Just like Nintendo it has rabbid, mindless and illogical fans who spend their lives in denial that they're wasting their money on apple hardware (their real computers like macbook and imac excluded)
The only use I could find for it is as a digital photo frame but I've got a Sony one for 70$ and it's doing pretty much the same.

Brian, you want to write a followup on how off you were?

Just root a nook color and you have basically the same thing for half the price

Non-Apple users don't get it.
It's a Fashion Piece, the name 'Apple' is the single most important thing. It's a statement. It only needs to do the bare minimum, look the bare minimum, and hey presto, a winner for Apple buyers. They don't care about the stuff it hasn't got, they just care that they can use it in public and be recognized. You can't say this for any other brand, except perhaps Prada or Ferrari endorsed products.

I will get an ipad, provided they make a model with a few more things:

1. 2 USB ports
2. A removable battery would be nice, but im not really a 2-battery person
3. FLASH PLAYER. SERIOUSLY
4. Multi-tasking and compatibility with some normal windows programs

Dont really care much about video conferencing. And a camera :P, well id be kinda awkward taking pictures with a big tablet - again, use a phone

Actually i might get the current 3g or wi-fi one this Christmas or next summer. That way itll be cheaper cause itll be getting old, and cause of sales. But its pretty much a nice shiny toy :P

Apple has revamped the design on the iPod Touch, and introduced a sparkling new display, and added a speedy processor which apple calls it A4. Apart from that I can’t seems to compare the differences between the iPod Touch and the new iPad.

Source:
a href="http:" / pay as you go mobile phones /a

Ok, i have finally blew. I have been reading all over the internet about 'oh the ipad doesnt have flash, it doesn't have usb, no real operating system, no multi-tasking . . . . . etc etc

For all of those out there who can't understand what an ipad is for, you shouldn't buy one. Ipad is not about power, multi-tasking, high-end gaming, feature rich connectivity or an office/business replacement. It is about nice, simple, enjoyable web browsing, looking at pictures, listening to music and watching occasional movies, all without the need of a bulky laptop. Simplicity and ease of use.

It is not designed to replace your imac, Macbook or Laptop, so don't compare apples with oranges. If you want power, buy a real computer such as an Alienware or Macbook Pro. If you are stupid enough to be looking at an ipad considering it as a replacement to a full fledged pc, stop NOW. Because its not. iPad is what it is, and to be used for that.

So everybody, stop slating ipad for what is isn't, and start accepting it for what is is - a slick, quick web & multimedia gadget which is easily portable. Only then can you give it a true review and appreciate the iPad for what it really is.

P.S. As for flash, beleive me - apple have done us all a favour. For those of those who move on to buy an iPad, undrstand, it is adobes problem and fault for no flash on th ipad or iphone. Old technology, constantly crashes apple systems and drains battery like a subaru goes through petrol. Like steve jobs says, apple have waited 10 years for adobe to have flash run stablely on apple systems, and have challenged adobe to show flash run stably, efficiently and securely on any mopbile device - a challenge adobe have not yet risen to with any success. Beleieve me, there is plenty of movie out there which doesnt use flash. And hey, apple have a youtube app and the itunes store - what mroe could you possibly want for video.

It's a decent digital photo lcd...that's about it.

I'm also frustrated that it does not have a USB port, that is does not run flash, that it does not have a webcam or a rear-facing high-def camera and that, technically, it is like a big Ipod touch. But I think Apple is simply testing the adherence of a new concept - one that is broadly accessible and usable by almost any person 2 to a 100 years of age. Actually, I already saw a couple of 1 year olds messing with it... (and they did not complain about the lack of a USB port or any of those things listed above). This thing is really not here to please us, the always frustrated tech folks. It is here to be used by whoever dares to grab and touch it. By the way, even not liking it, I still prefer to surf the web with it, sitting in my couch in any lazy position I desire.... Smart is not always logical and sometimes not immediately understood by common wisdom. That is what Apple does better - smart.

