OK, 2 years on and I feel that you might just need to eat your words calling the iPad a 'hunk of junk' and there truly are no decent competitors as yet. I too thought there might have been a flurry of competitors but the nasty plastic 'droid tablets are unspeakably horrible to use in comparison.

It's fun to read people slating and then sticking up for consumer products like religions....

If you stop looking at Apple products as computing tools, and instead think of them as fashion accessories, Apple is super smart and absolutely doing all the right things.

No real computing company would expect you to give up your device and wait 1 week (longer in my experience) to replace something that everyone knew was going to wear out anyway. Unless of course the device is not really critical to anything anyway other than your ego.

And just like all the other fashion industries, Apple is helping to screw up the environment faster by designing and pushing transient stuff.

1) They want you to return only "good condition" Ipads.

2) What do you think you will get in return...yes, a "good condition" (not new) Ipad (as that model will not be in production anymore).

And "good condition" may be a relative term. If you kept your Ipad in great condition, you would not necessarily get a great condition unit in return.

All this just so Jobs can milk more money out of you, instead of you being able to pick up an after-market battery for $30. Think I will pass on this silly game myself, and get an actual computing device instead.

Dick customers around, make them pay for the priviledge and convince them to be grateful for the experience.

The old elitism marketing ploy and you fell for it...

Yah...

Good luck with that...

Wake up and smell the roses! Of the major manufacturers, only Apple make it very difficult to replace the battery. Anyone who thinks that $99 is a reasonable price for a poxy small replacement battery is delusional. And anyone who thinks it reasonable that Apple will change the battery only if the device has been looked after according to Apple's wishes, not the owner's, is clearly off their rocker.

Don't bother reading Nick's articles if you want to see a factual statement of what Apple will or will not do.

Apple have a habit of replacing or refurbishing the cases of iPhones sent in for replacement batteries. If the iPad works, doesn't show signs of physical damage (rather than day to day wear) and hasn't been exposed to water they're unlikely to reject it.

Do you read the articles before you just sound off at Nick or just the headline? If you read it you would discover that the great iCon wants only good condition IPads. It will not replace old scratched ones.
The only reason for this can only be that the battery will be replaced and the IPad will be sold on. Or Apple will just release instructions that they have to be mint copies or they will not be replaced.
So rather than being wonderful Apple are even worse than Microsoft -- and that is saying something. It would not kill them to create a tablet that lets you change the battery.

You are totally clueless and biased as usual Nick. The way it works is Apple re-cycle the innards and give you a new case and battery.

It means they don't have to spend money and time being as careful when opening the cases. It is also a great deal for the consumer as you get effectively a brand new shiny unit for your scratched old one.

Now of course they have to protect themselves with a clause. Otherwise people would be sending in cracked and heavily dented units and trying to use this as a free repair service.

I replaced my laptop battery from dell and it cost like 150 bux, so i mean you are already having to buy a replacement battery, maybe they are just worth $99 bux and the work they do is for free...

When I had a problem with my iPhone's home button not responding properly, the 'genius' at the Apple store said he could tell my iphone had been immersed in water thanks to a tiny, secret little tell-tale thing in the headphone socket that turns red in the presence of water.

It hadn't, I'm pretty sure, although it's hard to know if a drop fell in it if I was ever speaking on the phone in the rain, or if I was sweating. But the upshot was they refuse to honour the guarantee and wanted £133 for fixing the home button.

I wonder if there's something secret in the iPad that will similarly allow Apple to get out of their guarantee?

Apple stuff looks great for the first 5 mins after you get out of the store, sure.