“the last rumor I read was a 12 inch i-pad to compete with lap tops”
Apple needs to sell a stylus-enabled iPad - that will give it the chops for serious work. Finally.
An iPad with a pressure-sensitive stylus will be a natural medium for artists.
is that an easy feature to add?
Huh? First thing I did when I bought an iPad several years ago was to buy a stylus, for one dollar. Works fine. Bought several of the stylus from a Hong Kong seller, couldn't see just ordering one at a dollar. And for serious work, I use a large screen and desktop Mac. You can't do serious photoshop work on an iPad, I've done some graphics (with apps like SketchBook Pro) on my iPad but prefer the desktop environment for serious work.
Aren't there third-party styluses out there? Apple doesn't make it part of the core product because they generally don't include things that only a small subset of users actually want or would use. This is why they got rid of first floppy, then optical drives on their desktops and notebooks - some people still use them, but most people get things digitally these days (or at the very least, Apple is nudging them that way).
A stylus is a powerful tool for those who need it, but that's a small percentage of the user base.