LOL. it is indeed a very hot debate over here.

i was actually "invited" by an associate to witness this travesty amongst apple fanboys; how divided they have gotten over this iPad (the slim, lightweight et cetera gadget and yes the only element missing is wings)

my honest opinion? the way i look at this, is to give the iPad a little run for at least 3 firmware updates before laying down your final judgment.

allow adequate time and feedbacks for apple to tweak and finetune the iPad and if by then, it still cannot prove its (both) monetary and quality worth, it should qualify for cnet's worst gadget of the year.

not pointing fingers or accusing anyone in particular, but from my own personal observation, the public (especially malaysians) have this misconception that apple products are flawless and God-sent. oh come on... seriously?

if i could also share my own observation, the reactions to the iPad mimics the iPhone, when it was first launched.

the number of skeptics were skyrocketing and just looked at how the iPhone has evolved to this date.

people tend to forget that it was (actually) apple's first time venturing into the mobile phone industry and competing head to head with old timers like nokia.

i love listening/reading a good debate, but making speculations before actually seeing/fondling an actual product is seriously not justified.

on an unrelated note, i'm actually trying (very hard) not to be a blind fan boy to be honest. IMHO, a true fanboy, will always try out or evaluate its nearest competitors before making a final conclusion. example? running windows concurrently with my MBP 15", use a blackberry (and i'm hoping to get my hands on the nexus one, by the time it reaches the australian shores)

i'm off guys and have a great federal holiday!