Well, my expectations of the ipad are pretty skeptical. But before I launch into negative comments, which are likely to come by the boatload in coming months, let me just say what is good about it:
It's a beautiful device. I mean, it just is. It's beautiful looking, it's a great size, it's screen is rich and just gorgeous. The multi touch is very smooth and responsive: far better than any other multi touch device I've come across. It's very elegant, both in features and function. Sure, it doesn't do as much as a pc, and there are frustrating issues because of that, but for what I'm intending to use it for, it should be ok. The mistake I made previously in arguing with myself, was that this is not going to feel like my home, desktop pc experience. And I have to let that go. I got this thing for reading, jotting minor notes, watching videos, listening to some music, and mainly, a GPS unit for my car. I'm VERY skeptical that I am going to make that work well without a data plan, but I'm going to try.
I do have to emphasize how beautiful the thing is. All competitors should take great notice at the elegance in Apple's products. It's something special. People were saying how inconveniently large it is...baah. Nonsense. It's not that big. It's somewhere between a normal sheet of paper and a dvd case. Great size. It's not meant for the pocket.
I will be SUPER excited if the GPS works.
I will admit, I am afraid of itunes. It's running on a virtual computer right now, and I plan to leave it that way.