You want an iPad 2 when you already own a smartphone and iPod touch? That’s stupid. It has identical capabilities to your smartphone and your iPod touch; however, it doesn’t fit in your pocket.

The iPad 2 came out on March 11 and chaos at Apple stores ensued. People waited in lines for hours just to get their snazzy new iGadget starting at $499. And if you want the biggest and baddest iPad, well, that’s $829 out of your wallet.

You are spending more money on a slight upgrade rather than waiting for the next version to come out, which will most likely be in a year or so.

People want the newest, the best, and the most up-to-date gadget they can get. It’s all about the “cool” factor.

Back when our parents were young, many could not even dream of owning something that was $500 — let alone something as small as a laptop.

The first thing my mother bought that was $500? “A car,” she said. And she didn’t use a computer until she was at work in 1990.

“Unless, of course, you are talking about mag card machines which were electric typewriters with cards that you made changes on — that was in 1978,” she said.

But my mother was not like today’s college students — standing in line for the best tech gadget for hours just to sell their spot, which according to the Wall Street Journal, is what Amanda Foote, a college student in New York City, did. Foote decided to not even bother actually buying an iPad 2, but she still wanted to be first in line in order to sell her spot. And for the lack of sleep and weather she went through, she was paid $900 by AskLocal application developer Hazem Sayed.

The iPad 2 is just another way for Apple to make money. It’s almost like they took an iTouch and iPhone and morphed them into the iPad. They all have Wi-Fi capability and 3G. You can also listen to music and take pictures on all of them.

Imagine yourself sitting at a desk with your iPad, iPod, and smartphone. Your iPad is open to Facebook, while your iPod is plugged in updating your music collection and in the meantime you are Tweeting from your smartphone. In reality, you could have one device, and be on Facebook, Twitter, and updating your music collection all at the same time, and have it fit in your pocket.

Why have an iPad?

While it has also been shown to be useful for editing pictures, videos, and documents, your keyboard and mouse are going to be on the screen itself. To change that you will need to invest another $69 for a wireless keyboard. And if you want to stand up your iPad without it falling over, add another $29 to your bill.

Since 2002, when the first generation of iPods came out, a new, improved iPod was released on an almost yearly basis. There have been six generations of the iPod nano and classic iPod, and four generations of the iTouch, iPod shuffle, and iPhone.

Technology is forever moving forward. And although you could upgrade each time a new version comes out, it’s probably best to wait one in between each generation as you will save money and have a greater change in technology compared to your old gadget.

So you decide: is it worth spending $499 – $927 (including accessories) on a piece of technology that will soon be updated? Or will you wait for a newer, faster, and probably smaller one to figure out?