I very much like the 3G option without a contract, it is definitely appealing and the price seems reasonable. I want details on how well background apps run though first as one of prime reasons i would want a data contract would be for Voip applications.

totally agree comp...for what you get... and for all that it does, great price...

What can you get for 499.99 in America? Is that a low spec laptop or desktop pc?

So it's just a massive iPod Touch?

Initially, I followed the hype that the iPAD is nothing more than a larger, glorified iPOD Touch; however, after I thought about how this will improve my ability to consume media products and browse the internet I realize that the iPAD is going to revolutionize consumer technology.

Imagine people who travel a lot, personally, I have been home 5-months in the past 12 so I rely on my laptop and smartphone quite a bit. While both of these devices keep me satisfied I freqently find the cords and bulkiness associated with a laptop--netbooks don't improve the situation a whole lot either--and the slowness and inability of smartphones to support regular web-pages and applications just plain frustrating.

I think that while consumers are aware of these inconveniances we ignore them because we don't know any better. Well, I think the iPAD is the solution to this problem. I have multiple work-related/personal trips coming up and I am overwhelmed with comfort thinking of how conveniant having an Apple iPAD will be for those long, long plane rides.

With 10hrs of battery life and 1 month of standby mode the iPAD is going to transcend what we now know of mobile internet browsing. You better believe that it is going to be common to see an iPAD on the coffee tables at friends and family members homes, every college student is going tote one of these bad-boys around in their Indiana Jones sachels, every traveler and business-person is going pack their i-PADs in their carry-on bag and briefcase.

This product doesn't fulfill the pocket-device need, it doesn't fulfill the laptop needs, but it does its own thing. Anywhere where we take a bakpack, small sachel, or briefcase we are going to carry a tablet device and Apple's iPAD is going to be the predominant supplier of this emerging consumer demand. I guarantee it.

I can't wait to get mine! But what's the deal with 4G??? I don't want to buy a 3G product for $530-730 if 4G is going to start rolling out, especially if when that comes the iPAD costs $100-200 less. This is my only set-back and I think it could initially hurt sales. Many of you might disagree with me on this, but I wasn't born yesterday, Apple's new product is going to dominate.

Thanks!

-Dylan

The price is awesome, I really didn't expect a $499 starting point and 3G with no contract from AT&T. Impressed so far with it and tempted to give it a try at such a price .

You could get a netbook surely or a business oriented laptop. Even a very basic desktop PC I'd imagine.

Looks like it, which is kinda neat imo.

This device has no usb ports, it doesn't even support multi-tasking and it is just a big version of ipod touch - quite frankly Apple, I'm a little disappointed in you, I was expecting more... Now I'm thinking of buying the HP Slate instead..

No USB ports because with no real OS, it can't do anything with other hardware.

I am a self professed Apple hater and this hasn't done anything to change my attitude, but I'm not their target audience I suppose.

Seriously, please go back to your work at Apple HQ and stop promoting your new product on these forums...

I do agree that this could be useful for college students (albeit for very rich college students) and on long plane rides, but I just cannot imagine that this would be adopted by businesses. You can get a decent spec laptop for the price and the iPad seems to be in a world of its own with no cross-compatible devices or peripherals (e.g. USB as someone mentioned earlier). I love my iPhone for the fact that it fits in my pocket and I can listen to music, surf the internet and play some casual gaming on my hour long journey to work. There's nothing in this iPad that I would pay a few hundred $ premium for, not to mention the fact that it would take up more space.

I sure am disappointed with this thing. I was hoping for it to have a version of OS X on it, despite the recent rumors. And not having any USB ports is a significant mark against it in my opinion. You can get a netbook with really good battery life and a real operating system , and even an ION chipset for that price.

iPad? OMG now that is funny!

Ya...I guess I'm slow I didn't think of that when I first heard it...
Then found this posted on another site mocking the iPad lol...guess Apple's shiny toy distracted me from realizing what it really was =X .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs

At first I thought that $499 was a good price, then I realized that's for 16 Gigs. My Touch has 16 Gigs, and I hate it. it's tiny, and I have to battle between storing games, music or movies. Or do without one of those (movies) which is what I elect to do.

The wireless service needs to be carrier agnostic. But at least the lack of a contract is favorable.

I'm a bit upset that it uses an IPS LCD display and not an AMOLED display.

Is this some kind of female sanitary item?

Nothing innovative as far as I can see. It looks like a big ipod touch with practically no additional features. It even uses the same OS!

Maybe if it had some usb ports and a decent OS you could actually use it for editing files and such.

It will be reasonably successful though, as the fanbois will all buy 2 each. Fools.

When you want to be more technologic with your period... Get the iPad

Mad TV predicted the future!

From the looks of it, it could replace e-book readers and has a lot of connectivity solutions. for 500$ it's not a bad deal, but i don't think i'd personally buy it since it's a lot of money for it's power.

I'll wait for the ASUS DR-570. That'd be just 200 grams, and provide similar functionality (e-book, video, browser). The iPad will likely do some things better (maybe many things), but it's too heavy and quite expensive for me. (I do hope that the DR-570 will be cheaper.)