As many of my friends know, I have a love-hate relationship with Apple. I own a multitude of their products that include an iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPod and now an iPad2. There are many things that I really do enjoy about their products, but equally so, there are many things that make me ask “What were they thinking?!”. This is one of them…

Would you want a TV that had speakers in the back of it, facing away from you? – Probably not.
Would you want a car that had speakers facing outwards instead of towards the interior cabin? – Uhhhh, No.
Would you wear headphones that pointed away from your ear? – Is this a joke?

So what compelled the design team at Apple to place the speaker for the second generation iPad on the back of it so that it faces away from the person using the device? Makes you wonder if they thought that through. Maybe there is some compelling reason, but from a usability standpoint, makes no sense to me. Thank you Apple for yet another brilliant design.

I’ll post a more thorough review of the iPad2 soon…