Apple has publicly disclosed its new tablet:

The iPad

What does it do?

Web, Email, YouTube, App Store

Good, but not astounding

Usual Apple media tools: iTunes, iPhoto, videos

Good, nothing new

eBook reader

I haven't used this or the Kindle, but I've seen the Kindle and it looks more specialized.

Personal Information Management (PIM): notes, calendar, address book

Yawn, boring!

Home screen

Why do they list this under features?

What I Don't Like About it Already

• $499 base price is too steep
• All proprietary hardware; no USB host?!?
• No hybrid screen
• No handwriting recognition??
• No mention of what operating system it runs
• Seems awfully proprietary
• Requires an iTunes store account

What I Want to Know More About

• A4 Chip
  • Was it designed by PA Semi?
  • Does it run on a PowerPC architecture?
  • Might be... A4 is kind of like G3 / G4 / G5
  • It could be the ARM platform
  • Apparently it runs at 1 Ghz
• Operating System
• Battery

Without having tried one yet, I have to reserve final judgement, but so far I'm totally disappointed with it. To me, its less cool than the Newton, and the only reason Apple has for producing it is the their Multi-touch technology and the App Store. Might be compelling for some, but not at all for me. I'd rather get a Nokia n900 for a handheld, a netbook for a tiny computer, and a Kindle for ebooks.