I have read everything from complaints about a closed system to complaints about the networks it will support.

Closed systems do not bother me much.  I am perfectly happy with my wireless router.  I feel no desire to hack it beyond geeky curiosity, though my particular model is a favorite for hackers.  I ventured into cracking my iPhone in the beginning, but discovered that I really did not care much about the results.  my iPhone already does what I need and more.  Heck, I even have a very nice RealTime Audio analyzer iPhone app that I use to help set up the sound in my church with great results!

I have very little problems with ATT 3G.  This is probably because I live in the sticks and do not have to contend with millions of others in a small area trying to use the network.  Besides I am mostly around free wireless hotspots, and rarely have problems getting access to my mail and other services that I rely on.

what really interests me about the iPad is what I have read about how it feels, its supposed intuitive interface, and its blazing speed.  I will probably buy on as soon as I can.  I may not get the 3G version, but will likely focus on storage instead.  I am very interested in the iWork version for iPad.

Really the only thing that gives me pause is thinking about the developer tools that I run locally on my laptop.  Things like Eclipse, Navicat, pgAdmin, and even TextMate.  These will not be available.  does it matter?  Am I better off just sticking with my MackBook Pro?  I can see times when having something between my phone and my laptop would be cool.  I am not like many developers that I have worked with, in that I am also very comfortable in the command line.  VI is my friend, I am a master at piping unix commands to manipulate data, and psql is not scary to me.  Yes I have grown to enjoy nice development environments, but in a pinch I am not paralyzed when they are not available.  So the big question will be for me at least… Can I find a usable ssh client?

Finally, at these prices, I really believe that the iPad will be a game changer.  Like the iPhone, I believe that it will grow far beyond the naysayers expectations.  I for one, look forward to being awed by its design and usability.

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