Unexpected Success of 4S Kills Siri on the “New iPad”

It’s not called the iPad 3, or the iPad HD. Simply the “new iPad”. While we could get into another discussion about this solidifying Apple’s intention as a “post PC” company, it also illustrates the complexity of today’s cloud based infrastructure.

The new iPad runs on essentially the same hardware as the iPhone 4S. There’s no technical reason the iPad can’t run Siri. Leaving only one explanation. Unexpected success of the iPhone 4S killed Siri on the new iPad. Despite it’s 500,000 square foot size, there is likely little room for expansion at Apple’s new North Carolia data center. Showcasing how even a billon dollar investment can be too little in today’s cloud based era. Also illustrating how difficult is to scale such large infrastructure. You simply don’t build another 500,000 square foot data center over night to meet demand.

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It’s not unrealistic to assume that Apple scaled their new data center to support both the new iPhone 4S, and the new iPad. However, iPhone 4S sales exceeded their wildest expectations, leaving them no choice but to limit Siri functionality on the Pad to dictation.