[Chinney]

Originally Posted by Wrao So... basically, this device is a toy. It is not designed for doing work or being productive [...]

Originally Posted by Luca 100% agree with you! I was thinking of throwing in a couple sentences in my post about how you can't really do any work on it, as opposed to a netbook, but I wasn't sure how to say it. [...]

Originally Posted by Argento I don't get this at all. It doesn't seem practical for 99% the population. Do any of you know people who would look at this and say "that's what I need?" I agree [...] this is a big (and pretty worthless) toy. I could maybe see some universities buying these for people to give lectures with when they're pretty mobile but even that seems like a stretch. Plus, if you have an iPhone (or any smart phone) and already pay out the ass for your data plan would you really want to tack on another 30 bucks a month for unlimited data?

The main criticism I have seen so far is the one above: that the iPad is not really a productivity tool. It fits uncomfortably between an iPhone/BlackBerry, on one hand, and a computer on the other. Smartphones are productivity tools because they allow you to keep in contact with the office/school, read and send e-mails, even read Word documents (if you have to), all the while you easily carry it on the go. And computers are obviously productivity tools. But the iPad is too big to be the sort of thing a person-on the-go carries around for business or other practical reasons (why would you, if the smartphone can already do so much?) and is not capable enough for any real computer functions (you would probably not want to type out a long memo on it, if you could avoid it). The criticism is that this is "mostly just a media device".

I think that this criticism is partly true, but misses the point. Media plays a big role in our lives, and there may well be a market - a big market - for a media device just like this. Also, I think that the criticism fundamentally underestimates just where this device could go, including more into productivity (I think that a fair assessment recognizes that it already has some productivity ability). The iPhone has gone into all sorts of weird and wonderful directions that maybe even Apple themselves did not expect once they opened it up to external App development. It revolutionized what the smart-phone could do (even for non-Apple smartphones that came after). Further software (and hardware) developments have and will continue to solidify that effect. The same thing may happen with the iPad. As was pointed out in some of the discussion leading to the iPad release, most of our personal computers soon could look more like the iPad (in a future advanced version), than our current desktops and laptops.

Personally, I think that the chances of this device not suceeding - and in a big way - are pretty low. My guess is that Apple has hit another home run.