Let's get something straight. The iPad was never meant to be anything but an iPad. It's not an underpowered laptop or a large iPod Touch. It's a touchscreen tablet with an exceptionally sharp screen, has a very usable alternative to mice/trackballs etc, great sound, etc. in a portable device with 10 hr. battery life.
Its WiFi system is very fast and makes browsing a pleasure. Methinks you're overdoing it a bit about going blind reading the iPad screen...
I've used the iPad about 2 weeks and I'm thrilled with the well thought out user interface. What fun, browsing the net with the iPad. Lately I've been experimenting with VNC software and I'm able to remotely see the screen and control my Dell XP/sp3 machine and an iMac! What's that good for?
The touchUI has been made practical and it becomes second nature very quickly. No mouse and no keyboard! What a concept. Did you really think that you were going to write that novel on a iPad - using a virtual keyboard? Come down to earth my man. That virtual KB is programmable and does a remarkable job and it doesn't weigh a thing.
Have you tried the iPad version of Numbers? The app demonstrates the advantages of the touch UI. This spreadsheet program works great and an work with Excel files.
Watching movies on the iPad is a real treat! The list of apps grows bigger everyday. Corporate America has accepted the iPad too.
The iPad isn't perfect! My wishlist has a front-facing webcam, a USB port and multitasking apps (coming this Fall). Meantime, I've a very useful device that's a whole lot of fun!

But it might be a good idea to just get it out there. You can develop things forever and get basics wrong.

Perhaps it's intended to go with an OLED screen but they are still way too expensive for that size. I recall seeing a small Sony TV with an OLED screen iPad size at the 2009 CES. It was quite nice, fast, and power frugal but they are still much too pricey.

Apple's partner, AT&T, has a network being beaten into the ground by data traffic and has announced a couple of billion dollar program to update. iPad and its cloud can't be up and running until it's supported.

It looks like a great device to read and write Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc characters on and to make a 'native' seeming Chinese interface on. That hasn't really been done. Could that really take off?

But - what's with no multitasking? What OS does it use? It's not OS-Xmini? Around here the press said its cpu was from the PPC startup company they bought, PA Risc. Supporting 3 cpu architectures is a bit pricey and Mach may not shrink as readily as embedded Linux. So did they use the PPC or use the people to make something else using their low power IP? If it supports threading then an app supplier could use them to act like multitasking within the app which could be accessible to the user. But that would be a strange thing to have to do.

For the time being Granny's tend to be single-threaded too. But not all of them - any day now we might read that one of them has crashed the Pentagon.. It's always risky to underestimate Grannys.

One obvious point to me is that, should Apple released something akin to a NetBooks in functionality, their DRM play would have been much more difficult.

Specifically, closed systems such as iPhone's and iPad's are more difficult to hack and thus more appealing to the content providers.

Therefore, Apple was probably assuming that by neutering the iPad from a functionality standpoint they would gain in the end.

What is funny about the iPad impasse is that Apple had said they coudn't do a netbook that wasn't crap. Apparently though they could do a tablet...

Apple didn't pre-announce-announce or hype this product. They didn't even admit it was coming. The excitement was just tech media hysteria. Your fault, not theirs.

And who the heck wants to read for ten hours straight? J. K. Rowling isn't writing Harry Potter any more. And out of doors? I'm in Britain where this is quite a bad idea.

I have enough trouble setting aside time to watch THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, on my own chosen portable device. Usually indoors, sometimes on the bus.

I am of the opinion that the capabilities of the iPad are constrained by the need to fit into Apples existing product mix without damaging any of the other cash cows. It has to coexist with the iPhone, iTouch, iPod, etc. Also, i get the impression that Apple lovers would buy an iTurd from Apple if it had auto flush and a nice screen.

There is this ipad commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPwzKEdXLhg

One thing the iPad would actually be good for is reading technical books or textbooks. And that, surprisingly, wasn't run up in the Stevenote.

