Thanks for reading and commenting! You bring up some really good points. I agree that Flash is horrible. I am hoping for and more open standard for video as HTML 5 gets adopted, one that actually works works well! ;) That said, to get the “best” internet experience (if you want to stream any commercial video – news, hulu, etc) you pretty much have to use flash. Otherwise you’re done. This may change in the future but makes it pretty difficult for many people to really think of the iPad as truly excellent for web browsing.

I also agree that Apple is great at user-experience. They know how to make stuff become a pleasure to use. But-crazy as this sounds-I could not give this my grandmother because she enjoys lots of flash video from major content producers as well as flash animation e-cards, etc. The iPad just couldn’t fulfill her needs. Same for my wife…she has an Asus netbook running Ubuntu though, and loves it. It has a full keyboard, and completely rich Internet experience, but weighs less than 2lbs and fits in her purse.

I certainly think there is is niche that the iPad is perfect for, and that niche will broaden as the product and technology becomes even more mature…maybe (hopefully!) bringing larger-scale touch-screen computing to the mainstream. We saw this kind of progression with the iPod and iPhone. I am glad Apple introduced this product, and I am looking forward to where it will lead.

The thing about Apple is that they make stuff eminently usable. Sure, the app store and other aspects have people crying “control freaks,” but the truth is that for their target audience with devices like the iPad, stability and performance trump huge feature lists and hackability. Honestly, my parents don’t care about hackability, nor do I for those times I would be using one in place of a laptop or desktop machine.

I share Apple’s distaste for netbooks, which is odd because my employer is big into them. But truly, they provide a wretched user experience. I’d rather tote my 15″ macbook pro around than use a netbook for a minute. YMMV.

I think that the applications and whatever content deals Apple comes up with will make the difference. Apple makes devices that are not overly feature laden, but do certain things very well. Then they slowly add more and more functionality. This is nothing new to people who’ve been using Apple products for years and years.

I don’t think it will be a flop. I think at a minimum, it will do quite well. I think in a year’s time, the iPad will be something that I could give my mom in lieu of her Windows laptop, and she’d be perfectly content with it.

Cheers!

Still, I’m gonna check out Gjots2. Thanks!