Did I miss something?

Part of that monthly plan that you pay is subsidy that pays off your $650 phone (remember, you only paid $200 downpayment upon signing up). The phone is fully paid off the moment you become eligible for the fully-subsidised upgrade. If you don’t upgrade right away, every month after that, you’re donating some $20 of your AT&T bill to them (since you had already paid off that 3GS).

If you like 3GS so much more than 4 or 4S, you can always get the upgrade and then sell it on eBay / CraigsList right away. That way, you at least recover some (if not all) of that subsidy you’re paying to AT&T.

Alternatively, you could switch to AT&T’s prepaid plans; they are considerably cheaper than the contract plans (no subsidy there).

If not, then what could possibly stop me from buying both?

A mini I would carry with me, instead of reading on my iPhone, and both kids would get one for Xmas

It’s called the iPod Touch, and it’s Apple’s best selling iPod.

Someone someday is going to write a book explaining why certain people go MAnIaCaL about vacuous rumors and bad ideas. This rumor will be in the Top 10.

Plus, I have an iPad. I just don’t have the need to downgrade to a smaller screen, even thought I can understand for a lot of folks, this might be the ideal size.

It’s kind of apple’s to oranges if you ask me (not that anyone is asking).

However, I’d buy an iPad mini (or even two) if they were priced right – say $299 or thereabouts. $349 would start pushing it, which is why I wonder if Apple could/would even sell them.

The Nexus? I have little interest in an Android table, but the screen is FOUR times the area of the iPhone 5! Of course you can do certain things with it that you can’t do as easily with a phone screen.

The iPad? For children especially, the iPad is A) expensive and B) pretty large and heavy. If the price could be in the $299 ballpark, I could justify having a couple of iPad minis around for kids, games, reading, remote control duty, and more, and I would keep the iPad to myself.

If it tells you anything, I still have my original iPad 1, which is now over two years old. Still, I haven’t felt like upgrading or buying another. True, that says something about how nice the original iPad is… Yes, it’s very nice, and yes, it’s a great value and all that, but I’m the type that likes to upgrade pretty frequently. But, it’s still a $500+ item I’m just not excited to spend the money replace.

Sometimes all you need is the weather or a quick look at something, mini would be fine!

iPad is too big to take with my laptop (it doubles the case width. iPad mini sounds good.