readers who read 2+ hours at a time, who read mostly books, or who spend a lot of time reading outside in full sunlight, then I’d recommend an Amazon Kindle instead. If you’re an omnivorous reader who wants a tablet primarily to read Web pages, magazine articles, non-fiction books with lots of maps and graphics, and PDF documents, then I’d simply recommend picking up an iPad 1, which lots of upgraders are currently unloading for as low as $300.
• Supporters of open standards - Like the iPod before it, the iPad has appealed to a much wider audience than just traditional Mac and Apple fans. However, the thing to keep in mind before buying the iPad — especially if it’s your first Apple device — is that it will start to insidiously rope you into the Apple ecosystem. Sure, you can get content from outside the Apple ecosystem and use it on your iPad, using Amazon music and videos or Netflix or Barnes & Noble Nook, for example, but you’ll quickly find that it’s easier to just use the Apple ecosystem to buy content. Before you know it, you’ll have a small library of content with DRM that only works in iTunes and on Apple devices (this isn’t the case with music any more, but it is still the case with movies and TV shows). So, next time you upgrade you’ll be more likely to buy another Apple product so that you don’t orphan a bunch of your content. If you’re a supporter of open standards and use a lot of different platforms (e.g. Windows, Linux, Android, Xbox 360, etc.), then you’ll have a hard time wrestling with the iPad to make it work with all of your content and open file formats, and you’ll especially have a hard time getting content from the iPad to play nice with other platforms. You’re probably better off waiting for a really good Android tablet to emerge.

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