Can I make a request from people on either side of this argument? We need to wait at least a year to judge its success. All the Apple faithful are going to buy it at first, and I think that hype will drive a lot of sales, but we'll need to be a little more patient before we analyze its success.

Ugh, I'm already dreading the incessant coverage of the lines outside Apple stores.


Oh, and I finally thought of one thing for which I'd like a tablet of some kind: reading "legally obtained" comics. I hate that I do it, but comics are absurdly expensive Anyway, I wish I could read them on something other than my computer monitor or my netbook held sideways. I read all of Preacher on my netbook, and that was an unfortunate way to experience it. Plus, I'd need a CBR reader, and I don't know if the iPhone OS has an app for that. Anyone? Regardless, if I don't have enough money to buy comics, I'm certainly not going to spend $500 for a device just to read them, as I wouldn't use it for anything else.

Anyway, to sum up all my thoughts on the subject: personally I have zero place in my life or in my family's home for the iPad, particularly at that price. As for how well I think it will do, I think it will be a minor hit, but I think Apple is expecting far more than that.

There's a question for those of you who think this will be a success. Would you care to offer a prediction of general sales numbers? I can't know, of course, but I suspect Apple expects to sell at least as many iPads as iPhones. I expect they'll sell as many as Airs. That's a decent number, but I think it would be a failure in Apple's eyes.