I say this not as a shot at Apple, I say this as a consumer that has no desire to update his hardware every other year.
JAILBREAK THIS TABLET
seriously! with Apple intentionally making apps incompatible with older hardware despite being well within the capabilities of the device the only option is homebrew such as black ice etc. in order to make use of the older ipads. as an added bonus it means you can use any data sim you want rather than being forced to a certain company.