As the iPad 2 remains sold out most anywhere, the only question is whether Apple can build enough to satisfy the demand. But there’s another cloud hanging over production, which is the impact of the earthquake in Japan. Since many semiconductor parts are built there, any slowdown or halt in manufacturing is bound to cause troubles throughout Asia when it comes to needed supplies. I suppose time will tell if your next Apple gadget’s shipping date changes for the worse.

Forgetting that potential trouble spot, it’s funny how the media’s perception of Apple’s ongoing success has changed recently. Of course, the lack of success of competing companies has to be a contributing factor.

Consider the report the other day that Microsoft had thrown in the towel when it comes to developing the poor-selling Zune digital music player. After struggling for several years to catch up to the iPod, and almost always remaining a year or two behind, they have evidently decided to focus on enhancing media player features in their smartphones.

Of course, it’s not that Microsoft is doing all that well with mobile platforms. After tepid sales of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft cut a deal with Nokia, the world’s largest cell phone maker, but going nowhere in high-end gadgets. But this is the sort of agreement that will, unfortunately, also gut sales of existing Nokia smartphones, as customers wait for the “real” version, incorporating Windows Phone 7.

Amid reports that Microsoft is also sending billions of dollars Nokia’s way to enhance mobile platform development, you have to wonder about the companies that adopted Windows Phone 7 without getting such a bribe. Of course, they can always divert production to Android, or whatever home-brewed OS they can cobble together, and hope that’ll do the trick.

Speaking of Android, last night I saw a veritable avalanche of those irritating science fiction-theme ads touting the Motorola Xoom. I’m still not sure what they expect you to be able to do with it, other than shake it around a little, but you have to wonder how sales were hurt by the arrival of the iPad 2. The fact that Apple’s updated tablet is also scoring better than the Xoom in most benchmarks is the unkindest cut of all. After all, Apple tends to place product specs behind usability.

Up till now, some members of the media made a big deal of the Xoom being the most compelling entrant so far, the beginning of the expected avalanche of iPad wannabes. However, once the crowds arrived at Apple’s retail outlets in the U.S. this past weekend, the story changed. Apple has already won the war, and the competition needs to go back to the drawing boards to find a better way to get a piece of the sales pie.

One huge problem with other tablets is that they all, for better or worse, are trying to imitate Apple’s basic form factor. Maybe they’ll add a few extra features, to provide the veneer of differentiation or superiority. The same scene played out over and over again with smartphones. Before the iPhone arrived, the benchmark was the BlackBerry and its tiny physical keyboard. When Apple demonstrated that touchscreens were good to have, suddenly most of the competition included them too. Sure, some also include a physical keyboard — and I grant that a case can be made that they are superior — but that isn’t the way the market has gone.

This isn’t to say the iPad 2 is necessarily perfect. Some might be concerned that the built-in cameras have so-so resolution. The front camera is old-fashioned VGA, the rear is HD, good for movies, but extremely poor for snapshots. Then again, how many of you expect to shoot still pictures on a tablet? A front camera with HD resolution, to match the capability of the new MacBook Pro family, might have been a good idea, but maybe Apple wants to hold it off till the iPad 3. Critics have mentioned that FaceTime image quality could be better.

But none of this really matters in the scheme of things. The iPad is iconic, the global standard for tablet computers. The PC industry tried and failed for years to deliver a credible product. All they could manage was to take existing note-books, and stick special displays on them. They were heavy, clumsy, and only specialty customers, such as physicians and their assistants, found them useful.

Now please understand that I am not saying the people who work at all the other consumer electronics makers are necessarily stupid. They are peopled with talented workers, but the leadership appears to be far too short-sighted to green light a product that breaks the mold. Taking chances is not in their DNA, because they can’t even accept the slightest risk of failure. So they just attempt to imitate gear that has been successful for others, hoping an 85% solution will spark sales.

Yes, there are pockets of innovation. Certainly the original Sony Walkman set the bar for everything that followed in its footsteps, and that includes the iPod. But even the Sony of the 21st century would likely fail to deliver another Walkman, and that’s too bad.

But that’s why the press and press is more and more convinced that Apple can’t fail. But that expectation has its own potential hazards, of course.

There’s an article this week from PCWorld.com, which I shall not link, claiming to offer some simple tweaks to let you use an iPad as your main portable personal computer. While the effort is laudable, the results are so simplistic and lacking in useful information you almost believe it was ghost written by Consumer Reports magazine.

Based on the otherwise laudable concept, I’m going to flesh out some of the details. Mind you, there is no way I can rely on an iPad, or iPad 2, to replace my 17-inch MacBook Pro. At least not yet! But the potential is there, and with sales that are off the charts, no doubt software developers and accessory makers will continue to find ways to fill in the blanks. I also have hopes that Apple will do their part beginning in iOS 5.

