A 7" Tablet

The iPad has no competitor. Every tablet in it's size and price range has failed. Amazon asserted itself as the top dog in the smaller tablet size, but now Google looks to enter that market. The Fire and Nexus are certainly cool devices, but tablets, they are not. They are about content consumption, and not creation. They are about watching Netflix and playing Angry Birds. They are about racing the Times and checking your email. And all of that is okay. In fact, I wonder if there is room for a device that size in my workflow.
The iPad is very portable, but I don't take it with me on short trips. It's best suited for on the couch use and for weekend getaways. My E-Ink Kindle is super portable, to the extent where I often forget I have in my bag. Could I find use for a 7" tablet in my workflow. Perhaps. The iPad has become my favorite way of reading comics, but it's still a bit on the heavy side. A lighter device would be ideal, but It would have to have that same kind of Retina display. Would Apple benefit from making a device this size? Or do they let Amazon and Google fight each other to the bottom, scraping the slimmest of profit margins?