I read a lot of people bashing the backlit-LCD for reading, but I've read thousands of pages on an eInk display, and it's not really any better. eInk is a great idea but it needs much better contrast ratio--and for the love of $DEITY, faster refreshes.

The 1024x768 full-color IPS LCD on the iPad will be better for many reading applications than any eInk display. There. I said it.

Since when, flash is the bane of the internet and it needs to die. All it serves up is security vunerabilities, adverts and a slow browsing experience

if it was $49.99 and not $499

...someone's been sniffing them.

It has a reason to exist because the niche deserves to be filled, but at the price point it sure is unexciting for most geeks.

No stylus = no competition for Wacom's Cintiq (and many a sad artist, at least for those who have advanced beyond fingerpainting).

However, for education, especially with the textbook contracts signed - it only has to be 'good enough.' The competition is what, the Kindle, which can't support "multimedia" at all? If some colleges are requiring iPhones, some are going to deploy these, and that's all the sales they need to keep it viable and subsidize the initial engineering costs.

You can sort of see this in the case - apparently it's sturdy, the stand is clever (er, does that only work in landscape?), but it has all the visual appeal of a trapper-keeper. Clearly a bit of the same "ugly for education" design vibe that went into making the eMate a nonstarter (but at least the device itself looks as nice as the iPhone if you're going to leave it out on the coffee table).

I suspect it'll do a pretty good job of attracting even more content to Apple-compatible media holes that will mostly be used with the iPhone and iPod. And by version 3, maybe wireless USB will be sorted, they'll have snuck in a stylus (or Griffin Tech will have come up with something compatible with the touchscreen), and it'll be plausible.

... and as someone else pointed out, there's also some pent-up "grandma demand" now that no large-screen 'appliances' have been on the market for ten years - I paid more than this for an iMac since it was the least-worst choice for grams (dear gOS: if you hadn't been too retarded to be running your own apt repository in 2008, you would've had a sale), and chances are she'd be having less trouble with this.* Possibly even cheaper, compared to the cost of DSL from.. AT&T.

Keep fukkin' that chicken, Steve.

*Apple, if you're reading: What the f***, there's no way to adjust 'drag sensitivity' for people with rough arthritis or essential tremor? I've crawled all over the net, I've badgered some authors of third-party mouse drivers... All you need is a slider to increase the radius the pointer can slip on an icon before it starts a drag, yet everyone swears this can't be done.

Good article, although personally I tend to think of Atom devices as netbooks, and this isn't x86 compatible.

Having seen what has actually arrived, I think I'd rather much rather have one of the Sony Reader range instead.

I had hoped that Apple had secured a real breakthrough like a fast colour eInk display. Apparently not :(

Disappointing.

iPad = i Purchased Another Dud

The bigger issue of concern here is what the (barely) hidden agenda is.

Apple will improve the toy, and they are not going to make megabuck selling them, or selling apps, that's all just by the way.

What they are really after is control of electronic book media, to the same level they control electronic music media.

This has some serious ramifications.

I don't care if you cut Apple to pieces, but at least get the facts straight and stop spewing wishful bullshit to the public.

The iPad comes with a charging dock that you can plug a keyboard into.

The iPad comes with a camera connection kit, included is an SD card reader.

The iPad comes with a 30 pin to USB cable.

You clowns should read before you speak.

Scott? is that you?!

Have you come back from the future?

Cause here in the past, most people think of it as a improvement by an order of magnitude.
Since journalists write for an audience, it's best to use the popular terms rather than 'future-speak' innit.

You feelin me blood?
(iGhetto speak)

Of course, unbeknownst (it seems) to every journalist on the planet, a quantum leap is the minimum possible change.

In that context, it's an apt description for the iCan'tPhone.

Why is everybody foaming at the mouth at this, screaming FAIL and running around waving their arms about?

