I am always surprised,  at the amount of hate apple gets. first let me say i work two jobs basically right now i do design work, free lance (im recovering form burnout in corporate design) and i do tech support (corporate level anything form BB to servers) as a contractor for 7 companies, I support pretty much all OS types form windows 2k-7  mac os 8.9-10.6.x and a few flavors of linux. the things i hate working with are really anything that has some sort of management policy on it to protect the end user. most of these are flavors of windows after xp, they make it  so i have to go through know security hole to fix common issues its a pain, and i feel this is where a lot of people flee form windows to osx if they can due to how they are treated at work. because i know osx (became a certified tech for fun and to experiment on my own equipment when i was doing design alone as a job) i get a lot of calls transferred to me form other agents because they don't want to work with or learn the weird mac os… i see this less often with linux, but we rarely get linux calls.
I am also long time apple user have a apple IIe in my closet. our VGC minecraft server runs on a powermac g5 dual 2ghz. was a great machine when i got it, it shows its age today almost 8 years on from when i bought it, (but still kicks ass when i need to do work in final cut). my laptop an macbook pro. I have bought computers form other places cyberpower is a place i frequent and recommend ot others not interested in macs, got a great file server built there. and have built my own computers. I own an ipod and love it, its my second one i replaced a second gen after my library got to the point i needed a larger HD (i really wish apple had not taken out the ability to use firewire in them, they made great emergency OS devices for repairing macs) and i have a droid X for a cell, will probably never own an iphone, i don't agree with the locked down path its headed, makes me worry just a bit about future of mac (i also will be getting an HTC next time, im over motorolas lockdown too)

but why do i buy mac , sure there are cheaper alternatives, and now a days i could mac a hackintosh, back in 2003 the powerpc g5 was better, at  a cheaper price then intel equivalent for the design and video work i was doing. it stayed that way till about 05. after that intel took the lead back, and powerpc never recovered mac dumped them for intel due to issues with IBM and scaling, then why use an intel mac? part of it is investment in the platform, part of it is love of the design (toshiba has fancied my eye a lot recently that new ultra light is stunning). another part of it is treatment of customers. my original ipod worked for two years then just stopped i took it into an apple store, it was a week out of warranty, at the genius bar they just swapped it for another no questions asked after pulling the device up in the system. i kept using the replaced one till i swapped it due to the hd size. any time i have had an issue i could not figure out on my own or in forums, the apple helpdesk has been heads and shoulders above the equivalent from dell or HP (both vie had to use to get parts swapped for family members & and calling out for corporate contracts, also a pain) id say IBM has the next best support, with canon after that.  then there is the sense of community, it was closer nit in the days of powerpc, but it still exists, the user groups the help random people give in stores i personally have never had that with computer product (i have with slr cameras and consoles i was given a heads up when picking up a ps2 that could not play all ps2 games.. was mid gen). i feel thats most of it… also i believe in the power processor design long live POWER in all its forms go arm, go power derivatives in consoles. ;)

edit sorry for the rambling format and text wall, just kinda streaming thoughts there

You have got to be fricking kidding me.  Did I say ANYTHING about whether or not Microsoft's past products were good and bad? NOOOOOOO.  I was putting forth an argument saying IFFFFF Microsoft released prior to the iPad an exact replica of what we now know as an iPad, it too would have been a failure.  I'm trying to say I really don't think there is as big of a market for tablets than what currently exists, but because trendy apple releases one, the market gets inflated beyond what it actually should.  Once again, what I said has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Microsoft's past attempts have been successful or not in the tablet industry.

I completely disagree. The people I know that own iPads use them, they use them a lot. More than I thought they would. I'm not just talking tech people, the whole family. Kids use them to play games. Adults use them for apps, reading, video, email, web. The market for such a device is huge, because the device is extremely usable in a variety of environments by just about anyone. You can read it in bed, in the car, sitting in the park, on the kitchen counter, while watching tv, I could go on and on. These devices practically beg for people to pick them up and use them.

Have you used an iPod Touch 4G lately or an iPad 2? They just... work...

I know that's what they're meant for, but it just doesn't appeal to me.  Call me old fashioned, but for a majority of those things you listed, I'll either walk less than 100 feet to the nearest computer, or read a real paperback book.

Well they have to work, or else how would we use them :P LOL

It's not about you. It's about what the buying public thinks. And from my observations, once people get these in their hands and actually try it, many of them want it. That's why it is the success that it has been. Not because of marketing, but because people enjoy it and then tell their friends. Not because of groupthink, because of the experience.

