um, no multitasking.

1) seems like a giant phoneless phone
2) if you have a macbook and an iphone why woudl you get this
3) seems like you have to either lay it flat on a table or prop on your legs. awkward.
4) an extension from #3, it would feel like i dont have any privacy and that any passersby can see the screen
5) no camera, no multitasking

i mean it looks nice and all, but it seems completely useless if you already have a laptop and a smartphone. i understand that there are some people (tech nerds) who will love this, but that seems like the audience is being very skewed.

Just heard that delivery is going to take 3 months. Add in the negative buzz from elitist geeks who are pissed off that its too lightweight to compile an operatiing system on it (pretty silly actually since its a netbook replacement, not a laptop) and it may be destined to Newtondom.

You wouldn't. It's for people who don't have those things. As mugwup mentioned, it's the Apple "netbook", basically.

right, but isnt it regarded that macs and their OS's are generally intimidating to non-Mac users? i have no idea if this is true, but its just what i hear from my non-mac friends/family.

You mean its modal? You have to exit one app to launch another?

Okay, that's dumb. Hope they sell enough units to warrant a v2 that addresses it.

lol, it's on AT&T's 3G network.

WTF?

this just seems like a quick attempt to squash kindle.

we'll youre not tied to it. i think at&t is just offering a deal. but the fact that youre not tied to it gives me hope that they are opening up the new iphones

I don't think its the OS that intimidates folks, the common wisdom is that the Mac OS is better than Windows (it took me three days to get Windows 7 to recognize the DVD drive on my 18-month old Vista laptop, and I don't see any difference besides a more stylish interface so I consider it a bust) . I think its always been the price that intimidates non-mac users. For the average consumer, price beats out quality when it comes to computer purchases. Everyone I know who's seen a Mac has been envious, but considers a Mac outside their price range.

For one thing, this is a tablet. It's not a laptop. I think it's meant to compete with things like the Kindle, and it certainly seems a hell of a lot better than a Kindle, albeit more expensive.

Like they did with the iPod and iPhone, Apple's throwing their hat into the ring with a sexier product than their competitors.

I wouldn't buy one unless it was closer to being a fully capable computer, but that could be several versions off or just the next permutation of the Macbook. Right now I just hope someone I know gets one so I can play around with it. And it'll be sweet if they make a stylus for it and if Autodesk then made a more robust version of the iPhone Sketchbook app for it.

Apple's video introduction:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/ipad-video/#large

Something to consider...

I've long held that the scholastic text industry is as ripe or riper for a shakeup than the music industry was circa 1999, and I think this is something that can make that happen since it's a Kindle on multi-media steroids.

Texts are expensive to produce and the turnaround time creates a lag of at least 2 years. This can address both those concerns drastically.

I know Duke Univ. builds the cost of a new iPod for freshman into the tuition cost and makes lectures and other materials available for download. Think of what's out there if schools start embracing the iPad as a learning tool. There's of course the hurdle of the sweetheart deals book publishers have with schools and contributing profs, but I think the market will eventually loosen those binds enough to allow for proper innovation.

yeah, i have heard some talk already today that this will be tied with textbooks. but i'm not sure this item is going to revolutionize that industry. from what i've seen, some publishers are even on board for this type of shift.

I agree with the last 2 posts. For as underwhelming as this thing seems, I think it will drastically change certain aspects of society.

But then I read this on Wired.com:

"Though Apple is yet to confirm it, on-stage demos of the device during the launch indicate it might not support Flash."

If it doesn't run a fully functioning Safari browser that can handle all video formats and animation formats that are commonplace on the internet, then I would consider it a fail.

It's not like that's due to hardware limitations, though. I mean, I can't imagine how it would be. All it would need is a simple software update that supports those features, or for someone else to write a browser app for it that does.

True. I guess I'm assuming that since the iphone has never supported Flash, the tablet never will either.

this thing is getting bashed on the blogs.

yikes.

Major LOL's

I was more optimistic after reading this http://www.slate.com/id/2242786

I mean seriously are people really getting off this hard that the word "pad" can have an unfortunate double meaning?

And it's not like every time someone uses the word "pad", sanitary napkins are the first thing that come to mind. People just love to try to shoot holes in these things. "Oh man, Apple really blew it this time!" We'll see.

iSlate, hell even iTablet would have been better.

And this is why you'd never work in marketing.