Well as Iwata and Miyamoto continually state, Wii U is something that people have to play for themselves before they understand it.  Speaking from your experience as well as mine, even though it was a store demo unit, I think it's true.  Telling people about the benefits of playing Off-TV on the GamePad is not the same thing as giving someone a GamePad and having them play Off-TV for themselves.  I'm glad it isn't my job to market it, as it is one tough cookie.

Controls wise it definitely is better than a smartphone/tablet.

Internet browser especially with videos is better as well.

But they have portability over the Gamepad for sure.

Possibly but it will probably have phsyical buttons on it like the Gamepad.  They just recently combined their hand held and console research teams so their next system will be a handheld/home console system all in one is my guess.

I have games on my phone...most of them are terrible.  And I'd never pay a cent for them when I could play a game on a handheld or console.

Also...there are far better music services than iTunes.  Google Music, for instance.

Because of stupid comments like this; "It used to be that when you were playing you had to choose whether you would use the television to watch TV or play games." People will most likely have their own tv or screen in their room, phones will be able to have multiplyer games on them that are more demaning than the WiiU games, so this feature is about 7 years too late.

Also remember that Moore's Law not only causes tablets and phones to become more powerful, but also cheaper to produce and purchase.

Well the same holds true for Nintendo, though.  They see advances in technology that they use to their advantage same as any other consumer electronics company.  The only difference is that for game consoles, as opposed to tablets, the business model dictates that they remain the same for five years instead of being replaced and upgraded every 18-24 months.  I think it's an advantage, though.  It means you have each Wii U owner with the exact same system, so you don't have to make games worrying that not everyone has a quad-core, 2gb RAM smartphone or tablet.  It's a level playing field.

No...it really isn't. With the speed ARM and Intel are closing in on the golden 5nm transistor, proc power is going to skyrocket and phones will be the first to utilise this tech due to the high turn over rate. Also due to the simplicity of phones and tablets OS, games will be made quickly and effectively. This combined with EVERYONE owning a phone, the WiiU has insane competition in which it is about to get worse come 2014.

Picking up a Wii U killed most of my desire for a tablet. I use my Smartphone when traveling. I thought about getting a tablet to use on my couch, but now there is no need. I surf the net, check facebook and whatever else, while Sportscenter plays in the background. Then I tap the icon for COD and start killing people on my 50". WiiU 1, Apple iPad, 0.

I can take mine to my upstairs bedroom and lay in bed while playing. :P

Is your bedroom directly above the room that your Wii U is in?