Pioneering spirit

My good pal Joe Kissell writes in Take Control Of Working With Your iPad:

Apple would like the gadget-buying public to believe the iPad is a magical device that will forever change the way people interact with digital media, the Internet, and each other. It’s not merely a big iPod, a keyboard-less laptop, or a tablet computer that just happens to be running iOS instead of the Windows, Linux, or Android operating systems. It is, in fact, an entirely new category of device that will break old paradigms and spawn new ones.
And you know what? Apple may turn out to be right about all that. Years from now we may all look back on the introduction of the iPad as the moment the world changed. But if that happens, it won’t be because of a chunk of aluminum, glass, plastic, and silicon. It will be because of the clever apps developers came up with, the novel uses iPad owners discovered for their devices, and the ways in which those two factors influenced the development of hardware and software— including future generations of the iPad, competing products, and spin-offs from Apple and other manufacturers.
My point is this. Even though Apple has sold millions of iPads and developers have shipped tens of thousands of iPad apps, this platform is still in its infancy—and you, as an early iPad owner, are a pioneer, a trailblazer. You are among the people who will figure out what the iPad is best for, and who will create the demand for new and improved apps, accessories, and iPad models. What you do will help determine what the iPad is, and what it becomes.

Well said. I've been noticing that the look and feel and usability of the iPad apps' interface have progressed markedly, even in less than a year. It'll be interesting to see what a tablet is like in, say, 2015 only. Keeeeewl.

Just like many people in 1995 failed to see the potential of the World Wide Web, many people now see tablets like the iPad as mere toys. But the potential is absolutely staggering.

(BTW, I recommend the Take Control ebooks. Very readable and helpful all.)