It's an information appliance, a device for consuming content, aimed at people who don't really need to author new content and who don't need or want "a computer". Think of it as a portable TV - TV in the sense of a universal display device. eBooks, videos, maps, web-surfing, games, You-Tube, photos, that kind of thing. It runs iPhone apps so it's really very versatile.

It's simplicity is part of its virtue. Not having multi-tasking is a feature, not a bug, for the intended market. Likewise many of the other restrictions. Some of the other restrictions are due to it being version 1; like the early iPhones were restricted, and it's taken a few iterations to get to the power it has today.

Even today it delivers a compelling user experience. A lot of the anti-Apple crowd underestimate the importance of that kind of design. It's not just cosmetic.

It's more like an iPhone than a netbook. From that perspective, the problem it solves is the iPhone's tiny screen. Until we get fold-out screens, any pocket device will be too small for really comfortable browser, reading, video-watching etc. It's not for everyone, and if you use a keyboard a lot then a netbook will be fine for you. However, there are a lot of people who don't need a netbook but do want a better screen than a smart phone.

Back in the '70s we thought by now we'd all be living on the moon and have personal jet-packs. We also thought we'd have tablets like the iPad. Apple are building (or aiming to build) the kind of information appliance you see casually used in SF shows like Avatar or Star Trek.

The smartphone, pc, laptop, netbook markets are all mature and saturated so the only way they could sell a new product is to invent a new market.
Its pretty wasteful, you have a device that can't replace any others so you have one more device to buy every few years, keep charged, etc. My netbook replaced a laptop so it was a good buy, my laptop replaced a desktop so it was a good deal too. With this its just another mouth to feed.

Online applications like google documents has also helped changed the need to have authoring software on your hard drive.

I'm not saying your wrong. What you say makes a lot of sense.

I really don't have a dog in the fight. I'm not a heavy tech/media/messaging user. As of a couple years ago I didn't have a cell phone and still use a cell phone only as a phone. I have never even sent a IM and check the e-mail once a month or so. I have friends that seemingly IM every thirty seconds, are always on the phone, and are never more than a foot or two away from some sort of computer/messaging/media input.

But a whole lot of people love, desire, the benefits of computers but want to avoid interacting with the PC.

http://immlass.livejournal.com/678199.html

Why pay $500-850 for a device with such limited capabilities? I have a netbook that will do nearly anything a PC can do and it was $279. It has things like USB, a keyboard, a faster processor, 2GB of RAM and it will run common applications like Word without limitations.

I think the iPad should have been named the Newton II after Apple's earlier failed tablet device. IPad=DuD.

It might be different if they had put the full OSX on it, limiting it to being an overgrown ipod. I never saw any value in an ipod anyway since everything else can do all the same functions, including pdas/phones. Doesn't make much sense to carry a devices dedicated to music when it doesn't do anything better than any phone that plays music either. Its more about the status symbol now, the people who lust after apple products seem to be the ones that fall for the beanie babies or the latest ifad.

There just has to be an Apple iTunes/iPad App that just gives you a flashing DOS or UNIX command prompt even if you reboot the device after first running the App. If there isn't then I think i'll write one. And the only way to get out of the App would be to type c:\>del *.*

Oh I forgot - no keyboard. What a shame.

You won't find that kind of app from apples store, would have to root it to get a real command prompt. I remember around y2k getting the serial adapter for my windows ce 2.1 and using it to setup cisco routers using a simple terminal program.

The unfortunate thing about apple's products is they set the bar of the industry so newer releases of other products loose features because the apple's products don't have those features. Windows CE/Windows mobile lost a lot of the actual pim features over the years and it seems the newer palm doesn't have near the abilities as some of the old. Thats why I've switched over to open source because you at least have some hope of getting missing features implemented.