My buddy Task pretty much nailed it for me! -

"OK, I changed my mind.. I don't want it...

whacksauce...Apple... whacksauce...

I don't even know where to start, this thing is the touchscreen computer I been waiting for but runs on a phone os...

This device might be perfect for me, If i was under twelve or over fifty.

Is this our future ? Dumbed downed versions of programs called apps ? How awesome would it be to dip your fingers into a color palette and paint in photoshop? Instead, I got some app called brushes. Am I supposed to be happy cause it actually has multiple layer options? Where is the desktop and folders ? The abilties to run a real program?

only syncing ? can I plug monitors into this thing ? can I use it like a big remote control for my itunes ? Or, as a wireless keyboard for my mac pro ?

Why is there no camera on this thing ?
Why no mobile video chat from the #1 mobile company in the world? Not even on the iphone? Why are we like 5 years behind the japanese with video cellphones ? We should be on mobile video multichat by now. I can look at all my beautiful pictures on my ipad but I can't take one ?

Now i have to admit the gaming and the google street view looks like it will be somewhat awesome, and, could possibly be the world's best new GPS/navigation device. But, games built for an ipod instead of some real graphics ? I think you could of done a little better then that. This thing is more of a toy and media player rather then a tool

and why are you so sleeping on letting us use the apple tv as a gaming system? There is all ready a contract with EA sports ...a bunch of games for mac available through your istores, Bluetooth capabilities for wireless controllers, Or, Maybe an app that turns your iphone or ipod touch into a touch screen bluetooth game controller, and, what appears to be a stronger os then your ipad. Playstation was the greatest selling product in sony history. Xbox is one of the strongest legs of the microsoft empire. You have no desire to step in that arena ? Your gonna focus on ipod touch games? Really ?

then i almost forgot what for me is probably the biggest kick in the ass...the fact that there is still no flash support, so I can not even look at my own site on the ipad.

So, This is all you have for us this year ? No monitor redesigns? why are you almost two years behind dell and hp in touchscreen monitors ? What about some bigger monitors or hdtv's ? it's been more then a year since you dropped computer from your name. Maybe touchscreen hdtv's. Maybe with a little appletv built right in that bad boy.

Can I leave att who has been raping me since I got a iphone plan ?

Nothing on this itunes subscription service we have been hearing so much about ?

No new iphone OS update ?

I really don't know what to say Apple...sooo much potential...and such misdirected focus. If you guys ever wanna talk I am right here for you... you won't ever have to pay me a cent. I am just down to get this advancement thing on the road. After all how many years do we all have left to wait for these things ? "

uh, didn't your friend agree to an iphone plan when he got the device? I don't see how that constitutes being raped by at&t. if it's too expensive, don't get one.

I don't understand people who complain about situations like this. It's called a budget, stick to it.

more room for toys

I don't hate this thing, but it barely makes sense to me. I understand the idea of a net device. And this is a nice version of that. But the fact you can't install your own software (must come from Apple store) and that it doesn't have a normal CPU is annoying. Say what you will about netbooks, but netbook hackers have put a FULL OS X INSTALL on a netbook. And those machines work great! So I don't buy this.

The book/publishing stuff was interesting for my dayjob. But it still looks weird. I can't stand page flipping animations that make it seem like the digital page is paper. C'mon, that's retarded. And the bookshelf idea is nice, but similarly retarded. Why is it on fake wood shelf? You don't have fake CD racks or LP racks for iTunes, why do this? I mean coverflow is a visual way of browsing covers on a new device. A wooden bookcase is kind of patronizing.

I will say this: The fact they got AT&T to do month-by-month plans is great. Now let's force that paradigm down the whole cell phone industry. These dinks rake in the cash and charge 20-45 cents for text messages when they technically cost barely anything to send. They have a virtual monopoly and service sucks.

So this whole thing is meh...

But will say this part II: Now owning something called an "iPod Touch" seems less awkward. Thanks branding geniuses! iPad? iCan't.

"Honey, I Blew Up The iPhone!"

I lurve my iPod touch, a $200 device, but I couldn't see paying $300 more for a scaled-up version of one. At that that price point, I don't want a deluxe appliance, I'm expecting a computer.

That said, of course if I had money to burn I'd get one. Using the Kindle app on a big-ass screen like that is probably pretty sweet, but then again if I had money to burn I'd get myself a Kindle, too. ;p

(Of course, I'm presuming that Apple will let the Kindle app run on the iPad since they seem to be getting into the ebook biz themselves with that iBooks app.)

I like that keyboard dock.

I wasn't going to edit his post.

But AT&T is as shady as you can get and I worked for them for 15 yrs plus.
We had great cell service at our house. Little did I know it wasn't their towers providing the service.
We got a VM saying it was time for "free hardware upgrade". Cool free phone! They then switched to their own network w/ out explaining. No service! Zip, nadda, siltch. They put us through MONTHS and MONTHS of billing and sending us back to were we got the phones. Spending a full Sat every other wk at the store. They made all kinds of service up grade promises, when they weren't blaming us for the problems! And despite spending hrs on the phone w/ the rudest call centers they wouldn't let us out of the contract - so collection agencies etc. It wasn't until I called a friend that still worked there that I learned what they had done. Their service in the Bay Area comes and goes at best. And from what I understand NY is considerably worse.

And you really think it's just "budget" issues!?! You're right you don't understand.

