I have talked to quite a few people about the iPad since it was announced, and I have seen a fairly consistent view from a pretty reasonable cross-section emerge. Everyone seems to think that the iPad is a cool device, and that 10 to 20 years from now everyone will own a tablet-PC which will have real-world work applications, but they see no reason to own an iPad today; and there is a pretty uniform consensus that it is simply too expensive to buy without any real purpose at this point in time.
Now, I want to be clear that the majority of these people either own an iPhone or have the intention of getting one as their next phone so it is not as if there is some sort of cynical Apple hate going on. What I think is the difference between the iPhone and the iPad is that people saw an immediate use for the iPhone because it could replace 3 devices (Phone, MP3 player, PDA) which each can cost roughly the same as the iPhone.
I don’t doubt that the iPad will sell well, but I think that most people are going to take a wait-and-see approach; and see if it translates into a product that has a use in their life.