Say whatever u guys want, but i used to be a windows user..., in my house there have always been macs around because of my family, but i started using it about 2 years ago daily because i bought a macbook pro and there is no way i will use windows again since I am gaming on consoles now, windows feels useless now that i am not gaming on pc anymore, windows is just such a slow, crappy, bugged operating system its just not for me anymore, I just want something stable to work and study and well consoles are the place to game for me..

And when u say that Mac products are overpriced just look at their latest operative system (snow leopard) $29.99 at amazon, i challenge you guys to find a windows 7 (ultimate) because All versions of snow leopard have everything (they dont have bs versions to fu$# you up)... 

Let me put it simple for you guys, at Amazon: 

windows 7 ultimate $271.93

Snow leopard $29.99

Now plz stop bashing macintosh saying they are expensive expensive for no reason (which is not always the case), because in some things they are, but not in every aspect....

Oh, and one more thing, apple is a lot of times more expensive because they are one of the few that make real tech investigation, like the trackpad they use in their laptops line... man i have used very expensive toshibas, alienware, vaios and their trackpads feel and are very inaccurate, apple spend more than 3 years searching for the right material to have the feeling they wanted, something that no other company does, the same goes for the magnetic power plug, magnetic closure for the display... those are all developments you pay every time you buy a mac, all other companies just sit and copy almost everything and dont have to be paying a group of scientist and engineers that develop this stuff.

Its easy to bash with no arguments

And here is where we can see the underlying mentality as well as where an individual's brand loyalty lies.

MS failed to produce a product where the merits offset its limitations in regards to the tablet market. To the biased MS fan, therefore tablets are a horrible idea that nobody wants.

Apple produces a product that is a huge commercial success and breakthrough for the tablet market at large and suddenly they aren't a horrible idea that nobody wants, but a horrible idea that only idiots want including the following (http://community.citrix.com/display/ocb/2010/04/01/Top 10 Business Uses For the iPad):

1) Healthcare - Great for medical practitioners accessing EMR apps and schedules, doctors reviewing PAC's images, and nurses in bedside care. Used at hospitals, clinics, medical offices and doctors on call from anywhere. With Citrix Receiver, even the most resource intensive Windows 3D rendering applications can now be displayed in detail ( check out the demo )
 
2) Field Sales & Services - Perfect for presentations on the go, demonstrations, full access to product information, pricing, customer service records, order status and technical applications. No more "I'll need to get back to you on that".
 
3) Insurance Agents - Great for field claims adjusters, office day extenders and local agents working on quotes. All your business applications built for Windows? We've got an app for that!
 
4) Real Estate Agents - Imagine the power of showing highly visual home tours to customers from the car as you take them around to prospective homes, or even submitting offers from the road.
 
5) Mobile IT Pros - Who says IT pros have to be boring? Carry around an iPad, and your entire image with end users could take a turn for the better. Now with Citrix Receiver, you can easily access all your Windows support apps, dashboards, and documents.
 
6) Legal Professionals - Lawyers (who could sometimes use an image boost as well) could also increase their cache by carrying an iPad around while meeting with clients. With Citrix, they'll have full secure access to every document, contract and Nexis-Lexis search, from the car, office or courtroom.
 
7) Teachers & Students - Ok, maybe this isn't technically a "business" use, but it's definitely one of the industry segments that's most excited about the iPad. With Citrix, everyone from teachers and administrators to students now has easy secure access to all the Windows apps and resources they need...
 
8) Financial Professionals - Whether you're on the trading floor or with clients, financial pros now have easy, secure access to all their Windows trading apps, dashboards, documents, real-time quotes, Bloomberg Anywhere and portfolio analysis tools.
 
9) Corporate Campus Workers - The world is full of corporate employees who may not travel extensively, but they spend an awful lot of time walking around the corporate campus, attending meetings, making presentations, reviewing documents (then extending the day at home). Lugging a laptop around campus can be a hassle, Enter the iPad with Citrix Receiver!
 
10) Remote and Mobile Workers - Finally, whether you're a utility worker, police officer, or anyone who works remotely and needs "always-on" access to Windows business apps, desktops and data, we now have an app for you.

Are you saying that my trackpad feels shitty and is inaccurate?  Clearly you aren't buying expensive toshibas then, because the trackpad feels perfectly find on mine, and the tracking is perfect.