Locked to a single cell phone provider for data was a point (I despise AT&T). You can’t add software that isn’t on the iTunes store without hacking it was a point. No USB ports was a point.

Does this blog take html codes? I’d like to use bullets!

Ethan, at the end of the day a lot of us are asking the same question: why did Apple do the big dog and pony show for a device this is slightly more than a 10″ iPod Touch? A lot of people are already talking about rev. 2 and rev. 1 is 60 days away. My personal opinion: that isn’t a good sign. That is people saying that the iPad is not what they were looking for/expecting. Not in the form that was showed yesterday.

I wish Apple would have spent their R&D time making an iPhone for other carriers!

The tablet market has started and failed a number of times already. I am not going to go out on a limb and say Apple will fail on the iPad, but I think the response won’t be what was hoped for. People won’t be lining up two days in advance to buy one. I am guessing it will do better than Apple TV, but that wasn’t much of a success. A lot of the comments and reviews I have read today echo what I have said: Apple could have done better. Everyone expected Apple to do better.

My argument is they could have launched with multitasking and more. It is like the movie companies who keep releasing a new version of the same DVD. First you get a standard version, then a deluxe version, then an ultimate version.

Even when Apple launched the first version of the iPhone they offered more than most phones. What is Apple offering new here except the 10″ screen, iWork, and a leash to AT&T?

You’re loosing the forest through the trees here. If you just change a few points, your whole comment is indicative of all the criticism leveled at the iPhone in 2007 and we see how that turned out.

With that out of the way: the iPad rev1 is an epic fail. Since when does Apple cater to an older generation? Steve didn’t mention that during his presentation and I do not think he has ever come out and said,”We would like to have a product that your mom and dad would like to be able to use with their failing eyesite.” Seniors are not the demographic that happens into Apple stores. Young and hip… or at least young at heart. No offense to any senior citizens is implied.

They “waited” until they had the perfect device? If you were going to release a 10″ iPod Touch you could have done that a few years ago, right?

“Industry analysts said we needed to price this item between $800-$1,000.” I am paraphrashing somewhat, but I think that is what Steve said as he introduced a starting price of $499 (oh boy!). Analysts were expecting more than a 10″ iPod Touch. Multitasking and a camera were a must. Not just a nice to have; A MUST.

Steve said netbooks were cramped and underpowered. Hey Steve, maybe so… but they are computers running an operating system. They multitask and run off the shelf products. If they run slow, fine, we expect that. The more tasks you run the slower it gets. I get it! That is my option though. Netbooks also have USB ports. I can add a printer, external drive, whatever. I can support flash on my netbook browser too so I don’t get the broken flash box when browsing the web like you did.

Steve: there are cell providers in the U.S.A. that are NOT named AT&T. TMO, VZW, Sprint. People want choice. It is not always about who has the best service. Everyone has their preference and not everyone wants AT&T as a provider. You could have offered at least TMO as an option over AT&T.

After the presentation I am guessing that Steve Ballmer turned off the screen, chuckled, and called his friends at HP and they had a good laugh together. “Hey guys, did you see that? Wow. A 10″ iPod Touch with iWork. How is the Slate coming? It is a computer and not a 10″ Zune, right?” I think it is a safe bet that the Slate will multitask.

Steve reached. He thinks he can drop an ‘i’ in front of anything and people will eat it up. Apple stock is down $7.43 this morning. I think others are underwhelmed too. Instead of ‘iPad’ they could call it: ‘i’VeSeenThis’. Silly, I know, but so is releasing a 10″ iPod Touch.

I bet sometime soon we will see Android based “pads” that will mutlitask. We will also see a rehashing of the Droid commercials referencing the iPad (iDon’t do this… iDon’t do that…). Apple has set themselves up on this one.

Okay, now that I have that off of my chest: I can’t wait to see what they do with Rev2 of the iPad!

http://j.mp/fight_iPad