The iPad 2 arrives and a few thoughts

I've been off working, so I haven't put up any new posts here. Sorry about that.

Well, the iPad 2 came out today, as anticipated. Apple knows just how to tease the media and the rest of us.

I know I'd like to get an iPad 2. It's seductive. I know I'd like to replace thick paperback manuals, such as The Missing Manual: Lion 10.7, with a thin electronic reader. The question for me is: Kindle or iPad? Or just go with the Kindle application on my Mac or my Windows 7 machines? Both of them have big monitors now. But not a big chunk of paper that only lasts a year.

Apple, in any case, is the tablet manufacturer and marketeer to beat. Right off the bat, they answered four questions:

1. When will the iPad 2 be available? March 11. Not "later this summer," but a specific date.
2. How much will it cost? They put up a table showing prices from $499 for a 16 Gb Wi-Fi only to $829 for a 64Gb Wi-Fi and 3G machine. Not "well, the price hasn't been determined yet." That tells me someone hasn't got a clue about marketing these tablets at Motorola/Google.
3. Where can I buy it? At the Apple Store.
4. Who's your wireless partner(s)? ATT and Verizon.

Another question I have: Will Apple not only bring the software from iOS to OS X; but also the hardware? Apple has switched microprocessors three times. Would they switch from Intel to the ARM architecture in their desktops and laptops? My gut tells me that Apple is not bound to Intel as Microsoft is. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that deep inside 1 Infinite Loop is a test model running OS X 10.7 on an ARM chip of some sort. If Intel falters, they'll switch chips as they did from PPC to Intel.