Hi Jerry, you have quite a negative view of Apple but you are entitled to it. Me, on the other hand, think quite favorably about them. What is wrong with a company to set rules for accessing its equipment? I see nothing wrong with that. And having to pay for apps? OMG, should it all be free? That would be something and, surely, Apple's market value would plunge fast. Explain that to the shareholders. Apple is Apple and you either like them or not. It is a company which pushes the envelope, a little bit at a time. Ever since I got my iPad (3G) about 6-8 months ago, I have left my note / netbook untouched. I can do everything on my iPad that I would previously have done on the laptop. And, then there are many inexpensive or free apps. A lot of them apply to boating. Show me other software that comes close to the variety and number that Apple is offering. As for pink or any other color, why not? Clever marketing. And that is exactly what sets them apart from the rest of the generic computer crowd, which source their boxes in Asia and slap their name onto it.
As to the appeal of iPhone, my wife is a great example. All she ever wanted is a phone to make phone calls. She could not care less about computers and gadgets. When I got my iPhone and demosntrated it to her, her reaction was, I want one, too. She quickly became an iPhone fan and uses it constantly. Do I need to tell you, how she reacted to the iPad? Probably, not. She loves it. And, so do I.
Am I an Apple fan? Not really. I do my primary work on a PC. But iPad versus netbook et al, I prefer my iPad any time.
Just think about emailing. With a lap/netbook, you open the lid, you switch it on, you wait for it to boot, then you open your email client, probably enter a user name and password and then you wait. All together this may take a few minutes.
With an iPad, it is literally 2 clicks and probably no more than 2-3 seconds and I am reading my email.
Anyway, end of rant.
Cheers,
Ronald