This video has been making the rounds. It shows an *improved* method for selecting text on the iPad. I think it looks really neat, but the call for Apple to add it as a feature is pretty misguided if you ask me.
If you think about iOS — this would be a very poor feature for the general iOS user base. The reasons are the same as why Apple doesn’t make the multi-touch app switching gestures readily public, it’s not discoverable or memorable for normal users.
Imagine what would happen if a user slid two fingers along the keyboard accidentally and then started typing. Oops. While this system is certainly better than what is currently on iOS, it would also lead to much user confusion. That alone is reason enough to not add it in iOS.