The first concern is typing. Can you handle a touchscreen and put words in your email or documents with reasonable speed and accuracy? The author of the PCWorld.com piece suggests “that the vast majority of you use the two-finger hunt and pack typing method anyway.” Based on that critical assessment of typical typing skills, it’s concluded that the iPad’s virtual keyboard is quite enough for them.

But not for me, and not for anyone who possesses traditional touch typing skills and/or needs to write large amounts of text with decent speed. The existence of accessory keyboards is, unfortunately, ignored. You can start with Apple’s offerings, and check the growing selection from third-party accessory companies to deliver the typing performance you expect. Or use dictation software and give your wrists a rest.

The second topic that’s also mangled is the question of email. The author assumes you have a POP account, such as the one no doubt provided by your ISP. When you get messages, they are normally removed from your server (unless there’s an option to keep them there for a given period of time), and syncing among different computing devices can be a chore. One solution posed, to waste money on a Microsoft Exchange account, may appeal to business users. But not most people.

Another solution is to dump the Mail app entirely and rely on Webmail, such as a Gmail account. However, Webmail is usually a poor substitute for a standard email client. Since Gmail offers an IMAP option (check your user preferences), you can easily set up your Gmail account in Mail. Same for any other IMAP email service, including Apple’s own MobileMe. Since your messages are stored on the server when you pick IMAP, you can move from computer to computer, mobile or otherwise, and keep all your messages in sync.

Another way of getting IMAP service without spending a bundle is to sign up for a cheap hosting account with such providers as Namecheap, 1&1 Internet, GoDaddy, or HostGator. For a few dollars a month, you can set up a personal site or one for a small business, and you’ll have loads of IMAP email accounts. Yes, you’ll need a vanity domain too, with your personal Web address, but that only gives your messages a special sparkle. It’s far more prestigious than aol.com or comcast.com. These companies, by the way, also offer targeted email accounts for less. One of the better offerings is the “Unlimited” package from GoDaddy, or 1&1 Instant Mail.

Where the PCWorld.com writer sort of has it right is in handling documents and moving them from iPad to desktop computer and back again. One option, Documents To Go, is designed as a simple Microsoft Office document editor. Ignored as Apple’s own Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which are file compatible with their desktop counterparts. Or maybe syncing with a Windows PC was the main issue.

If you can’t locate a suitable app for your iPad, such products as Citrix GoToMyPC and LogMeIn Ignition are recommended to allow you to, after a fashion, run your regular computer via remote control. But that also works against the intent of relying strictly on your iPad as much as possible. Remember, if you’re on vacation, your home or office computer has to remain on for these sharing services to function.

Where the Apple’s iconic tablet truly falls down, though, is in file management. You can, after a fashion, access your files on your desktop computer via iTunes. You can even set up an online storage account to help you place your stuff in a central repository, and one wonders if the next MobileMe might provide a similar cloud-based file management system.

But the goal is independence, and you can’t be independent if you are relying on a regular Mac or PC as the hub of your work experience. Then again, the PCMag.com article is not really suggesting how to run your iPad in a fashion where it doesn’t have to be regularly tethered with a desktop computer for file syncing. It’s still a second-class citizen.

However, it’s also true that the iPad is still very much meant to be a second (or third) computing device. The OS is designed with the expectation that you will, periodically at any rate, hook it up with a Mac or a PC. Yes, you can charge it independently, but software updates, and document sharing are intended to be accomplished via a wired connection. In a sense, regardless of their other shortcomings, Android OS tablets have the advantage here, because they are designed with cloud-based storage and syncing in mind.

But don’t forget that we’re talking here about the iPad 2 with iOS 4.3. It’s early in the game. By adding GarageBand, and a far more robust version of iMovie to the mix, Apple is clearly aware of the possibilities of using your iPad as a standalone device for content creation. The next step is device independence, meaning the iPad will be able to do its thing all by itself, without the need to periodically sync with desktop computers. Freedom isn’t here yet, but that appears inevitable.

I understand the need for wanting something now, and it’s not just an attractive fellow member of our species. Back in the late 1960s, I took a test drive in an innovative motor vehicle that masqueraded as a simple compact car. It was the Mazda R100, the first mass-produced car that contained the Wankel Rotary engine. Had I not been on the unemployment rolls at the time, I would have placed my order then and there.

When I finally found a job, it was in another state, and it took several years for Mazda’s distribution to expand, but I soon took home the R100?s successor, a modest-looking yellow four-door Mazda RX2. It wasn’t so different from the Toyota Corona (a precursor to the Camry) in terms of looks and accommodations, but, oh, that fabulous engine! It didn’t matter that it got lousy fuel economy, and the rotor seals, equivalent to the pistols of a regular internal combustion engine, self-destructed in a few years. I was in auto heaven.

