I don't care how flashy a slate/tablet/touchscreen PC is, it'll never interest me. The only reason I even care about the Notion Ink Adam is because it's basically a super e-reader. I wish Notion Ink would make the Adam into a smartbook instead of a slate. Holy doodoo that'd be awesome.

The bottom line: I require a physical keyboard.

It is literally impossible to touch-type on something like the iPad. I don't even like smartphones without actual buttons (Droid > iPhone, any day, any time) and I sure as hell don't like MP3 players without controls I can use blindly (in a pocket).

And don't talk about haptic feedback and smart word-fill algorithms, either. Show me a slate with a virtual keyboard you can type on at 70+ WPM with a 2% or lower error rate, and then we'll talk.

Note: Obviously I'm not the intended audience for an iPad. I'm a power user. I never simply consume media. I am always also creating it.

Edit: I still think if the iPad could multitask, had used a Pixel Qi display, bundled the keyboard dock at no extra cost and situated the dock connector so the keyboard could dock with the device in landscape mode, it'd be a lot less stupid. (But still unusable for me due to video playback restrictions).

You know, certain people are going to be really happy about this product anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j5bbi-OzFY#t=0m31s
The modbook is the only thing of interest.

Personally I prefer actual books, but I'm so tired of losing books every time I move or a financial crisis arises in my life. I lost hundreds of books when I was evicted from my apartment... I have a single book to my name.

An e-reader would make carrying hundreds of books rather easy on the shoulders.

Meh, I'm fine with what I have. I've got no real reason to buy it, and besides, with my dad unemployed and whatnot, we hardly have the money for it anyway.

It will be just like having an iPhone for me. I don't even use half the applications it comes with except for communication and music. :heh:

Then again, I'm one those many people who think it will be basically useless to have, but will most likely buy it the moment I save enough money on the side for it.

^ Genius xD

Well since its coming out in march I might get it as a my 13th birthday present All I'm gonna do on it is just surf the web, listen to music and have a few Apps.

I heard it's useless but my English teacher wanted one just because of it's main feature: It's bigger; well, I can't argue about that since he's a giant.

Meh I don't find it useless but a few of my friends do. I might get it when it comes out.

There are so many other electronics I could better spend $500 on. =o

like a surround sound system

I find the "doesn't multi-task" a serious show stopper. I assume that means I can't have a browser, email client, and IM up at the same time... hell, even some of the smartphones multi-task.

You might want to introduce that over to DARPA though. I believe with the proper insulation and replacement of materials, they can double as electronic maps and bulletproof inserts. :D

The iPhone or iPhone OS in general has limited multitasking. The default applications that come with the phone can multitask, but not the Appstore apps without the use of Push Notifications, which isn't really full multasking. The myth that iPhone does not multitask at all is simply FUD since I can play my music, have the device check my email and browse the internet at the same time. Like mentioned, the only thing you can't run in the background is App Store applications.

I don't see the lack of multitasking a show stopper. I have used Windows Mobile 6 before which had multitasking, but when I multitask, the OS or the device gets slower and slower, mainly because Windows Mobile is a piece of crap. Perhaps they are saving multitasking for iPhone OS 4.0. I rarely multitask any of the appstore apps except the IRC client.

I guess that's my murkiness here.... I know the iPhone can take a call, play music, and browse the net (as can several other smartphones). So its a simple question: can the iPad browse the net, have an email client up, be downloading a file (whatever protocol), and be playing some music?

and yeah... Win Mobile is and has been utter crap since day one. I keep thinking of pre-NT Windows and its pretend-taskswapping coding. I work very hard to avoid it.... sad thing is the competing smartphone OSs are starting to bog-bloat in their own ways.

Some smartphones also crash. I think people are really overlooking the fact that Jobs wasn't trying to create a tablet or a PC. He was trying to create an "appliance", a reliable media consumption device for the mainstream. A device that your grandmother could pick up and use without thinking, "this is a computer". In this scenario, multitasking isn't necessary, and Apple is able to make the device more reliable and predictable without it. Same goes for flash content.

Don't get me wrong, thats the same reason I would not need or want one. But I, or other PC enthusiasts, am not the market for this new device.

You're definitely right about that. For an enthusiast, the iPad is less than useless.

The iPad was designed for and will be marketed to idiots with no computer knowledge.

*dons negrep-proof underpants*

This is 2010. Computers are used for virtually everything and it's only going to increase from here. If you are computer illiterate, you are dumb and your lack of knowledge is seriously hindering you in this information age. Not knowing how to use a computer in the 21st century is like not knowing how to read.

Fortunately for Apple, these people still exist, though... they'll sell a ton of them.

This is why I see Tablet PCs as a failure and they are the precursor to the iPads and the soon release Android tablets. The problem I see with Tablet PCs besides of cost is that they are clunky to use since not many applications actually used the tablet features besides Photoshop (most graphics artists would use a tablet anyways), Microsoft Office with Word and Onenote and the bundled Tablet PC applications like a notebook. They required the use of a stylus and you can't simply use a finger to control it and also it was clunky because the interface is designed for point and click.

UMPCs like the OQO and Sony's UMPC downsized these Tablet PCs to make them more touch friendly, but they were still expensive and still clunky and still a big failure. The problem why the Tablet PC was doomed because of the user experience with the device. Tablet PCs are too clunky for many users which is why they are still a niche product. iPad will spur competition for Android based Tablets since they use a touch friendly OS, but I see Android as a better platform if people wants more freedom, except the usual privacy issues. Heck, there are already Android tablets out there already, so yeah.

The problem is, the iPad is not meant to be a computer or laptop replacement. If you need more power, you obviously going to go for a laptop.

I might buy one to read manga with.