It's a large iPod Touch, nothing more, and was never claimed to be beyond the rampant speculation of self-elected, chin stroking Apple pundits.

The bottom line here is that everybody is disappointed with what it lacks, conveniently forgetting that tablets have been tried before with ALL the features you lot are decrying and they ALL failed.

Who honestly gives a shit if they only sell 12 of them? Is it really worth dramatising and overreacting this much because it doesn't compare to the imaginary product you wanted it to be? Apple has once again succeeded in getting you all running around losing your minds.

Steve Jobs said about netbooks:

"But the problem is that netbooks aren’t better at anything."

He also said aboyt "third" category devices:

"They’ll have to be better at browsing the web than these devices. Doing email. Photos. Video. Enjoying music collection. Playing games. Reading eBooks. If there’s going to be third-category device, it’ll have to be better at these tasks or else it has no reason for being."

So step by step.

1) Browsing web. Without flash support it makes it no better. I have better browsing device. It is called blank sheet of paper. You can multitouch, bend it (which iPad doesn't have). It has handwriting features. It just doesn't support the internet connection. But it is much better browsing device.

2) Photos. Without any memory cards slots it is not that great. As it is apple-locked-decive there is no third party application that you can use to work on pictures. Download from camera? Forget it (no usb support, no memory cards). No build camera - not big issue for me - but it kind of sucks in the whole photo department. Apart from being picture frame.

3) Video. It might be the best feature iPad has so far. However 768 lines is not yet true HD. But it is close enough to enjoy high quality movie. But... No widescreen. If it would accept matroska (.mkv) files with subtitle support then it would be on par with laptops. But what are chances of that?

4) Enjoying music collection. The iPad can be great for enjoying album covers of your music collection. Other than this I can't imagine having it in my pocket as replacement for mp3 player. And if connected to speakers then iPad loses with dedicated devices or laptop computer.

5) Playing games. There are some nice games for the iPhone. But they are just for wasting time at the airport. No serious gamer would use it for everyday gaming.

6) Reading the eBooks. Turning pages with your finger and color display are nice but are nice-to-have features. The main problem is LCD display. It is not as eye-friendly as e-ink devices. And the higher resolution the better reading experience. So if I have to use LCD display instead dedicated electronic book then as well I can use laptop. Nice try, but no cigar.

7) e-mail: not mentioned in his list of uses for third category device. However lack of keyboard support for some of the languages makes iPad inferior to simplest netbooks.

So now lets look at the words of S.Jobs again:

"If there’s going to be third-category device, it’ll have to be better at these tasks or else it has no reason for being."

Conclusion: the iPad has no reason for being.

I was holding out until Apple released their tablet, just in case it was the killer product Apple are capable of making... it wasn't. My current thinking is to get a Touch Book instead http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/ - proper (detachable!) keyboard, proper os, plenty of USB ports...

Here's MadTV's preemptive strike on this new iTampon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs

Well, the iPad isn't what I (and most of the world) hoped it would be. Where it does compete is in the eBook Reader market. eBook readers based on eInk are still really expensive: $450 upward for the size of screen the iPad has. The iPad doesn't cut it for avid readers but for the occasional reader it does offer a great alternative at an acceptable price-point. (netbooks don't read easily while on your back...).

FIC's AquaPad, NINE years ago. Does all the same stuff! Just because this new iPad has the bacteria from the kiss of the holy Jobs on it doesn't mean that his company has actually innovated here.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=958

To make the accusations of intellectual theft worse, Mapple's already in a legal spat over the name with Fujitsu of Japan and STMicroelectronics who already own the trademark to it!

I really like the idea of a tablet based media/entertainment device, however the 4:3 aspect ratio, lack of Flash support and lack of media and usb ports doesn't make sense.

Look at the MSI ebook reader.All apple did was copy the Nvidia Tegra. Nice, but pricey and then look at all of the add ons. Its all about Money for apple. In another 3 years. Apple will be the new Microsoft.

