Why the hoopla?
Some have clamored for a smaller, cheaper, easier to handle iPad since before Steve Jobs voiced his disdain for smaller tablets back in late 2010. It took a couple years, but the world finally got its miniature iPad. There was no shortage of rumors, speculation and crossed fingers leading up to the announcement, which almost certainly accounted for all the Google searches between 2011 and 2012.
Notable quote:
If your budget’s got more wiggle room, the iPad Mini is the best compact-size tablet on the market. Apple didn’t build yet another bargain-basement special; it squeezed all of the big iPad’s industrial-design panache, software polish and third-party apps, and most of its technology, into a smaller thinner, lighter, lower-priced model. The result may be a product in a category of one — but I have a hunch it’s going to be an awfully popular category.