Ultimately the IPad will be a game changer. It will require a killer app however. And future generations will need to step up functionality (phone, camera...).
Apple is as equally adept at marketing as they are in tightly controlling the design of their products. Of course their products are not without issue, but many of the Apple crowd seem to take such criticism personally.
The boss just bought a Macbook Air. After applying an OS update and rebooting I couldn't get the machine to join the WiFi network. It could see it just fine. Try as I might it failed to join. Finally, after rebooting again, it joined just fine. And I thought only PC's needed this treatment. Even my IPod nano requires a restore on occasion.
I will admit that generally Mac's are more reliable than their PC counterparts. But considering the virtually finite and defined confines of their operating environment, this degree of reliability should be expected.
The IPad will launch a fleet of competitors. I think it will be a big hit.
Measure twice, cut three times, start over. Repeat as necessary.