As a device being sold as an alternative to ebook readers, the lack of a screen that can be used outside on anything brighter than an overcast day kills the entire concept. The Notion Ink with Tegra 2 and a Pixel Qi display runs rings around this bloody paperweight.

The Citrix Receiver app would fix some of the multitasking issues, but would require a server to login to.

Other then that, yeah, Jesus Pad is a piece of shite.

It wouldn't be BAD in a College/University environment... download your textbooks to your iPad and carry that instead of 30 pounds of books... if only it could MULTITASK so the user could take notes AND read their textbook at the same time....

Without that it's rubbish.

The iPad is just a Maxi-iPod. So big it won't fit in my pants, so not of much use to me.

...Oh yeah, I forgot to add. I can apparently sit for a month on standby!

Thank f**k for that! That's exactly what I buy devices for. To leave them on standy for as long as possible.

Thank god, I thought it was just me. I see all the rational people agree that it is a pointless product with no market gap to fill.

As soon as i saw the picture of it in the papers this morning I thought WTF?

You might as well get a laptop or netbook, at least they fold up and protect the screen. The iPod Touch is a fantastic bit of kit in the fact that it has great functionality in the palm of your hand and you can stick it in your pocket. This is basically a bigger version with no more memory or functionality that just doesn't even look practical. Do you have to hold it directly in front of your face to use it? Sit directly over it whilst it lays on a table? Use an Easel? At least with a netbook you can sit it on pretty much any surface and aim the screen towards you.

Absolutely pointless device. It's a couple of months until April 1st so what's the excuse?

I'm holding out for ASUS I have an origonal eee pc wich I use frequently, I prefer to choose an operating system than be tied and the ability to use my existing 3G dongle unavailable. No USB from what I have heard. Nice to look at but way way overpriced. Apple seem to succeed in many areas, but there is alot of competion brewing... not enough of anything really..

Even if you did not use this device for the exclusive viewing and "experiencing" of porn (but no flash, remember!), you could still go blind trying to read actual text e-books on the backlit laptop display.

Just stop it, or you'll go blind...(and all the Apple-fanaticism in the world will not protect your eyes).

(Thanks Steve Jobs for producing a target of ridicule and reappearing on stage just to fall flat on your...).

.
mr. wilson, that pet sounds album was everything that sargeant pepper's tried to be...
.

I thought that this was actually and ARM cpu/gpu combination... with a bit of brand-label engineering.

First, the IPad clearly isn't for Inquirer readers. I'd prefer something else, but my Mom wants one for her 72nd birthday... And I'm going to buy it. Apple makes things that even a 72 year old can figure out.

Also, I hear the next version will have WiMax support and be called the MaxiPad. (and please don't make any comments about my mother after that one)

If you compare it to other Mac gear, this fills a need: a significant improvement over the iPhone/Touch in terms of reading large documents and has a more reasonably sized virtual keyboard, as well as a more powerful processor. And it's considerably cheaper than a Mac laptop. That being said... Compared to the mountains of other gear out there that is non-Mac, this thing is sort of in-between being useful. It's not powerful enough and doesn't have stylus support so it doesn't work as a tablet, and it is more awkwardly sized and expensive than a netbook, but it's not a smartphone. And it doesn't have USB or video-out. Or flash. Or support for full-sized versions of productivity software. So for mac-monogamists, this is a welcome addition to their collection of electronics, as it splits the difference between devices. For everyone else, it's worse than redundant.

Well i can see the ipad having more Application specifically designed to take advantage of it.

Netbooks now yes they do more than the ipad but the screen is of poorer quality name me one netbook with a IPS-LED screen?

Ant part from web surfing and E-mail what else are netbooks good for? can you run adobe creative suite on it and get good performance?

Can you look at Ebooks or interactive magazines on a netbook? typing on a netbook is crap cramped keyboard and the netbooks are so chunky

of the Newton. Pretty cool for something that costs about 1/4 as much, but way overpriced.

