[SamAdams76]

For starters, a 20-hour battery life (try that with a laptop), virtually no bootup time and near instant access to all media (newspapers, magazines, books, movies, video, audio, web, email, etc.)

As the iPod rendered CD collections obsolete virtually overnight (a thousand songs in your pocket was the first slogan), the iPad will do the same for all the rest of the media.

The only gaffe Apple made was initially releasing the product with no 3G. They should have waited until 3G was ready as the device is essentially crippled where there is no Wi-Fi. People that rushed to buy one first will be disappointed later when people who waited are able to download media from virtually anywhere.

[raybbr]

Does all the media, songs mostly, have to come through I-tunes due to RMA restrictions? I have never bought an Ipod for that reason. I have an MP3 player that cost me fifty bucks and can play any music I put on it.

If the media downloads are going to be proprietary from Apple then this thing only further enslaves users to Apple it doesn't free them up.

[SoothingDave]

near instant access to all media (newspapers, magazines, books, movies, video, audio, web, email, etc.)

What computer attached to the internet doesn't have that?

My daughter's netbook from Dell does that, and at about half the price.