I'm underwhelmed not because the geek in me finds the technical specs lacking, but because I don't see anything innovative. The hardware and software are absolutely predictable (except for lacking a few features like a webcam and a USB port): no brilliant UI solution to the problem of typing while holding the tablet, no special screen tech to work well in reflective mode, no new business model for news or books, nothing. It's the lowest common denominator of all the rumors and anybody's guess at what a "big ipod touch" would look like. It shouldn't have taken any CE/computing company, much less Apple, years to design this.
I read it, and found the 'Yes, but it’s never been done all at once' assertion weak. The OP's general point is that the iPad is 'magic', which I correlate with 'innovation'; I think many of us are bummed because we see neither. (If it matters, I was giddy when the iPhone was announced; there was a lot of innovation in that device.)
Yeah, I get what you mean. At first this was a real let-down event for me. I was hoping, stupid and irrational as it would be, for Apple to unveil a completely new OS, completely new functionality and technology, and instead all they did was take their already-successful technology and reemploy it.
What excited me after I saw the keynote: Speed and apps. The fact that this thing is blisteringly fast is exciting in and of itself. No load times for anything? Pretty neat. And then they did some of the demo apps, the NY Times one in particular, and basically showed off then and there how the newspaper industry could save itself, and I was struck by the fact that given a screen of this size and a processor of this speed (whatever that actual speed is), you're capable of making a lot of very powerful things.
iPhone apps right now are some of the best programs ever made. In terms of build and ease-of-use and aesthetic quality, there're some things there that blow away and Windows/Mac app I've ever used. The fact that now developers have even more room to make their content means to me that we're going to see some applications that are cool to a degree that we've never seen before. If hearing birdcalls on your phone is magical already, I want to see what those same creative minds are capable of given ten inches of real estate.
So, not exciting on the surface, but the implications make me really giddy. I'm sure when we get closer to launch date Apple will reveal ads that say all that but more smoothly. I'm actually excited to see what the ads will be like.
