The “new iPad” is soon expected to give way to the “new new iPad.” Rumors, inside information, analysis and gossip point to a smaller iPad mini, possibly to compete with the 7-inch form factor made popular by the Google Nexus 7.

You can make the case from a business perspective; Remember, we’ve already been down this road before. General Motors’ Alfred Sloan developed the “ladder of success,” which priced Chevrolet as the common man’s car and the Cadillac as the automobile of the executive class. I doubt that Apple would carve out a separate brand, but it’s been willing to use cheaper options – such as discounting older phones or making them free – to encourage more customers to enter the Apple ecosystem. An iPad mini would fill the bill.

From a user perspective, Apple has to realize that certain things don’t work on a tablet. I’d argue, frankly, that a rear-mounted camera doesn’t make a whole lot of sense – it’s just awkward to hold up a tablet to take a picture, and it calls attention to yourself in a way that an iPhone or other smartphone doesn’t. (Perhaps that’s why there are no camera settings on the new iPad.)

But there are other reasons for developing an iPad mini, most having to do with reasons of weight and general awkwardness. The so-called “gorilla arm” syndrome doesn’t come into play here (also known as arm fatigue, used as Apple’s argument against touch-screen PCs, with a vertically mounted display). But it’s undeniable that a smaller form factor like an iPhone or an iPad mini works better in certain use cases. In the following pages, we’ll show you six.