I don’t grok all the aversion in the techie/gadget press in regards to the iPad.
Do I want one (yet)? No; however, it seems like a pretty ideal device for someone like my wife or father-in-law. They both have pretty typical computing needs – a browser, email, iTunes for media consumption, the occasional word processing. The iPad nails all of these functions out of the box plus has the added bonus of the App Store ecosystem so there are plenty of niche specific apps and casual games to enjoy as well. It seems like a step closer to that task-centric “toaster” computing model which I think aligns well to the expectations of a large part of the population. Panic’s Steven Frank describes this personal computing evolution much more eloquently.
Right now I just want to finally ditch my current Moto dumbphone and get an iPhone. I’m not ready to make the leap to AT&T yet so I was disappointed that the end of their exclusivity for it in the US wasn’t announced this week. Oh well maybe in time for my birthday 
