There are plenty of practical reasons to think that the iPad (or a device like it) will be a large success. I completely agree that there is a target market tha

There are plenty of practical reasons to think that the iPad (or a device like it) will be a large success. I completely agree that there is a target market that wants a slick looking device that just works, and Apple is positioning itself to go after that market. Most of those people don't care in the slightest if they have to go to Apple to get a battery replaced, they'd probably want to buy a new device at that point anyways. I think the concern here is the precedent that Apple's success in this market would mean. Apple is notoriously hostile towards their development community, and is providing increasingly locked down platforms which make them the gate keepers for certain types of innovation (want integrated voice recognition on the iPad - wait for Apple to do it). If Apple succeeds here, others will feel they can create the same sort of locked platforms. You can already see this happening. There's also a concern] for the future developers. If their homework requires a word processor and a web browser, then their parents might never see the need to buy them a general purpose computer.