Retina Display: A Double-edged Sword

After spending a week or so with my new iPad, I'm beginning to notice a disturbing trend. With the exception of my iPhone 4S, ALL the rest of my Mac gear looks fuzzy. I'm writing this post on my 27" iMac. Until purchasing the new iPad, I believed it would be impossible to beat this desktop machine's beautiful display, with its 2560 X 1440 screen res. Poppycock! (Did I just say that? I meant...BULLSHIT!) Don't get me wrong. I've still not seen any desktop monitor that will compare favoribly to my iMac, but the new iPad makes it look second rate. While I was once quite content working in front of this 27" beauty, I now find myself wanting more. To acheive the same level of clarity as my new iPad, this iMac would need to operate at a resolution of 6220 X 3500. That's almost two and a half times (2.43) it's current capability! To be as clear as an iPhone 4 or 4S that multiplier goes up to 3.0 or a screen resolution of 7680 X 4320!
Now there's talk of a new 15" Macbook Pro built thin and light like an Air. If you believe that rumor, you might buy into the other rumor that says it will be equipped with its own retina display. If that's the case, it will have a screen resolution somewhere around 3450 X 2156 (assuming Apple replicates the new iPad's pixel density of 264 pixels per inch). If (and this is a very big if) this turns out to be true, then sign me up. It will make Apple's current best laptop screen (the 17" MBP with its PPI of 133) look like a Commodore 64 by comparison.
This is just one more example of Apple setting the bar for the whole industry. Super high-end screens started in 2010 with the release of the iPhone 4. It's retina display was (and arguably still is) far better than any smartphone on the market. Improving the iPad's display was such an obvious next step that every rumor monger from here to China predicted it. Some even thought it would happen on the iPad 2. Following this logic (I use the term loosely), some model of MacBook has to be next, right? I know, I'm speculating based on nothing. Well, lots of sites do that type of thing for a living. Why should they have all the fun?
Back to Apple as a standard-bearer. The entire PC industry is tripping over itself trying to make portable machines (ultrabooks?) that will match up favorably with the MacBook Air. Some are doing a respectable job of it even though they are hampered by Windows. Now, just when they think they've got a good Air competitor, Apple will release this new rumored portable and leave them all in the dust. Again.
It will be fun to watch. The only problem is, they'll be lapping all of us Mac owners as well, triggering a sudden onslaught of techno-lust that motivates us to run up credit card balances in the Apple store whether we need to or not. I resisted the temptation to get an iPad 2 last year. The step up from my original device just wasn't tall enough to justify the expense. This third generation device with all it's retina display goodness was a no-brainer though. I just wish it didn't make me feel like throwing rocks at all my other Mac displays.

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