Never buy a first generation Apple anything......that is my sage advice for today. Wait till it's half the cost and 10 times the power the very next year.

wise words. let the geeks work the bugs out and let apple fix the issues first.

This is for casual users and people who don't want the hassle of a netbook or laptop. Yuppie kids will want one for long car trips. I can see it being passed around among family members. Perfect for the parent you don't want to spend time doing tech support over the phone. You would look like an idiot carrying one around the city in a belt thing.

If you want to write your novel, get a laptop even though this will have word processing capabilities.

Will multitask itunes music and say web browsing. Probably more in the future with OS upgrades.

Lack of Flash is an issue, but Apple has such a strong position, it may force companies to write apps (similar to the youtube app) to display Flash video until HTML5 gains acceptance.

They have an excuse to rename and rebrand it as Fujitsu is laying claim to the trademark name.

I think this is another small step in moving towards the world of Minority Report (a questionable Tom Cruise film) where gestures will replace the mouse and display screens will continue to flatten to the point where its flat media that can be rolled up like a magazine.

Having said all that, I'm almost a complete luddite. I have a six year old G4 laptop with no internet connection at home. I don't own a phone. This device is somewhat interesting to me, but not enough to buy one just yet and I never do first generation.

Pricing, to put it in perspective, the retail price of the iPhone 8GB dropped ~83% in 3 years from $599 to $99.

Reminds me of when the IBM PC was released and people were confused as to what it offered. Then along came Mitch Kapor and Lotus 1-2-3. I imagine a similar killer app will emerge for this.

I just checked Apple's iPad page. The _entry level_ one is $500, and the other models with more storage and 3G capabilities cost much, much more. As a point of comparison, there are Thinkpads that start at $499, and Ideapads that start at $330. This could be a huge blunder on Apple's part. We'll see.

apples and oranges.

do you really think the person who is going to buy an ipad is going to stop and wonder "hmmm...maybe I should get a Lenovo instead?".

And yet we all don't drive Yugos (or whatever the cheap car is today), do we?

I completely understand the concept of simplicity, but I still content that the limited CPU and hardware is a real head scratcher. Look at the "Apple TV"; it's basically a very slimmed down Mac that can even have OS X installed on it yet has a media center software package as it's main "OS". Heck, look at your Mac now. If you are running OS X, just click [command] + [escape], wait a second and look what pops up... Front Row! Suddenly your desktop machine is a simple media center.

So my argument is yes, a simple UI is very nice. But I predict that the next generations of the iPad will move to an Intel Atom based CPU and real OS X using an iPhone/Touch/iPad-like interface. It's all technically feasible. And frankly using mass produced Intel CPUs instead of creating new oddball RISC CPUs like what Apple did here will be cheaper.

If you think of this as 1.0 version of an Apple product, just think about how limited the original iPod was compared to even the myriad of iPods out now.

Oh, you unrepentant punster.Depends on who the person is and what they want. If they want an actual computer, the iPad is going to disappoint them. If they want an internet appliance with multimedia capabilities, it seems to fit the bill exceedingly well.

Some of the cheapest cars have been the biggest sellers in the past couple of years due to the gas crisis and peoples' shrinking wallets.

I don't know if that's a good analogy, though, because I can't come up with of a non-automobile alternative for getting two to four people and cargo across a span of hundreds of miles in a matter of hours.

Or maybe it does fit. If a notebook/netbook computer is a sport utility vehicle that can drive on any road, carry a huge chunk of your stuff, and be modified any way you want, then the iPad is a hatchback that only drives on highways instead of local roads, and you can't add any aftermarket parts to it. And the truck costs $13,300, and the hatchback starts at $15,000.

Someone polish this up for me. ;p

Also, lots of discussion regarding this on Slashdot:

http://apple.slashdot.org/

More techies freaking out or justifying what they have:

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/01/29/get ... m-not-you/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/27/ipad/

Thanks for the PM atease! You're a stand up cat.
I have a hard time keeping my Apple product envy in check!

I guess what it boils down to is that if you want to create (write books, make art or music, create programs), then you need an actual computer and the iPad won't cut the mustard.

If you want to consume/communicate (read web sites, email, listen to music, download TV shows, play games), then the iPad is probably going to be a really spiffy way to do it.

And who knows where things are going, perhaps in another ten years we'll have more people who are interested in the latter than the former. It does bring us closer to that Star Trek future we were promised, fer shure.

I plan to buy one the day it comes out.

My director is going to have the hospital buy him one with an add-on video camera so he can do remote bedside visits. Before anyone bemoans this as another health care short-cut, he's one of the most highly regarded stroke specialists in the country. This will allow him to aid patients taken to hospitals that don't have the personnel to diagnose/treat stroke. Should greatly increase the ability to treat rural patients. Pretty cool way to use a piece of new technology if you ask me.

ANOTHER HEALTH CARE SHORT-CUT!Oh. Sounds like a good idea, then, but will that camera hookup do live video, or is that not important for his plan?

Both doc and patient will have a live video monitor in front of them so doc can see and communicate directly with patient. This will allow doc to perform assessments to determine course of treatment and whether patient should be transported to our hospital for treatment.

Yeah, but has it been announced that the iPad is capable of doing that? I can't watch the demo videos at work but the specs on the pages don't seem to indicate that it can.

You can already do something like that now with a notebook/camera setup using Skype.