I may end of keeping a magazine or two in print. I do enjoy reading those, and you can't really read and LCD screen in direct sunlight or in the bathtub.

But newspapers? Those are being canceled for good. They come too often and they clutter up my apartment and most of what is in them I don't want. Plus, I do more reading of newspapers online than in print.

For magazines like National Geographic and The Economist, I do most of my reading in print. But a National Geographic iPad app could really kick the print editions butt. They should really make an app that highlights their core strengths in photography, maps and infographic. All of those can be much more interactive on an iPad than in print.

My Economist subscription is coming up next month. I think I'll try reading it on my iPad for a month or so and see which I prefer.

I may end of keeping a magazine or two in print. I do enjoy reading those, and you can't really read and LCD screen in direct sunlight or in the bathtub.

But newspapers? Those are being canceled for good. They come too often and they clutter up my apartment and most of what is in them I don't want. Plus, I do more reading of newspapers online than in print.

For magazines like National Geographic and The Economist, I do most of my reading in print. But a National Geographic iPad app could really kick the print editions butt. They should really make an app that highlights their core strengths in photography, maps and infographic. All of those can be much more interactive on an iPad than in print.

My Economist subscription is coming up next month. I think I'll try reading it on my iPad for a month or so and see which I prefer.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by pwthornton: Why and how I’d use an iPad and similar tablets: http://bit.ly/bTSd0C...

#3G iPad costs $130 more than Wifi-only version
#I'll have to pay an early termination fee to get out of my contract with Verizon (probably around $150)
#I can use a Mifi with any device that supports wifi, whereas I'd be tying my data to one device with a 3G ipad
#Verizon has better national data service and gives me flexibility when I'm traveling (although AT&T is good in the DC-Baltimore area)
#Wifi uses less power than 3G. If I use the Mifi to provide wifi, I'll get better battery life out of the iPad. Judging by the iPhone, the difference between wifi and 3G for the iPad will probably be good for several hours of battery.

I agree that cost, especially if we think of it in economics terms, is
hugely dependent on planned use. For example, you ride the MARC and
the Metro, so an iPad makes a heck of a lot more sense in your
environment than mine. I live in San Antonio, where there is horrible
public transportation, but traffic jams allow you to get some
computing done if you have a mobile broadband card–we even have 4G
rolling out! Alas, I haven't convinced the wife that a second laptop
nor a mobile broadband card of any kind is a necessity. I would love
to have something netbook-sized and -powered that's a tablet, has
Bluetooth and mobile broadband built in so I can use it as a phone and
a browser, and has video-out and keyboard connectors for when I want
to see it and actually type.

As far as competitors go, there were a lot at CES from what I
understand, so maybe there's hope, and I share your excitement about
Chrome OS. Hell, if two or three extensions make it to the Chrome
browser, I might not fire up Firefox again (until it makes a great
leap forward in performance, at least). Also, if it's an open system I
would be very willing to pay the same price for comparable power to an
iPad. (I was also shocked at the iPad price point, but I don't know
that it's going to go down much; I guess it depends on if Apple treats
it like an iPhone, a MacBook or a Mac Mini.) Whether any of those
others survive is a totally different story, but if you look at MP3
players, there is hope.

You hit the nail on the head about tablets and OSes—Windows Tablet
Edition was a huge kludge and so very few apps could take advantage of
the stylus that didn't overwhelm the computer. I have a Cintiq,
Wacom's pen-and-screen display, and there are tasks in Photoshop,
Illustrator and InDesign that I can't imagine trying to do with a
mouse or (in my case) a trackball. But show me a sub-$2,000 tablet
that'll run Photoshop without get-a-cuppa-coffee pauses, and I'll eat
my hat. With mustard.

In any case, I think waiting for the second generation, whoever the
manufacturer, is a good idea—look at the difference in smartphones
from the old Treos to the first Blackberries to iPhones to
Droids/Nexuses (and the others generally moved up, but those are the
leaders in each generation).

I think the cost depends on how you plan to use it. If this is a device that you add to your existing computing and mobile life, than yes, it's not that cheap. The $499 model has the price down pretty well, but it's pretty lacking in features.

If, however, you would replace an existing computer with this, the price seems not so bad. So, is this an addition to product or an instead of product? Time will tell.

For me, I would most likely replace my laptop with a tablet, instead of having both. I have a desktop, a work laptop and my fiancee has a laptop. I simply would have no justification for having both a laptop and a tablet.

I'm not so sure that you will see devices that are similar to the iPad at a much lower price point in the short term. Many analysts were surprised at how low the price point came in at. $499 for a capacitive touch screen that size with decent power and features is competitive. Obviously, in time, we'll see the prices come down.

I'd expect to see within a few years a device like the first-gen iPad for around $299. At that price it becomes an addition-to product. It might even become a product where a family has one main computer and several iPads.

The public will come around to tablets in time. The problem is tablets of the past didn't make sense. They were expensive (typically much more than a laptop), had poor battery life and they had very few applications that really featured touch (after all they were based on standard OSes).

Now, am I buying the iPad? I most likely will have to read some reviews and run it through its paces before I do. I have an iPhone, but I waited until the iPhone 3G. I liked the idea of the first one, but it didn't make sense as a purchase until the 3G came out.

I may wait until the second generation iPad comes out or I may wait until a Chrome OS tablet comes out. I was really excited by the announcement of Chrome OS last year too.

I most likely will get one of these devices, because I am not pleased with my current mobile computing situation. I am not considering an iPad because I want the latest tech, but rather because I think it would be an upgrade over how I currently do things.