Well if the iPad is supposed to replace my net book, then I at least should be able to upload files from safari, or have some kind of universal file system that all my apps can access. It should be a stand alone machine like the windows tablets. The pc tablets might not be the best thing out now but they're moving in the right direction. iOS just isn't there yet.
Oh, I'm sure there are a boatload of apps out there that let you upload files. The only thing I can think of that the iPad cannot do that a netbook can is Flash support. Anything else can be done with some apps. It's just that netbooks also get horrid battery life, come with an OS that is just too demanding of the specs they get, and they're usually heavy and not so easy to walk around with and whip out whenever you want. The form factor is easily one of the best things about the iPad.
Of course netbooks also have limitations like small screens. On a netbook, you get a small screen, and everything on the internet is small. With the iPad, pinching to zoom makes it much better for browsing the internet.
For traveling, the iPad is better thanks to a battery life that will live through the flight. It's also the perfect photography companion if you've got the CCK.
4.2 also fixes the YouTube shortage, making the iPad a great YouTube browser as well. With a netbook, by the way, you get access to a wide range of applications, but how many of them run that well? Can you play most games on the netbook? I doubt it. With the AppStore on the iPad, you get a crapload of apps, games, etc. made just for it. You can't really get that kind of quality with a netbook.
It depends on what you want out of it, I suppose. For school work, the iPad isn't that amazing. I used it for taking notes for two weeks before realizing that typing on the touchscreen is a pain and is rather slow. After bringing my laptop (Inspiron 1545) to class, yes it's heavy, yes it can only go for 6-7 hours before dying providing it's on Power Saver, and yes it's hot, but hot damn is it worth it. The teacher cannot keep up with how fast I can write notes for once, not the other way around.
That said, there are some things an iPad just beats a laptop at without denying it. I couldn't take my laptop on a plane. Couldn't take it on a train or a bus or a car for long trips (or even short ones..it's not that portable.) It's more like a work station that you can carry around and "deploy" into different environments. The difference with the iPad is that you can deploy it onto yourself rather than the environment and thus it's that much more practical.
As a business device, it's probably not too amazing at it. There may be some nice apps out there that make it pretty useful at certain tasks but obviously it'll never beat a laptop; it's not trying to. For casual use, like internet browsing, Facebook, Youtube, etc. the iPad is just better for those tasks.
For heavier use, you probably need a computer, and they made the iPad with that in mind (hence the fact that you need to hook it up to a computer to even use it for the first time.)
Anyway, that's my stance on the whole iPad vs. Netbook/Laptop argument. I wrote it purely out of months of using them. I'm not one of these people here in denial going, "aww jeah I never use my computer anymore lolz." The entirety of the iPad forum seems to be a couple of people in a circle trying to make themselves feel better about buying it. You see a ton of these threads going "iPad is still awesome
" and "lol playbook" and a dozen more about how a person is using their iPad in X way and so on. It's sad, but that's MacRumors for you.
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