iOS 6 is not compatible with: iPad 1
Just because iPad 1 can't run iOS 6 doesn't mean it's suddenly "trash".
Also, the first iPad is woefully underpowered – thanks to the display, it's quite memory and graphics constrained. It's entirely possible Apple wasn't willing get new iOS features working well on that hardware, especially considering iPad 1's install base is a rapidly decreasing percentage of the overall iPad market.
What I do care about is the web browser on my iPad not receiving any software updates... ever. That's a serious problem. Without any software upgrades ever, the iPad will become the future IE. In fact, this is worse because of Apple's closed system they also won't allow 3rd parties to upgrade the software either. That means no new web browsers, audio players, or any other new type of software which might threaten their platform.
Apple wants to pretend that software can't be upgraded because you're using old hardware, which not only is completely retarded, it defeats the purpose of software.
If they had a viable reason to put resources into the iPad 1 and have it meet their performance and usability requirements, they would have.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...
The processor has to wavelet compress the audio and ship it off to Siri for processing. Apple might not be happy with the performance on the original iPad.
I recall that someone got it running on a jailbroken device. I don't remember how well it worked.
Recording is easy. Dump the ADC output to a buffer and call it a WAV file. Or an AU.
Sending it to Siri requires chunking the audio into small pieces, compressing them with a wavelet table (I'm assuming here, my DSP knowledge is a bit dated), and shipping them off to North Carolina.
If this can't be done quickly, Siri appears to suck. Apple is religiously conservative about enabling features on hardware that might cause the experience to suck.
Audio compression was a slow thing on desktop computers when desktop computers had similar specs to the first iPad. I'm no authority, but this seems like a relevant detail to me.
Huh? Citation needed. Apple didn't suddenly cut off App Store updates to iPad 1. Developers are free to support (or not support) iOS 5, just as they were with other iOS updates.
Furthermore, are you remotely surprised by this? iPhones prior to iPhone 3GS aren't supported by iOS 5.
Do you have the same issues with Android? There's a platform that's destined to be the "future IE". How many Android users are stuck on 2.2 or 2.3, with a horribly crippled browser?
Finally, Apple does allow other browsers, audio players and other new types of software. They don't threaten Apple's platform, the bolster it.
I'm not sure where you're digging up this FUD, but it's way off base.
The answer is: most of them. ~90.2% are on Android 2.3 or below as of June 1, 2012[1].
[1] http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...
You do realize that there are third party browsers on Android that have their own rendering engines that you can install right? You don't have to ever use the built in Android browser if you don't want to. I've found Firefox works quite well actually.
But they don't have an incentive to do that, and it would mean more work for them supporting a shrinking user base.
However, customer loyalty may have been increased quite a bit by providing updates for more than 2 years. I'd have much less of a problem with Apple dropping iOS 7 support on the iPad 1, for instance.
My parents have an iPad one, and I've used an iPad 2 at work. I've got to say I'm not that surprised, as the thing is clearly constrained as it is. It's over 2 years old, so it's not like they just suddenly abandoned it. And you can still get iOS apps for it for quite a while. I know there are apps I use that still support iOS 3.
So far the main reason Apple has not supported new OS updates on old hardware is due to hardware requirements, usually memory. I agree it seems odd as the 4th gen touch is basically the same spec as the iPad 1, but in general their record in this area is unmatched by any of their competition. Nobody else even comes close.
Of course, forced obsolescence is a fact of life with commercial, proprietary products, and of course you're not entitled to software updates apart from bugfixes.
But it's very different world compared to the PC world where companies like Microsoft and other OS vendors have an incentive to stretch compatibility as far back as possible.
As more and more developers drop support for iOS 5, an otherwise perfectly working device becomes less and less valuable, which is a shame. Of course an option is still to jailbreak it.
Many if not most of the new features in iOS 6 doesn't require more processing power.
But yeah, that's a big downer. I'm still lovin' my iPad 1, and won't be able to swing a replacement anytime soon (assuming the new iMacs show up, which to the surprise of many didn't today).
The iPad 1 does not have contract lock-in and is not actively being sold by Apple. Apple is not facing serious tablet competition right now so what incentive do they have to support the iPad 1? What are people going to do, throw out the iPad 1 for a Kindle Fire? Maybe if Windows 8 or Android get their act together, but right now, Apple is chasing demand and has little incentive to support old hardware when they can push you into the new one. This is why the tablet space needs some real competition.
Bingo. Apple still sells new 3GS phones, so it would directly impact customers that may be buying their products today. This isn't the case with the iPad1.
Apple rarely does things (solely) based on technical requirements or some architectural vision. It may be frustrating, but it is consistent - they are primarily customer focused, not specs-focused or vision-focused. Yes, there is attention to specs and an underlying vision of computing, but they are 2nd to the (paying) customers.