Some people I know are asking me about the iPad.  If you're interested, here's a small explanation that might give you a better idea of what it really is.

Think iphone with no phone, with a 9.7 inch screen with four times the screen area, and a battery that can last for 10 hours of use. That's what it is in a nutshell. It can run iphone apps, but developers can also write apps that take advantage of the bigger screen. Because of the bigger screen, it can be a good ereader (it will have its own bookstore), and it is better than the iphone for productivity apps like documents and spreadsheets. It will be $499 for the 16gb version, $599 for the 32, and $699 for the 64. There will also be versions with AT&T wireless built in; they'll be $130 more, plus $29 a month.

A huge downside IMO is that it can still only run one app at a time, just like the iphone. And you can't run the same apps you could run on a macbook or other laptop.  On a bigger device like this, you'd want to do more with it, and do those things simultaneously, so this is a serious limitation. Think about if your laptop could only run one app at a time.  When you consider you can get a netbook for $300 that can run multiple apps simultaneously, has a physical keyboard and even a bigger screen, it's a tough decision.

Anyway, that's my $.02.  Hopefully this doesn't sound biased, because it's not meant to be.  I really thought I'd probably get one, and still might, but the limitations mentioned, plus the fact I already have a netbook, will probably cause me to hold off.