iPad=glorified iPod touch
Apple Lemmings are hysterical
You guys can hate all you want..it's not surprising when it comes to Apple.
For the record: I don't own an iPad, and I don't see myself buying one. I am not an Apple fanboy, I just see the logic in releasing this product...and know full well it's not for everyone.
With that out of the way, a lot of people are ignorant about the product. Glorified iPod touch? Excellent research, I can definitely tell from your post that you've put a lot of time and thought into your opinion.
The iPad has the potential to change a lot of the things we do. Imagine the possibilities of students having all their school books on one device. Imagine being a business owner and having a nice, elegant and professional way to present your product line to customers. I think anyone telling you that the iPad is the best thing that ever happened and is better than a computer is probably delusional -- but that's besides the point. Most of the people who ignorantly bash the device don't take into consideration what its potential is. Most tablet computers are just that -- a laptop that sliced off the keyboard and barely thought of a way to improve or change the OS besides the touch input. Have you ever used a tablet that wasn't sluggish and/or poorly implemented? It just feels like a computer without a keyboard or mouse. Where's the innovation?
Whereas Apple has done the same things -- dropped they keyboard and mouse, but where they differ is they have crafted an entirely different OS made for its purpose alone. Sure, it's an extension of the iPhone OS -- nevertheless it performs its functions much more efficiently than a normal tablet PC will. Whether the functionality of the iPad is something you will use is the question. Is it worth 499.99 for you to have a device like this? For a lot of people it is. The people buying this thing (besides apple fags) want something simple, streamlined, elegant, and well built. How many netbooks are as well built as the iPad? Most netbooks use older, lower quality hardware to meet lower costs -- a netbook is more of a compromise than an innovation. The iPad is not the most innovative thing ever released, but it's certainly unique for a tablet/whatever and definitely has carved a niche for itself that I can see being very successful. Let's face it -- Apple moves hardware, they must be doing something right.
They are constantly at the forefront of the computer industry -- they basically created or popularized a lot of the media devices we use every day, like laptops, mp3 players, the iPhone, and now a tablet/portable media device. It's not a full fledged computer, but it's not trying to be -- it's supposed to be the in-between. Personally I think they nailed it.