Might pick up half a dozen to use as interactive placemats, can see any other use for it.

I think some killer apps will be coming for this:

Almost certainly not. They were talking about June or July before they had the accompanying telecom (etc) deals sorted out.

It's unlocked though, so what's to stop you getting one from the US?

in the case of the 3G model, the micro-SIM needed for it.

5AVeci:

Yawn . . . we've seen a lot of those. These days the place for "humorous" Apple rubbishing is in this thread.

Maybe I'm alone but some of us don't actually need it to be 3G'd I'd connect mine through WiFi which makes more sense in my opinion just like I do with my iPod touch

Lets face it, if you use it in CH then perhaps there is a point but the cost of Roaming Internet access is far to great to make this costs effective overseas.

Like I said maybe I'm the exception after all I don't even have a mobile!

I actually hammer mobile data. Thankfully, I have a Mobile Unlimited which is truly unlimited and unlimited data through my BB too.

Roaming costs are scary but the consumption you'd have is more likely to be domestic.

I could not do without being able to surf on the train

You are not alone, but from the experience of several years of commuting from Zurich to Berne, there are plenty of people who already use laptops with data cards on the train. The iPad looks like the absolutely right thing for surfing a bit on a one hour train ride daily. If it had flash support for the websites I like...

It looks like you could use it ambidextrously too

Now....is the display wipe-clean?

PS: Data cards are soooo 2008. Integrated WWAN, you mean, Sir?

you can easily cut a sim down to make it fit. what can be problematic sometimes is the frequencies that US devices can operate on e.g. CDMA or GSM, 1800/900 or 1900/850. etc.

Wow. Respect

I don't have an iPhone because I hate mobile phones in general. iPhone is too small and too expensive for what it does that I would want to use. Double-thumb typing is a repellent idea.

I ****ing hate laptops/ netbooks/ whatever, mainly because of the keyboards and trackpads, but also because of the battery life.

What I would like would be something I could use to carry around reading material, and maybe replace my mp3 player. I would like to write on it with a stylus too. WiFi or USB out would be nice. So far, that's a modbook. And they're not cheap. Does an iPad's CPU have the grunt, and it's screen the sensitivity, to support handwriting as input?

$600? I thought the entry level price is $499.

I must be a *** then. Whatever that is. I can't think what **** is the plural of

Yeah yeah. And TV was the end of Cinema, etc.

I think putting a multitiouch screen on a consumer device has a lot of potential.

I couldn't give a **** about 3G, nor about roaming internet.

Yep. A lot of the pooh-pooh-ing so far on this thread has been based on what it doesn't do compared with <insert name of small, mobile device here>.

VOIP would be nice. I couldn't give a **** about a camera for video calls. If I want to take a photo I wouldn't want to wave an iPad in the air either. I'll use a camera.

How would Skype remain so cheap if they allowed you to go over 3G? Someone has to pay at the 3G toll gates you know.

You get USB (and SDHC) via adaptors.

Yep. Too early to call at the moment.

They can do what they like, so long as it's legal.

I hate mobile phones. Especially expensive ones. The cheapest deal I found for an iPhone worked out at CHF 73 per month for 2 yeears before I even made a call. It's a phone for ****'s sake!

I think the saddos who power up their craptops on trains, etc. look stupid as it is. I ask myself "are you getting paid to use that lump of **** with the crappy keyboard right now?" People will get used to seeing it. It's not a C5.

You're and drawer

For me, it's main draw is as a reader. When I travel I like to read and listen to music. I'm too cheap to buy a printer. And I can't print stuff at work anymore. I can read A4 resized to A5 no problem. If I can put my own PDFs on it, or I can buy some magazine subscriptions, I'll save a packet in Swityerland versus the printed versions. z.B. Scientific American is about CHF 15 per copy. An online annual subscription was about $35 I think, which is a downloadable PDF.

You're not alone

Someone's very disappointed with the iPad.

Hi, can someone explain to me the big deal with this ipad? I simply don't get it. I have an iphone and it's fantastic in terms of having a little mobile computer + communication centre in your pocket, I have a small sony vaio laptop for surfing whilst watching TV etc and then I have my proper grown up computer for serious computer work, why exactly do I need yet another device, what are peopel going to use it for which they can't already do now on a laptop? To me it just looks like an overgrown iphone which is too big to conveniently carry around unless in a laptop bag but the interface is not good enough compared to a proper laptop, I really think this will be Apple's first flop in quite some time.

I have decided it is far too big! i think i would want one for reading books. My friend came over at the weekend with her kindle and it's great. Not flashy and all singing and dancing like the iPhone and it's black and white but it does what its meant to do - emulate a book, but the main appeal was it's size. An ideal size for a book and slipping in your handbag, hand luggage on planes etc.... I really don't understand why they have made the iPad so big if they are maybe marketing it as a contender to kindle etc...?

I still want one but maybe if they make it smaller on the next generation

They have, it's called an iTouch

eye strain for reading books on an iPod Touch

And what is wrong with just reading a book? :-) I am starting to feel dangerously out of touch here :-(

book is bigger and heavier than my e-book reader. also, if you're near the end of one book, you end up carrying 2 books. whereas with the e-reader, you can have multiple books in the same package.