[citation][nom]Spanky Deluxe[/nom]All good points. However, I'm pretty sure it will turn out that your statement "The still camera resolution is 5 megapixels" will turn out to be incorrect. I'm guessing it is the same part as is found in the current iPod Touch - i.e. it is a video camera and makes for lousy photos. If it wasn't then they would have called it a 5 megapixel camera and not just a camera capable of capturing 720p video.While the tech specs of the CPU, GPU and memory are not something Apple talk about for iOS devices, it is a near certainty that the iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM - maybe even more (although probably not).Say what you will about Apple, the competition is lagging big time in terms of Tablet OSs. It's similar in many ways to the release of the first Macintosh and it's GUI although it looks (hopefully) like Apple has learnt from its mistakes back in the 80s and 90s. Whether you like Apple or not, they have certainly pushed the boundaries of design (both hardware and software) in the electronics world for the past decade more than any other company.[/citation]
You're kidding, right? Intel has pushed the boundaries of hardware in ways Apple couldn't even imagine. Also, AMD (not their processors, of course).
Sony deserves some credit there too. In terms of software, I think everyone knows Microsoft blows, but has Apple really advanced things much in the past 10 years? What software package of theirs is really unique or ground breaking?
Also, Lisa had the first GUI for Apple, which they stole from Xerox, of course.
This is not to discredit Apple, they do create new markets, with a seeming genius at making products people really want, before anyone else had any idea. Smart phone existed before Apple, GUI existed before Apple, tablet computing devices existed before Apple, but they may as well not have, considering their impact before Apple took them to the next level.
But, I object to comparing Apple to Intel in hardware. What Apple does is trivial compared to the enormous amount of work in creating a new architecture like the Sandy Bridge (despite the idiots saying it's a Nehalem refinement, which it isn't). This doesn't even go into their chipsets, IGPs (which are finally excellent), platform advances (USB 3.0, PCI-E, Thunderbolt), or their motherboards. On top of this, their manufacturing technology is superb. Only IBM should be mentioned in the same sentence when it comes to hardware.