Apple's new iPad mini; great for those moving up from iPod touch, not for those with an iPad already

As expected, Apple revealed the new iPad mini along with a slightly upgraded 4th generation full size iPad. Last week I asked about a compelling reason to buy the iPad mini and think the main thing we heard was the smaller size. With a lower resolution and smaller display than my current iPad 3rd generation there is no reason for me to buy the iPad mini. However, with daughters that watch media on a small iPod touch the iPad mini looks to be the perfect gaming and media device for them at a price starting at $329.

There was speculation of the iPad mini coming in at $199 or $249, but both Kevin Tofel and I knew that was pretty ridiculous for an Apple product. The Google Nexus 7 is priced at just $199 as well as the Kindle Fire HD so the price difference between these and the new iPad mini may still be enough of a factor to generate Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire sales. Apple's ecosystem helps considerably when kids decide to move from their iPod touch to a larger form factor device, yet don't have the $399 or $499 for the full size iPad. For those that consumer media (books and movies) more than just music it seems to me the device most in danger of being dropped in the future is the iPod touch.

I will be preordering an iPad mini to then give to my youngest daughter as a Christmas present (she doesn't read my blog), but won't be picking one up for myself. While pricing starts at $329, it goes all the way up to $659 for the 64GB cellular model. Apple now has a rather staggering lineup of 14 differently priced models of the Apple iPad with the iPad 2 likely on the way out in the next few months.