Whew, I almost got a heart attack reading the headline. As long as it's compatible with my Shure EC2 headphones, I don't care what the headphone jack looks like. Still remember the iPhone 1 headphone jack fiasco ...
My iPod touch (3rd generation) also seems to use pogo pins. I got a toothpick and played around with the contacts to see if they buckle. (Would be nice if someone could confirm that.) The headphone jack also looks otherwise exactly the same. (The iPod touch has, like the iPad 2, tapered edges.)
You know, I didn't even notice the new headphone jack design, but that's very clever. The iPad 2 is a very thin device; it's frankly amazing how they fit everything into this case. It might not be the most technically powerful device on the market but it's the feel of the device, not the specs, that are impressive. There is a bit of the headphone plug exposed when you have some plugged in, but touching it doesn't produce any sound issues, so I imagine this is a nonissue.
I'd like to reiterate the 'probably' I mention in the OP. I don't know that this jack uses the new pogo pin design, but even if not, the tapered lip and exposed ground pin is something new.
"...since the ground ring is, well, grounded..."
fyi, not true at all.. think about it, how is a device that you're holding in the air (and NOT connected to a power outlet through any sort of cables/adapters/etc) grounded?
It's not.
If you plug your ipad into a wall socket via the 5V battery adapter it would be a different story, but not until then.
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