In June 2009, over at TheNextWeb, I talked about how different the iPhone 3GS felt compared to its predecessor. The post was titled “It’s all about Speed: My first weekend with the new iPhone 3GS”.

Yesterday, the second iteration of Apple’s magic tablet launched in Germany and 24 additional countries.

And boy has it been a success for Apple!

A Google search for “iPad 2 sold out” yields 1.2 million results. I (successfully) queued in front of the Apple Store in Oberhausen where the staff had to send away more than 1.000 customers as they completely sold out within an hour and a half. Here is a short YouTube video showing the moments before the re-opening.

As many of my readers know, I’m one of the founders of Germany’s largest iOS development companies. I sort of have to always get the latest Apple gadgets. Not that I regret – of course.

Beautifully white

When I departed for the Apple Store, I planned to grab two black 64 GB WiFi + 3G models. Those sold out within the first 30 minutes. I was left with two white ones.

Prior to having the white model in my own hands, I was pretty biased that I wouldn’t like it. Many have stated the black bezel around the screen would make it feel larger to the human eye, so a white model would feel too small.

None of this is true.

I have to say that after spending a few hours with it, I even start to like the white model over the black one. As we expect from Cupertino, the white is a very elegant, glassy and stylish white. It’s not a cheap-crappy-plastic-white as we see it way too often in consumer electronics these days.

Now, I’m mostly using the device for media consumption.

Tons of US TV Series, kindle books and discovering stuff on the Web. As a consequence, I naturally use the iPad in many different living situations, places and even in bed. That’s where another advantage comes into play:

The white model simply blends in better.

It’s difficult to describe. It’s one of these subconscious subtle little differences that just feels better. But you have to experience it yourself.

All I can say is, if you’ve made your decision for a black model, make sure you play a while with the white one in an Apple Store nearby. As it happened to me, you might fall in love with white.

So speedy

I have to admit, I don’t care about the two cameras added to the iPad. FaceTiming with my family members is fun on the iPad 2 but I hardly ever FaceTime, anyway. You might wonder, if it’s not for the cameras, why go for an iPad 2 at all?

Well, almost two years after the iPhone 3GS I experienced a deja-vu:

Clearly, the performance boost is the key feature for me and the more I’ve used various apps on the iPad 2, the deeper the overall impact on my happiness. (I’ve written this exact last sentence two years ago, too, and today it is more true than ever.)

I am aware of folks who couldn’t wait to hooke the iPad 2 up to benchmark suites just to find out it’s not that much better in terms of pure technical specs. But I don’t care. There’s likely not a single consumer running benchmark apps anyway.

It’s the experience that counts. And the experience is dramatically better on the iPad 2.

Along with the new multitasking gestures introduces with iOS 4.3, the iPad 2 now switches between apps blisteringly fast. There’s hardly any recognizable moment anymore when you foreground your apps.

So lightweight

Another interesting area: Though the iPad 2 has only up to 100 grams less in weight (depending on the model), it feels significantly more lightweight. And I have to reiterate: It’s the experience that counts. Not tech specs. Consumers touch and feel – and decide.

I never had an issue with the weight of the original iPad, not even after hours of reading ebooks. But the much improved iPad 2 form factor is a very welcome addition.

Do I recommend an upgrade? Absolutely yes!

If you do use your iPad regularly, upgrade as soon as possible. You won’t regret it.

If you bought into the initial hype but found yourself not really being an ebook person, you don’t watch great movies and tv series while you’re traveling or love the many great social media apps available for the platform, you might stay with your original iPad.

There’s one more thing I generally like about Apple products:

Hardly any other consumer electronics product in the market, has such stable second market prices even after a successor has been announced. I was able to sell my used original iPad for 500 Euros, effectively bringing down the cost for the new one to 299 Euros.

My lady keeps her original iPad for a while until it moves to our own little Apple Museum and I will be forced to get a second white iPad 2.