Sour Apples: New release has iPad owners griping

We all knew Apple was going to debut a new iPad Tuesday.

We didn't know they were going to debut two. Plus, we definitely didn't anticipate Apple's terabytes full of loyalists to suddenly turn on them as a result.

But a little bit of customer outrage is probably a given when you render obsolete an expensive piece of top-notch technology just six months after millions of people shelled out and geeked out over it.

Yes, the new iPad has been replaced. Already. It was "new" for all of six months. Oh, and Apple introduced the iPad Mini, too.

The iPad 4 is the same size as the old* iPad, but its guts have been upgraded. Most notable is a zippy, new processor which means a faster machine and faster graphics processing.

*Six months. This is the new gadget lifecycle. You will hate March, 2013 iPhone 5 owners.

The new, new iPad will also have a higher resolution video camera, speedier Wi-Fi and that lightning connector outlet which Apple debuted (to groans) with the new iPhone.

And, as an added benefit, this clever little feature:

The iPad 4 contains a faster chip powered by the tears of iPad 3 owners.

— Steve Death (@Its_Death) October 23, 2012

"I can’t even lie. I’m pretty pissed about this," said CNET host Molly Wood. "It's a diss."

She wasn't the only one feeling that exact way, right down to her choice of adjective. A poll asking "Are you pissed that your iPad 3 is now obsolete?" was posted at Cult of Mac, where a full 51% of readers expressed buyer's remorse.

The iPad everyone was expecting also made its debut. The Mini was introduced at $329 and has a diagonal display just under 8 inches. It's also about 1-quarter of an inch thinner than the standard iPad and weighs just .68 pounds.

It packs many of the same features as an iPad, except has a slower processor (which is the same as the iPod Touch's) and lower resolution.

However, many observers feel the price came in on the high side, including Chicago Sun-Times tech writer Andy Ihnatko:

First reaction: holy ****. With the $329 iPad mini, Apple just injected huge life into the $199 Kindle & 7” Android tablet mkt.

— Andy Ihnatko (@Ihnatko) October 23, 2012

Nonetheless, it's an Apple product release. Which means millions of people will want it and they can pre-order the Mini beginning this Friday.

You can pre-order the Mini 2* one week later.

* That's not true.

** Well, not yet anyway.

Follow Jonathan Anker on Twitter @JonFromHLN