Of course, I didn't see the original iPhone as being all that cool. It wasn't until the 3GS came out that I got one (my first bit of Apple kit.)

Now if they had made this thing work like a wireless Cintiq for Macs that had its own processor as well, I could see the use of the thing (in certain circles), but that doesn't seem to be the case. Too bad.

The iPad + keyboard dock = perfect device for the older and/or technophobic masses.

Web browsing, emailing, writing the odd newsletter, sorting out photos. And it's also a digital photo frame. And you can take it off the dock and read books and magazines on it. And, whatever you're interested in, there are probably quite a few apps you can get for it.

I really don't buy the idea that you can't read on an LCD - I have read many books on my iPhone, for heaven's sake. Good reading apps knock the page brightness down and use a slightly grey font.

And I've been browsing for years with ClickToFlash on my Macs, and I rarely have to activate a Flash box - and am spared the crap that is auto-spewed out by it.

Like the original iPhone, this is not for power-user, bleeding-edge, Linux-hugging geeks. It's for the people who wouldn't normally use a computer without feeling a bit nervous. Like your Mum, for instance?

What you are asking for is a Laptop I have a great Idea for you buy a Laptop.

Let's see, I don't have to spend hours reading PDF's at my desk? It kills every e-book reader on or coming to market? I can play music, browse the Internet and play iTouch games? It's almost letter size so I don't have to scroll around a page to read an article, book or magazine? Sold.
I was really looking forward to the Plastic Logic unit, but this beats it in every way.

happy with the price. they are charging $250 - $300 premium against the touch . looks justified. I always wanted to buy a giant touch. waiting for prices to come down or equivalent product from dell/hp/lenovo/acer/asus/nokia/google

p.s.: extremely happy that product is actually out. so no more apple tablet rumours. was really getting sick of the hype :-))

I think Apple is going after a niche market. As we all know Apple users will buy anything. So Jobs has decided to compete in the picture frame market.A 1g cpu should have no problem rendering your most cherished pictures.Still have the bragging right as the most expensive.:)

I think there's a place, someday, for a tablet thing that takes the place of all those one-off tablet 'data terminals' that are companies such as FedEx, big supermarkets, factories or any thing resembling a warehouse, possibly a hospital where nurses and doctors can have the patient's info right in their hand and can enter info about what they did to the patient live. But for something like that, there would need to be a slot to put a barcode scanner in, right? Every hand-held data terminal I know of has a bar code reader.

So that leaves us with the Apple thing as just another Chinese media gadget. I'm not surprised Adobe can't do a Flash plugin for Apple's new CPU. Adobe's toolchain is so bad, they can't even make a 64-bit Flash for either Windows or OS X. Same for their expensive commercial apps. So simply recompiling Flash for Apple's iPad is not an option.

I guess if I had cash to waste, I could read my email with it while lying on the couch or taking a bath.

This could have been somewhat useful if they had bothered to include any of the features mentioned but

no USB (come on!!!)
no Flash
no widescreen
no Tegra
no multi-tasking
no keyboard
no proper OS
no 3G (im not paying an extra $130 for something that cost $2 to make)
no phone capabilities
no proper office software
no(thing) left in my bank account

all in all, a monumental failure from the world's most over-hyped company.

This iPad is nothing that I expected it to be, nor anything that I want. This is nothing but a bigger iPhone, without the phone, and a few more features. No multitasking, nothing. Their video on their website states that this is next big thing but I don't get it at all.

I was looking forward to something that would take the place of legal pads. Use a stylus, hand writing recognition, flip through pages using the stylus or touch, along with all of the multimedia, wifi, etc. And multitasking (is their OS in the stone age?). I want to draw on it, write on it, do something productive other than just look at pictures or whatever else the iPad is supposed to do. Is it okay that I want to do something OTHER than be on the stupid Internet? iPad = iNot. Sorry, Apple blew it on this. All hype and no substance.

