There were always 6 SKUs for any given region (3 size options and 2 connectivity), and now there are 3 colors, and the iPad Mini form factor. That's a lot when you add it all up analytically, but that's not how consumers experience it -- they're not presented with 36 different iPads and asked to figure it out.

The consumer experience hasn't fundamentally changed since the original iPad, because each option is understandable by the user rather than buried under a confusing set of names [1]. iPads with cell radios are really only for people who already know what it is and want it, so that choice point is reduced. The form factor (iPad or iPad mini) is something the consumer can hold in their hands and figure out, as is color. Those are tangible, immediate, human choices.

RAW DEAL #1: Storage, and specifically the 16GB model, is the biggest issue with iOS products because later you'll find you can't download many apps or have too many photos before storage fills up. Bad user experience. See past iOS upgrades for outrage.

> if you don't already know what you want

Apple has invested huge amounts in iPad's branding and awareness, that translates to consumers understanding more and walking in having at least a vague understanding of which form factor and color they would like, with a visit being more of a confirmation of the choice. Note that Apple's other branding reinforces this, by sharing color across iPad, iPhone, and now MacBook, meaning more possibility for consumers to come in closer to having made a choice. Same with storage capacity if they evaluated iPhones. They also don't name it something different each time they launch a new one, they reuse the name [2]. The brand value/awareness of 'iPad' alone is probably 100x+ that of Asus or Surface. Brand awareness persists between products, so with 800m iOS devices out there, each SKU represents maybe 20m iOS devices worth of brand recognition that precedes it [3].

RAW DEAL #2: Walking into Best Buy -> raw deal. For. sure.

There's a reason Apple built stores - its to control the experience and reduce choice anxiety through consistent messaging, better presentation of products, positive sales experience, few choices, etc. Best Buy shits that away and you wind up in a chemical-smelling store filled with crappy products that subtly increases paradox of choice, talking to a spikey hair drone that doesn't understand the product, forcing comparison to unlike products, putting pressure on you to buy the replacement plan or accessories or shit you don't need, with flashing images from a wall of TVs nearby sucking your attention away from your purchase decision like the TV with a skateboarding video on at the bar you're at with friends that keeps pulling you away from the conversation you were just having. Ugh. Best Buy.

[1] Apple made this mistake in the 90s with the Performa brand, introducing too many models causing consumer confusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Performa). Thus, iPad is iPad, and specs do not play into the name of the product the user buys. Most other competitors such as aforementioned Asus Zenbook UX305 just don't get it.

[2] Because people think in years, not obscure model numbers ('oh thats the iPad from two years ago' vs 'oh thats the Zenbook umm... UX31A? UX42VS?').

[3] Yeah this is a super janky way of representing brand awareness, its just to illustrate how much more carrying capacity the brand has for variations relative to others. Marketing budget might be another way, except that doesn't account for people's actual purchases and their sharing with friends, plus the ridiculously valuable free marketing you get from the media talking about the device. Hence, the big unveil strategy.