The SD adapter from what I can tell is a passive device that plugs directly into the iPad.

Bitt, you're arguing for nothing. You're trying to convince ME that the iPad isn't right. Trying to appeal to things that I, like you might value and see as a reason not to buy an iPad. I've already told you that I'm not interested in an iPad. Maybe for the exact same reasons as you. But that doesn't necessarily have any bearing on what will happen with the market at large. I still think we're going to see the iPad completely dominate the tablet category.

I'm not interested in going point for point again countering your claims. We should just watch over the next year to see how this all plays out.

I will say however that the most comparable Kindle, the DX model, is only $10 cheaper for the hardware. I don't think that product has any future after this week.

Now, if you'd like to see some criticism, my main gripe is that the iPad doesn't have a slightly higher density screen. I would have preferred to see 1280x800, a 16:10 aspect, or 1280x960 if they absolutely wanted a 4:3 aspect. Either of those would allow pixel-perfect 720p content. The next thing I might complain about is that with all the extra bezel, they could have put in an SD card reader. However, I recognize that it's a much more difficult process than just throwing in the connector. The functionality associated with it and how it possibly ties to the SDK would have been a decent challenge for quite a number of reasons, not the least of which is possibly making it easier for piracy or circumventing one or more of their revenue models. With the current adapter they may limit access to their photo app. Even if they don't it's probably limited to pulling photos or other documents, rather than being able to expand app storage, shared folder or anything of the like.

I'm really pleased to hear that the new SDK does create a shared folder as I've been advocating since the first release. This will allow multiple applications to access the same file storage area and let customers drag and drop files to the share when the device is connected to their desktop system. I hope we might see this share accessible over wifi in the future, because as previously discussed, attaching cables is kind of lame for a wireless device.

At first glance a USB port might be useful, but I honestly can't think of a reason to have one in addition to the dock connector. Connecting a camera directly to the iPad? I'd rather have WiFi in every camera. It would still be a huge revamp of the SDK and then having to provide drivers if you want any particular device or at least device classes to be supported. WiFi and BT are the solutions to most connectivity concerns here, they just need to be expanded to more uses. Their USB adapter obviously indicates they must support either USB Mass Storage or PTP, I wonder if they expose that in the SDK or if it's baked into their photo app.

The basic dock would have been a nice bundled accessory. It kind of sucks to have this nice display and then have to connect it to a wire on a regular basis to charge it. Dropping it into the dock is quicker and obviously neater.

GPS would be a killer thing to have in the iPad, but I'm really getting the impression that Apple sees this as a product that stays within the home. But how awesome would it have been to have a car dock for this thing? I suppose it's still possible with an externally linked GPS device (BT or dock connector).