My take on this? Steve Jobs wouldn't have allowed it. It's difficult to understand the need for a smaller iPad - except to compete head-on cost-wise with the Nook, GOOGLE's new Nexus 7, and the Kindle Fire. Maybe Apple's already forgotten the iPod Touch, on which you can read a book, check e-mails, and such. It's not the most comfortable of experiences, though.  MacWorld magazine is already touting the iPad as something of a low-grade laptop, and I think that's where its future lies. A smaller version will limit that sort of use severely.

image via cnn.com

(CNN) -- A new round of Apple rumors and leaks are suggesting what some tech observers have been predicting for the past year: that a smaller, less expensive iPad is on the way.

via www.cnn.com