Dah•veed, great addition to my point of view, obviously yours is more informed, but I would contend that it is basically the same point. Siri just wasn't ready for iPad, and that is the only reason it wasn't included.
You make clearer than I did: "ready for iPhone" does not translate to "ready for iPad." And its not only the obstacle you describe, but undoubtably a laundry list of others. The iPad is not "a giant iPhone," despite what early nay-sayers tried to claim. They are two different animals, used in different ways and environments, and Apple can't just interchange parts and technologies willie-nillie. And, as you point out, Apple makes an honest effort not to ship something that doesn't work well (unlike some of its competitors).
The obstacle you describe will be overcome. And if Apple had more resources Siri might have been ready for iPad. (I referred to these resources as "programmers," you were more accurate: as that includes outside tech as well). If the Audience tech is something hardware, then I can't argue your point about waiting for an iPad 3 to get it, it's either there or not. But if it is merely software, or firmware, then there is no reason a current iPad can't be upgraded to include it. If its dictation works, it is fair to assume it might be using that very tech, yes? So it might, in fact, be part of iPad already.
I disagree with you, however, that a fully functional Siri cannot be accomplished sooner than later, or that I should not rely on Apple to solve this quickly, or that waiting some number of months is a mistake, or doing so somehow means I am not right for this product. Ridiculous. Six months is a very long time in tech. I forget which, but one of the big boys at one of the big phone-making companies (and I paraphrase) swore that Apple (Jobs) was out their minds thinking they could build a viable smart phone and do well in that market, first time out. That it takes years of phone building experience to compete. That notion was not to accurate, now, was it? Six months after "anyone had heard of an iPhone" phone makers were well on their way to producing there own. And due credit: they had a lot less time to get theirs working then Apple did. But they did it, and it didn't take very long at all.
Yes, Siri is not ready (and as you point out, wasn't even ready for iPhone), but Apple has a lot at stake to get Siri working, and working well, across all their devices quickly. I hope they succeed.
And to label all this "Star Trekesque" is also absurd. We'll have all this in our hands in a few years, if not months. It won't be some future "Star Date!" I remember reading a bit about one of the later Star Trek movies, the one that was set in a time prior to the Star Trek TV series was, having trouble designing the characters' communicators. They had to figure out how to reconcile the fact that current mobile phones were already centuries more advanced than the communicators used in the TV series, which is set centuries into the future.
And with all due respect, I'm thankful Steve Jobs, and hopeful that his legacy, has more faith in their own imagination and the ability to bring it to life, than you apparently do...
