Twice the clock speed, four times the RAM might sound like a lot on paper but that small increase over the DS's already weak specs don't actually make much of a difference when it comes to games.
It doesn't because nobody took the time and effort to make games that would utilize these extra resources. The existing DS userbase was huge as it was and the DSi Train didn't take off as it was expected to.
That specs bump was only done to facilitate the cameras and SD-cards.
No. MP3 Players with 20MHz ARM CPU's support SD cards, digital cameras have slow CPU's as well and they have, y'know, a camera module and a memory card slot.
Increased screen-size means nothing unless the 3DS XL is an entirely new console to you.
I was just listing differences, really.
As for the extra applications, they also don't mean anything. The PSP-2000+ aren't new consoles because they feature Skype (unlike the 1000) and had 64MB of RAM.
The RAM increase was justified - it was to facilitate faster loading times and Skype support. Skype is still a native PSP binary, the devkit is exactly the same. DSi applications, even if they were simple enough to be booted by the DS, would not boot. Because, you know, they're DSi binaries. RAM increase alone doesn't make a successor. The rest of the hardware is virtually the same, minus the useless IR port, plus the extended serial port in exchange to support microphones.
It got a separate devkit for DSiWare games that would utilize the camera and SD-Card.
It got a separate devkit because DSi titles use DSi Mode. If it were because of the SD slot or the camera, they would just send an update to the existing one.
The DSi is simply a DS with some extra features and a couple exclusive games that utilize those features.
Pretty much everything in the DSi is different compared to the DS.
It was not marketed as a new console, not internally developed as an entirely new console nor was it presented as a new console. The change in hardware is simply to support the camera and bonus applications.
How does it change the fact that it is an entirely separate console?
If you want to accept the DSi as a revision of the DS even though hardware-wise and software-wise it's different and it has exclusive binaries, then automatically you accept the Wii as a revision of the Gamecube, the Gameboy Colour as a revision of the Gameboy and so on and so forth.
I know it's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but you're wrong.
Accept the fact that DS applications work on the DSi only because of a built-in compatibility layer.
EDIT: In any case, we're straying far, far, far from the main topic and it's be about time to return to it. I'll just write a quick summary of what I said in a lovably abstract way and then leave the subject entirely, as there's no point in forcing anyone to change their views.
To sum up my opinion as compared to the opinion of 95% of the population, the DSi is the equivalent of writing a book (
Nintendo DS), selling it, then tearing each and every page from the original that made it the book it was (
Removal of every single DS component there is), writing an entirely new book that has nothing to do with the previous one content-wise (
Complete hardware revamp) and then marketing it as the revised version of the book (
The silly DSi marketing campaign) because one of the characters quotes sentences from the original book (
Compatibility Mode). Now, don't get me wrong - it's still in the DS family of products... but then again, so is the 3DS. Because of the most crucial part of the design - Dual Screens. That doesn't make it a revision though.
