No, you're dead-on. It's all those things, and others. People who look solely at hardware specs or "feature checklists" are among the world's biggest point-missers.
It's a lot of little things working in Apple's favor, many (most?) of which can't be replicated by the competition (at least not overnight), and can't be replaced with hype and sloganeering.
And it can't be as easy as it looks, otherwise, after two years (five if you count the iPhone) surely the others would have their versions of it well in place.
Apple, over the course of a decade, built these pieces slow and small...portable devices with good battery life that are very easy to use, a store that is easy to navigate and buy from, top-notch in-house web browser and mail client, embracing/promoting the whole "digital lifestyle" thing (photos, video and music) well before we took all those things for granted, making these devices easily connect and sync to our computers, etc.
It wasn't as though Steve just walked on stage two years ago and said "here's the iPad", along with all the other stuff mentioned above. The iPad was built on all that.. a solid, decade-long foundation of software, syncing, ease-of-use, strong connection between the hardware and software, proven online music and app stores and the rest.
All under one roof.
As with the computer side of things, I believe that is Apple's true strength and their ace-in-the-hole that others can't easily copy or adapt. When you've got several different companies making the hardware, the OS, key software, etc., there's no way in hell it's going to be as simple, streamlined and hassle-free. It just can't, I don't care what the geeks, tinkerers and "open" crowd all say...they don't - never have, and never will - represent the wishes and desires of the regular "just give me something that works" consumers.
I know a lot of iPad (and iOS in general) owners/users, and not a single one has ever bent my ear about "openness" or Apple's "oppressive walled garden" and all that. Real people couldn't care less...they know what works, and what isn't a pain-in-the-ass to own.
"Oppressive" is buying a supposed cutting-edge piece of tech and, for reasons completely stupid and beyond your control, you're not able to update its OS in any sort of easy, reliable fashion. You get your Mango Swirl OS pre-loaded, and six months later you can't update to Nectarine Cobbler or whatever the hell it'll be called because of reasons nobody can ever make clear to you...
It really is that simple, when you strip everything away.
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