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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 5069861" data-attributes="member: 8158">Positioned as some kind of premium-priced e-reader....maybe there's something there. But "adios netbooks and laptops"? Let's slow down here a minute and work from the premise that this device has the same basic functionality as the iPod Touch (which seems to be the case). Given that, we're talking about a device with a host lot of limitations that a $400 Windows 7 netbook doesn't have. It doesn't let you download and install anything except through iTunes. Anyone who isn't familiar with the term "jailbreak", might wanna start doing research. Jobs points out that you can watch Youtube on the iPad. You can watch anything you want on a netbook, with an honest-to-god full-fledged browser that supports Flash, Java, and other basic features we take for granted. No Hulu or Netflix on the iPad, nor does Apple or AT&T want you to have them, as evidenced by how they're condemning the Hulu iPhone app to oblivion. It won't let you install drivers for devices that aren't iPad-specific. Don't expect to be slapping on a DVD drive or media readers for your SD cards. Don't even bank on it accepting your keychain flash drive. And that brigns us to the most glaring deficiency: 16 GB of storage for $500. Load your mp3 library up, and if you're anything like me you'll have about 4GB left over for everything else.The big question here isn't whether or not we can pay as we go, but rather what are our alternatives for getting 3G (or 4G) on this device? Because if AT&T's contract is the only way to get data, then allowing you to quit their plan at any time is kind of a canard. You didn't pay the $130 extra to not have 3G.I already have a data plan for my home and my iPhone. Can I take a 4G modem that I can get as part of a "home-and-roaming" package deal from Clear or Comcast, plug it into a USB port, and install the proprietary software? Can I tether my smartphone to it? How about letting me use the data plan I already have for my iPhone? If those options are on the table, I can milk data plans I'm already paying for. If not, I don't see paying an extra $130 bucks and then shelling out for yet another data plan, and that places it behind a netbook again.Btw, AT&T's iPhone data plan blocks you from downloading anything over 10MB. Notice I didn't say throttle, I said block. "Go connect to a wifi hotspot if you want this podcast, you schnook" is the message you'll get.Contrary to what pundits assert, the iPhone didn't take off just because it had the magical Apple brand, but rather because it offered a killer combo of features than you couldn't get from any other device that could fit in your pocket or on your belt. It's easy to forget that now because iPhone has some competition, but they're stuck playing catch-up.Not so much the case here. There are TONS of Windows 7 slates coming out. I don't see the iPad doing anything they can't outdo (GPS maybe?). Keep your eyes cast on that Lenovo Thinkpad, folks. You heard it here.Bottome line: Whew. What a relief. I do not need to need another thing.</blockquote>

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