It’s been exactly 10 months since we brought you the world’s most expensive rectangle and now we bring you the world’s most expensive iPad 2……almost.

This time instead of looking for some diamond encrusted piece of bling that almost no one could afford and even less would want, we decided to compare retail pricing across the globe and maybe get some insight into who Steve Jobs likes or doesn’t.

Since Steve is American it is no wonder that citizens of the U.S. can buy the iPad 2 for the lowest retail price in the world; $499.99. and with the declining U.S. dollar it seems to be a better deal every day.

You could argue that Steve does not care much for Hong Kong as if you want the latest iPad version it’ll set you back the equivalent of $1,900.00 but bear in mind it hasn’t yet been officially released there yet.

Seems the real poor folk that have made Steve’s naughty, not nice list reside in Denmark where the same iPad will set them back the equivalent of $702.00 , almost 30% more than in the U.S.

So to you Steve Jobs: skål.

If you happen to have an extra £16,200.00 or €18,792.00 or $26,730.00 USD kicking around, why not spend it on the world’s most expensive computer mouse?

Your $26,730.00 USD will get you a mouse made by Swiss manufacturer, Pat Says Now, called “Diamond Flower” that is made from 18 carats of gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds.

You can personalize the mouse by selecting white, yellow or red gold and having black or white trim. The pattern of the diamonds can also be customized.

On top of all that, your mousy $26,730.00 USD will also get you a 3 year warranty.

When just any old USB flash drive won’t do for your precious documents SolidAlliance has the solution for you, the Mnemosyne, named after Greek goddess of memory who was considered one of the most powerful goddesses of her time.

Now, just like a woman, if you want to use the flash drive you have to solve a puzzle as it is in the middle of a puzzle cube but we’re pretty sure this puzzle won’t be too difficult to solve.

The drive is made from a single block of aluminium and can store 16GB of your most valuable files.

So if you’re looking to get your hands on one (the drive that is) then be prepared to spend a rememberable 1 million yen which works out to $11,000.00 U.S. dollars or $687.50/GB.

Now, normally we like to write our own stuff but with the recent iPad launch there has been some fun shots taken at Apple and Charlie Brooker took a great one so we give credit where credit is due:

‘Had it crashed? Or was it being sarcastic?’ Charlie Brooker on the iPad

Websites look great on it. As does video. But books? Here, I’m less convinced

The iPad: the world’s most expensive rectangle. The Guardian wanted me to write a first-impressions review on launch day – but how? I could borrow one from an early adopter, but that wouldn’t be the same. I don’t like poking round other people’s computers. It’s like snooping through their medicine cabinets: quite quickly you can stumble across something you wish you hadn’t seen. I needed a new one, straight out of the packaging. A new one I could keep.

But this being launch day, iPads were bound to be scarcer than cats’ eggs, right? Disappointingly, the Guardian picked one up from the Tottenham Court Road branch of PC World without having to kill anyone.

Typically for Apple, the packaging virtually places the device in your hands with the grace of a well-trained butler. The iPad itself is surprisingly heavy: about the same as a hardback book. It gave me mild arm ache almost immediately. Maybe there’s an app that can tell you how many calories you’re burning just by holding it. The best solution is to adopt a self-consciously casual crossed-legged sitting position, and prop it up with your thigh. Fanboys who wet themselves may cause a short circuit.

The display is extremely glossy, so the first thing you’ll see on your screen is a reflection of your face from an unflattering angle. It also doubles as a fingerprint collector, which means you’ll spend the first hour obsessively wiping it clean on your T-shirt before giving up and ordering an adhesive screen protector from Amazon (which, if the iPhone equivalents are anything to go by, will be impossible to apply without contemplating suicide at least twice). At this price, Apple – nice, friendly Apply – could at least include a couple of free screen protectors and some kind of carry-case, no? Of course not.

You’re required to use iTunes during the setup process, which is like being forced to eat a handful of mud. iTunes is twice as awful as any software crime Microsoft ever inflicted on the world. Up popped a progress bar which turned out to be a work of satirical fiction – lodging fast at 7/8ths complete while making random claims about how long it was going to take to finish. It was impossible to tell if it had crashed or was just being sarcastic. I was scared to pull the sync cable out– and I’m a nerd. So much for Macs being easy to use. Eventually a nice man from MacFormat magazine saw me moaning about it on Twitter and gave me some personal assistance. Your experience may differ.

Eventually it was up and running. And yes, if you’ve used an iPhone, it’s a bit of an anticlimax, although toying with it is undeniably pleasant. The display is supernaturally crisp; the seamless, intuitive interface becomes second nature almost immediately. Once you’ve got used to the weight, it’s perfect for browsing websites while lounging on the sofa. I don’t mean that dismissively: it’s quite an achievement – especially since “browsing websites while lounging on the sofa” is what the vast majority of laptops are currently used for.

So websites look great on it. As does video. The BBC iPlayer is particularly impressive. But books? Here, I’m less convinced. Kindle owners can download a free app which lets them access their books on the iPad; Apple also has its own rival iBook service. In both cases the screen looks superb, and swiping a finger across the screen to flip the page gives you an undeniable futuristic thrill. But the display, luminously gorgeous when replaying video, is simply not suited for reading articles at length.Yes, you can adjust the brightness, but it’s still firing light into your pupils, unlike an ebook screen, with its poncey “electronic ink”.

I doubt many readers will persevere to the final page of a novel, unless it’s a book in which the lead character squints a lot, in which case you’ll have a certain empathy.

Magazines and newspapers, with their shorter read times, may be a different matter. The Guardian’s Eyewitness app, a free interactive gallery of recent photojournalism, looks and feels like the future. If print media really wants to make the transition to devices like these, thinking long and hard about the visual, it needs to think long and hard about the full visual potential.

So do you actually need one? Having used one for the past few hours, I can confidently state that you can safely wait until it’s lighter and cheaper. At the very least, wait until they bring out an app that turns the iPad into a talking Lord Lucan mask which you can hold up in front of your own face and talk through. If there isn’t one already.

Original article from guardian.co.uk.