After reading two opposing viewpoints on the iPad release, I do think that the iPad will be a big deal in the computer world. I do think that it can be used in a variety of different ways, but I also do not think that it will be able to replace a fully-featured computer. At least not for a little while.

At this point I see the iPad as being a very interesting, but also very expensive toy. I might get one someday, if I have the money to spare, but I don't need one at this very moment. I think that the normal consumers, especially in the older adult range, will feel similarly.

For all that its main purpose is multimedia, I would not be able to store my multimedia on CDs or DVDs and pop them into my iPad whenever I wanted. And after at least 10 years of active and intensive computer use, I have quite the collection of media on homemade CDs and DVDs. Especially the backups of projects I've started over the years. I am a bit of a media packrat, so I'm rather turned off by the idea of not being able to just pop in one of my CDs to listen to the music on there. Even more so for videos, because I have far more videos than would fit on the iPad.

I think the idea of the pop-up keyboard for typing is a good one, but considering the size of the iPad, it would be very cramped and uncomfortable to type on, much like with a netbook. The small size of the keyboard was a large factor in my complete apathy towards netbooks.

Also, I think that the fact that it is camera-less and mic-less will turn some people off. While I personally feel uncomfortable speaking to my electronic devices, I think there are many other people, the kind of people that use Skype or other video chat programs, who will be turned off of the iPad because they can't use it for video chat/calling friends, despite being on a cell network.

The article in favor of the universal iPad mentioned casual gamers, too. I consider myself to be a very casual gamer and I am proud of it. I most definitely do not like the more "serious" games. Instead, I prefer short, simple, even stupid games that I can play for five minutes and turn off. To that end, I mostly play flash or shockwave based games on various websites. If the iPad is like the iPhone and does not support flash programs, that will be a big turnoff for me. If I want a fast game, I want to be able to go to a free website and just load up a game quickly. Either that, or I would like to be able to load games from my personal collection by means of, say, a CD drive.

Personally, the biggest appeal of the iPad is in its pressure-sensitive screen. In the recent past, I got a Wacom Bamboo tablet for my PC so that I could have the pressure sensitivity in my art programs. I would be very interested in seeing Photoshop on the iPad because I think the two would go very well together. I once tried to use a pressure-sensitive drawing program for my Nintendo DS, and it worked very well before the card it was on stopped working properly. However, I doubt that Photoshop would be installable on the iPad and, even if it was, I would have no way to properly store my works without access to a much larger computer. Since I would need the larger computer anyways, I would rather just spend my money on upgrading my desktop or saving for a larger finger-controlled computer tablet.

And if I would be better served dumping that same $500 into my existing computer, for a touch-screen monitor or a new computer tablet, that shoves the iPad into the category of Expensive Toy instead of being a necessity for my daily life, like my desktop is. I am perhaps old-fashioned for doing so, but during all this iPad hype, I'm rooting for the desktop tower computer. I think that, while they are hard to move, most people do not need to move their computers all over the place, and some might even benefit from spending a few hours without a computer near them. I like being able to walk away from my computer and not have it bother me until I go back to it, in my own time. The only thing I really want to be portable is my music, and that is accomplished much easier by purchasing a $30 mp3 player than a $500 iPad.