Those are your words not mine, don't put your words in my mouth.

I have nothing against Apple other than their quasi totalitarian business practices [see handicapped woman who was not allowed to purchase an iPad because she only had cash, no credit card] just as I have nothing against Sony save their rotten customer service, etc.

I currently have and have had several Apple products over the years.

My observations here concern the iPad specifically and what I see as humorous rhetorical gymnastics to try and defend, for many, not all, the purchase of a product that was for the most part designed and created to [a] look cool and create consumerist desire for an object [which is fine, nothing new here] and [b] spur increased sales from the iTunes store.

As I have said, all of that is cool, I just get a chuckle out of those [not restricted only to or targeted specifically to anyone here] who try and suggest that, in the broad strokes, the iPad uniquely solves any sort of real problem or just generally makes life more worth living...

[shrug][/shrug]