To be honest, it's all just numbers. My old man still uses an iPad 2, and my Mum an iPad 1, I've never seen either of them squinting trying to read the 1024x768 screen. Similarly most games are optimised to work on iPad 2 still, and with the iPad mini out, they will continue to be. You might lose one or two special effects that the iPad 4 shows but generally Apple's stuff is very optimised and it lasts. They're just revising their products to keep up to date like they always have done with iPods. I knew iPad 3 was a stopgap system when I saw they removed the number from the name, the iPad 2 was only 6 months after the first also.
They may bring new stuff out quickly but they ensure that your purchase will last you a long time. It's better to move away from the "latest and greatest" school of thought as tech has always moved this fast. This one may have a faster CPU but it was mainly an upgrade to get the lightning connector into the thing.
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