So I do understand why so many of you must have the latest and greatest gear from Apple Inc.. Indeed, it makes sense to see the YouTube and network news videos of thousands of people around the U.S. waiting for hours to get their hands on their very own iPad 2.

It’s not that the first iPad, if you own one, stopped working when the new model came out, any more than a new Mac, or TV set, suffers from a fatal electronic mishap on the day of the next product update — and no, I won’t mention cars that seem to self-destruct when the manufacturer’s warranty expires. My 2009 27-inch iMac, with a quad-core Intel i7 processor, is already a little long in the tooth as electronic gadgets go, but it still works great!

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As the iPad 2 becomes available, there’s little doubt plenty will be sold. Since so many more dealers have them, you may be able to buy one without waiting a few hours on a line snaking around the block, or the other side of the shopping mall. Or just order online and be done with it.

That said, one thing is sure about the iPad 2, and that is if you used an original iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll find a friendly and relatively simple and predictable user interface. If you use one of these gadgets, you can move on to the other without undergoing a retraining period, or having to confront loads of carrier-installed junkware.

Indeed, when those first iPad TV spots appeared, featuring the voice of actor Peter Coyote, a telltale sentence said it all: “You already know how to use it.”

Even though Apple has added loads of new features to the iOS, the fundamentals that you mastered with the very first iPhone in 2007 remain largely intact. Apple refines, but rarely changes things outright unless there’s a good reason to do so. I dare say that Mac OS X Lion, though it sports a fair number of interface and usability enhancements, shouldn’t confuse long-time Mac users, based on early published reports at least.

This is where Apple holds a huge advantage over Microsoft, which has consistently tampered with things in different versions of Windows, although I grant the basic interface remains pretty similar.

But where things really go awry is with the Android OS, which, as customers of products with that OS realize, isn’t necessarily consistent. The new 3.0 version for tablets, code-named Honeycomb, will really present problems as it diverges from the smartphone version. Now maybe Google feels that having two forks in the road is a good idea, although it can only confuse the larger number of potential customers who aren’t power users.

Unfortunately, there’s no indication that early adopters of the original 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab will be afforded the chance of getting the latest and greatest from Google. This model comes equipped with a version of Android that was never certified for tablets, and the going has been mighty clumsy. Worse, there are evidently very few apps that even work well on an Android tablet, which may explain those initial reports — since denied — of high return rates. The situation will only grow worse as more and more developers move to an OS that Galaxy Tab customers will never be able to adopt, unless, of course, it’s possible to hack the device to download Honeycomb and its successors.

But fragmentation has always been a serious problem for the Android OS. Google may have reference releases, but carriers and manufacturers are free to tamper with it, since it is, after all, open source. They might graft a custom theme, install their own apps and — the unkindest cut of all to Google — opt to use a different default search engine. So Verizon Wireless offers some Android smartphones that use Microsoft Bing, thus depriving Google of lots of traffic for their targeted ads.

That takes us to the Motorola Xoom, a highly-touted Android 3.0 tablet, which got some good reviews. But now we are starting to learn more and more about its potentially serious defects. Take the recent article that appeared in Laptop magazine. Now Laptop is not a publication that is Mac-focused, although Apple products get a decent amount of coverage. My dealings with the magazine, in the form of our regular tech show guest, Avram Piltch, the Online Editorial Director, shows a publication that is fair, responsible, and isn’t afraid to criticize when it’s necessary.

So you see the Xoom, priced higher than the iPad, being dinged for such problems as “Narrow viewing angles,” and, worst of all, “Buggy software.” Indeed, application crashes and the lack of decent numbers of apps don’t auger well for a product that hopes to gain serious traction against the iPad. It’s bad enough that Google has made tablet-specific OS changes that might require a little relearning. But they also need to make a good first impression, and if Xoom was supposed to present evidence of the advancements in Android technology, it is poised to become a monumental failure.

After all, manufacturers already have the iPad as the benchmark. Apple raised the bar with the iPad 2, yet kept the price the same. It makes no sense to sell a competing product for more, particularly with serious bugs, and a display that is of inferior quality. And that’s what a narrower viewing angle means. No doubt Motorola got it for less, but what were they thinking?

This is not the time where a company can offer a 75% solution and hope to compete with the market leader, especially when the selling price is higher.

I suppose people who prefer Android will buy the Xoom. But if Google, Motorola and other hardware companies can’t produce a relatively reliable user experience — and deliver a decent number of compelling apps — this product and others are fated to be stillborn in the marketplace.

Some people might fret over the way Apple curates its App Store and user interface. But there’s a lot to be said for predictability and reliability, particularly when it comes at a lower price.