Apple iPad: iThink iWon't Upgrade

What do you think of this statement?

The need for the next iPhone is diminishing as there is only a marginal benefit in upgrading one's current device.

My friend Cliff Frescura, former CEO of PCNAlert, wrote this declarative statement in an email I received this morning.

As an Apple everything owner, I began to think about how much money I have spent on Apple-specific upgrades and accessories over the past five years. As a kid growing up, my father used to say it took three people to get anything done around our house. Those three people were "Me, myself, and I." It was his way of telling us that he had to do everything himself.

Productivity equation
As the saying goes, "The Apple does not fall far from the tree." I now declare to you how my job gets done: "Me, myself, and iPad."

I had generation 1, 2, and now 3, and as we all know, generation 4 has already been released. Do I plan to upgrade? Nope.

I have everything I need in the cloud or on my current iPad. If I disclosed to you the number of apps I have downloaded, you would undoubtedly diagnose me as having an acute case of ACD, Apple Compulsive Disorder. You would be correct. Here is an overview of what I can do with my iPad and do almost every single day.

1. Email
2. Chinese lessons
3. Various newspapers
4. Various video news channels
5. Bible study
6. Dictionary
7. Skype and LinkedIn
8. Book readers
9. Contacts
10. Note takers
11. PDF annotation and read aloud
12. Image capture
13. Magazines
14. Music
15. Expense tracker and billing
16. Spreadsheet
17. Stock and finance
18. Browsers
19. Wikipedia readers
20. Flipboard feeds
21. Reference
22. Photography
23. Dictation
24. Maps
25. Storage -- Dropbox
26. CAD viewers
27. Unit converters
28. Engineering tools
29. Guitar lessons
30. Weather
31. App Store to keep up with the latest productivity tools (must-have).

Why upgrade?
Now, you can almost say you know me. If you just went down the list and examined what I use almost every day, you could come up with a pretty accurate profile.

Now, for what possible reason would I need to upgrade? Perhaps the next big mobile thing will include a hologram app that when I lay my iPad flat on the table, hovering above it will be a female image calling out my name: "Help me Obiwan Ka Douglas! You're my only hope!"

I have to agree with my friend Cliff. The reasons for upgrading are diminishing. That being said, I have another very close friend who works at Apple who won't even breathe a syllable about what he does there. I respect him for that integrity, but no amount of stealth or mystique will entice or convince me that I need another mobile whiz-bang to get my work done.

I can say with complete confidence, "All I need is me, myself, and iPad." And that is all... for the time being. Do I need anything Samsung? Nope. An Apple a day keeps the Samsung at bay.

Is anybody else backing off costly upgrades because you have reached the pinnacle of utility with your current version?

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