Okay, so this is what I'm confused about.
Why does everyone think this is a gadget for us? If you're reading this, you're a geek. Okay, that might not be entirely fair, but it's pretty likely. It seems to me, if you wanted to create a truly beautiful geek tablet, it would be more open, come with a more hackable interface, and you could do more things with it: say, multitask.
Okay, so they didn't include any of those sexy geek features. So what is it? It's a device for every day, Joe Blow consumers. I showed this to one of my friends in IT and he said "Huh, that's interesting." I showed this to my boss and he freaked out. He thought this was the coolest thing ever. It does basically everything he's ever used his laptop for, and it's tinier and cheaper. This is a device for him.
Think about it this way. What does your mother (or grandmother, or whatever. Think "non-tech" relative here) need in a computer? She needs to check her e-mail, maybe send an e-card or two to some friends via a web browser. She'll check out the latest news when something big happens on CNN.com. She'll want to be able to collect some pictures of her kids and grandkids, and maybe share them with some friends over coffee. She'll want to be able to read a book while sitting in a waiting room, and maybe even listen to some music. Once in a while, she might even download a movie to pass the time on a long flight.
If you outlined what my mother does with technology, this is basically it. Nothing more, nothing less. She's not a complete idiot user or someone who hates computers, she's just more interested in doing analog things most of the time. When you look at it from her perspective, this is a great device. It can do everything she needs, and replace the big iMac I got her that really just eats up space on it's massive desk. More computer than the iPad is really just wasteful for some people.
On the flip side, I think this will be a fantastic device for me. I actually plan on ditching my iPhone and replacing it with an iPad. I'll be moving to a month-to-month cell provder and get myself a crappy dumbphone, which isn't a big deal, since I don't really talk or text much anyway. That should save me about $60 a month on my wireless bill. Next, I'll get my iPad and load it up with the exact same stuff that was on my iPhone. Since I'm almost always somewhere with a pretty decent WiFi connection, I might not even keep up with my $30 month-to-month 3G access. Finally, I'll stop carrying my laptop around everywhere, because I'll have a device with a decently-sized screen that I can goof off with from time to time when I'm not working.
Finally, I have some questions of my own for you guys. Why exactly is the front-facing camera so important? It's not on the iPhone, and I can't honestly say I've /ever/ used the webcam on my MacBook Pro. If I want to take a picture, I've got an excellent Canon SLR. I've personally never liked the idea of video chatting, and don't really know anyone else who does. If you need to talk to someone, go meet them at a coffee shop or invite them over. Otherwise, send them a text message.
Again, what's the deal with multitasking? Apparently I'm in the stone-age when it comes to using my iPhone. I generally play a game from time to time when I'm waiting for something to upload at work, or I listen to music on it in my car. When I'm out with friends I often use it to pull up things online or check facts on Wikipedia. Other than that... I've got a laptop. I can't really say I've ever really had the desire to chat on AIM while surfing CNN and listening to Pandora. That sort of intense use-case is the sort of thing I have a serious computer for. Communicating and occasionally noodling-around are what I have an iPhone for. That, and I hate the blackberry interface.
So, enough about me. Any thoughts?
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