the god-tablet...err 'iPad'... P0ST 0F D00M!!

Since I've been rather busy the last few weeks with all this life stuff, I never did get around to posting my thoughts about the iPad before or after it's official christening, so here's a summary of my thoughts - err, links to posts I generally like:

the buildup to the 11th tablet direct from god:
---Gruber's excellent critique of the godTablet's true conceptual predecessor, the Newton

T3H HYP3!!!!1!!!:
---"Don't you have any inside sources you can contact?" (PvP comic)

the MaxiPad:
---the price is fucking amazing
---hey, the name isn't any worse than iTouch, I mean the "iPod Touch"...
---yes, it is just "an overgrown iTouch," but that's exactly the point, that's precisely what I (we?) have been wanting for years ---sure, it's not a netbook, but I have no interest in one of those anyway, and if I want something more advanced there's always the Axiotron Modbook. It is the perfect device for the bus or taking notes in class (with a bluetooth keyboard)
---I cannot wait till I have the money decide I can live without food for a month and buy one - the 3G plan is EXACTLY what I have been wanting for years and can probably replace my current hack for getting cellular data fro $30/mo (well, okay, cheaper would be nice - $30 is just about the upper limit I can afford a month...)(not having to jailbreak to use it as a mobile wifi modem would be nice would make this a way better product)
---that whole flash kerfuffle: sure, flash 'would be nice,' and I really wish they used a flashblock type setup where you leave flash off by default but click an item to enable flash as needed, but I can live without probably and if this hastens Flash's demise then so much the better (disclosure: I FUCKING HATE FLASH)
---the DRM/app lock-in/gulag: yes, it sucks, they need to give users the option to use non-approved apps without having to endure the jailbreak arms-race, but it is a sacrifice I will gladly make for this kind of quality design (until someone comes along and makes something better - sadly I doubt this will happen anytime in the next decade or two)

the real importance/significance and why it actually matters:
---well, for one thing we need to actually need to make computers work for normal users and the backlash is really "future shock" [via Marco] - the significance is really in the long run, in this new category of consumer electronics appliances
---Alan Kay's take:

When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.

[via Daring Fireball]

the aftermath:
---CARS does a remarkable foreshadowing post (technically this was posted beforehand, but it works so well...)