Originally Posted by
GadgetFreak
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B367 Safari/531.21.10)
Well, this is simply untrue. For me it is much better for browsing or watching movies than a notebook. It is enormously useful as a reader. Im not tailoring my reading to that unless you want to call reading more because it is easier tailoring to the device. So I'm a sucker because I no longer have to carry a bunch of Pdfs with me in order to read when I travel? Whatever.
I have no doubt that some will find the iPad to be a thoroughly useful and complimentary device, I never suggested that the iPad didn't have a couple of legitimate uses, not at all. But is this true for "millions" of people, I doubt it.
But if for example the iPad is for someone really just a sexed-up Kindle, or PSP, or P-DVD player then IMO there really isn't anything all that revolutionary about it, save for the price.
Having used a friend's iPad a bit recently I will say that the first of the big deal killers is having to hold the damn thing. Unless one is seated at a desk it is beyond annoying trying to hold the thing up in order to use it, a problem my friend discovered early on in his ownership and has tried to ameliorate [not solve] with a $70 leather iPad case with a kick stand that works only slightly better than manipulating the device by itself.
All told he has invested darn close to $1000 on his iPad WiFi, cases, dongles, etc. which just strikes me as odd when there are any number of laptops/netbooks out there of similar size, weight, battery life, and screen size/resolution that can do significantly more than can the iPad and that also come with an articulating screen that can be used comfortably in far more situations.
Just my observations, YMMV.