Ok... I am an HUGE Apple fan of old (going back to aple II....)... my house is full of their gear... however.... this device is basically a load of shite.... its a glorified itouch... and its the best thing Steve has ever been involved with.. apparenly..

it's the iProduct

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gif

First Looking At $850 for mere 64 Gb (BIG G) & 3G. NO 4G Available, AS Kind of Fluked Out In Software. Plus Apps, $9.99 Each. then iTunes,iVideos & Inevitable iCann't Afford IT.

Its' Mere $125 Month, Yet NO ONE Knows if Skype will Play, Expensive DVD Player, Yet Cool. Keeping Microwaves Out of purchasers' Brain, though Speaker Phone ?Cell be AS good. Image Is GREAT & When Cell & Tab Unite, LOOK OUT. Checking On Paul While speaking To Mike & Seeing rudie Bar & Swill, Yummmm.

iPad Is GrandFather & Soon More Perfected Models will So, Right now its 90 Day Wait For iPad, ohm iPad, My Little TV, How Can We Live Apart.HUG AN iPad, ToDay.

Signed;GRINCHE.

What's the point of it?

Why didn't apple just make a proper netbook? Unlike e-readers this thing will be awkward on the eyes and unlike e-readers - use way more power.
As a netbook it's grossly underpowered and unsupported plus i can get a netbook for £240.
Is it also a phone? If so, it's too big. I'm just confused because it is such a redundant piece of kit.
It WILL only be apple afficiandos and those with more money than sense that will be tempted.
If you're an apple fan you'll have an i-phone already, so i think the logical notion would be, buy an0-reader or a netbook and save yourself some money.

The iPad is nothing more than a giant iPod Touch. It lacks far too many features that Netbooks that cost half as much, already have. I don't see it being the must have items that a hand full of fanbois believe it will be. Apple dropped the ball this time. Anyone who already has an iPhone won't need an iPad.

I don't remember the 'industry reaction' to the DS being anything like what you suggest. Maybe in the dev stages sure, but when it was released it came with Mario64 a full 3D game which couldn't be done by any other handheld out there at the time.

The ipad on the other hand, can claim no such thing. What can the ipad do what other things already released can't already do?

A bad analogy.

I am reminded by the hardcore industry reaction to the DS. I like many others saw it as a useless underpowered thing when compared to the PS portable. Look how that turned out.

The reality is that it is suffient for the job it does. Combined with ease if use, a huge existing cheap software library, and the fact that apple does UI better then anyone else and I think it will do just fine vs netbooks for the ordinary consumer. And if you are worried that it cant take a linux install that that is what you arn't

If two women own an ipad, will they automatically sync?

This is clearly a toy and not a tool.

I agree with your assessment, Brian. The biggest let-down for me was that this cannot even be used as an e-book reader...at least not for any length of time. The back-lit LCD will be as hard on the eyes as trying to read an entire book on your computer monitor. I can see the class-action lawsuits from blinded Apple-users on the horizon. So that use is also out (at least, for people who want to retain their vision). I do not see why they didn't put a decent reflective-mode display on this thing.

The general locked-down Apple-thing also bothers me: you are locked into iTunes, locked-in battery, locked into a specific wireless provider due to the non-standard microSIM card, locked into whatever non-expandable storage you purchased with the unit, no USB sticks can help out here, as there is no USB port. You are also locked into using a non-customizable, iPhone OS.

I think that Apple is going to be stuck with a bunch of these in their warehouses for quite some time.

Yep, agree. Don't know why they bothered to release in this condition. Useless for the kids - all the good web games are flash-based. Useless for most work without a keyboard - at which point you've got a laptop. Doesn't even replace a netbook, which makes it a bulky and expensive extra toy to carry around. The media deals are underwhelming - we expected something more compelling for newspapers.

The iPad is an astounding feat of imagination.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/ipad-exclusive-photo/