This is why I say that the iPad is a cynical thing: Apple can’t – or won’t – conceive of a future for personal computing that is both elegant and open, usable a

This is why I say that the iPad is a cynical thing: Apple can’t – or won’t – conceive of a future for personal computing that is both elegant and open, usable and free. Sheesh. It's not a computer. It's an appliance. If you want an open programmable device, they will cheerfully sell you a Mac. The thing that bothers me most about the iPad is this: if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I’d never be a programmer today. I’d never have had the ability to run whatever stupid, potentially harmful, hugely educational programs I could download or write. And if I had a dishwasher rather than a real computer as a kid, I'd never be a programmer today, either. Oh, wait. The two have nothing to do with each other, except that they both contain microprocessors.