Apple iPad 2 captures stills at less than 1 megapixel, who cares?

Apple iPad 2 news dominated the web yesterday and I don't want to rehash all the coverage that has been posted here on ZDNet and elsewhere. I am curious about one aspect of these tablets though and would love to hear what you readers think. Existing tablets like the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab have both front and rear facing cameras and now the Apple iPad 2 will also. Is there really a need for such a camera and if so, should it be a crappy one like the iPad 2 camera just for video capture?

I have the Samsung Galaxy Tab and honestly I never gave much thought to the dual cameras on the device. However, the SGT actually takes decent photos and videos and as you can see in my hands-on articles here and here the quality is good enough for reviews. It turns out the new iPad 2 has dual cameras and the one on the back should produce good 720p videos too. However, be aware that it is like the latest iPod touch and only takes still photos of less than 1 megapixel as discussed in this Wired article.

Honestly though, why in the world would you ever need a tablet device as a still camera device? I mean, who wants to be the dork holding up a big device with a 10 inch viewfinder to capture images? The only thing I can think of for usage of the rear camera for still photos is to capture things for Evernote. Then again, people with iPad usually also have a decent phone camera to capture these images and can then send them where they need to.

Does anyone care that the iPad 2 only captures still images like the iPod touch? Care to share with me why you think a tablet needs a rear facing camera?