I don’t think people are looking at this right.

What you saw yesterday was a 0.8 beta. Parts just seem…sparse. Like there’s room for more. I could easily see a Camera showing up in 60 days…or in the 2nd version.

The problem is that to minimize what they have shown is to miss what they managed to do, which is completely develop a new hardware platform, rewrite an OS, and develop some pretty hefty new software, and do it fairly rapidly. It doesn’t WOW because they’re still filling in the gaps. It’s like looking at a luxury Hotel in the framing stages…you get a general idea of what it’s going to look like, but you can’t tell if the walls will be marble, or hammered copper.

What will this be good for?

Have you noticed all the schools that purchase or require a $1000 MacBook?

Dija notice this thing has a 10 hour battery life?

Notice it has art, wordprocessing, and presentation software?

No moving parts?

I think this will make a _stellar_ student computer. Kid brings it home at night to type up homework, and uses it at school for notes, books, etc. The non 3g version is roughly half the price of the MacBook. Probably including the keyboard dock, once discounts and bulk purchasing applies.

Where else would a light, stiff, bright, easy to write for, thing like this work well? Hospitals, perhaps? Having a device that didn’t have a camera is a _benefit_ there. Having that device be the _older, cheaper, iPad_ purchased in bulk, is a pretty good idea, too.

Having a school computer that can’t be an accomplice in video sexting?

The current pad is a niche product for my needs, but what I HAVE noticed from observing the past is that the folks who critique something like this because it’s missing a widget, or doesn’t have the storage of a competitor, are missing the REST of the picture. (“No WiFi, less storage than a nomad: lame!”http://ejschmidt.com/blog/tag/ipod/ )

I think back to the number of times my Laptop’s fans are running full blast, only to find Flash has crossed it’s eyes, then think how there’s no concept of ‘killing a process’ on my iPhone, and I think I know why it doesn’t have flash.

Disappointed in how it looks? Well, once you define a minimal design language…it’s hard to get any MORE minimal. That’s a two edged sword. The new hotness won’t _look_ like new hotness, but by the same token, the design gets out of the way for the important stuff, and there’s no plastic chrome to flake.

As far as the name? How many people did you think would admit to playing with their Wii?