With all due respect, I don't think most of you have caught the vision of the iPad. When the mini mainframe was introduced it largely replaced the mainframe computer. When workstations were introduced, they largely replaced the mini mainframe. When PCs were introduced, they largely replaced the workstations. Apple understands that there will be a new era of computers that largely replaces the PC. Apple believes this new era will be the mobile computing era.
If you look at the what people do with PCs today, you will discover that most of them are used most of the time to surf the Internet, read and write email, organize and display photos, and provide some entertainment. Apple also understands that the PC is very poorly suited for this task. The iPad will perform most of these tasks better and less expensively than any PC. It will also allow people to do it where they want to do it.
Apple is creating the world's first family of mobile computing products: iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, and if I am correct, the AppleTV will soon be based on this platform. While Google has different platforms for phones (Android) and netbooks (Chrome), Apple will create a single mobile computing platform that is completely compatible across all devices. This will make the software that runs on its platform less expensive and easier to develop—resulting in many times more applications. So while those without vision complain that Apple didn't adhere to an ancient approach to computing, Apple will go on to create the new computing platform that will largely displace the PC and dominate the technological landscape for the next 20-30 years.
So, whether you are an Apple lover or hater, there is brilliance and beauty in what Apple has created—and enormous potential for it to lead us into the future. You would be wise to keep in mind that the iPad is not a product, it is a part of a whole system that includes a development environment, a marketplace (iTunes Store/App Store/iBook Store), and a device—all meticulously designed to improve the user experience. It would be foolish to esteem this ecosystem to lightly as most of Apple's competitors have done.