Bill Gates hates the iPad... Surprised?

I'm not. Of course he has relinquished his post as CEO of Microsoft, his future still depends on it in stock. Regardless, Mr. Gates does have a good point. It will take a while for mainstream users to ditch their current input methods (e.g., keyboard, pens, etc.). After all, it is the way all of us are accustomed to using our devices.

 I can only imagine how the keyboard on the iPad will operate. I won't dock it until I try it of course, but think about the problems you have with your capacitive touchscreen devices (iPhone/iPod Touch, any Android phone, etc.) today. You will have to keep constantly looking at the keyboard itself, disabling the possibility of looking at what you are typing. This task is less difficult on a smaller screen size because you don't have to look outside of your field of vision, but on a larger display I feel it would be laborious to look back and forth between your content and the (virtual) keyboard you are typing on.

Regardless, I feel like the iPad is trying to tackle too many markets. It's taking a stab at E-readers, netbooks, portable multimedia devices like the iPod and Archos devices, and gaming devices like the PSP and Nintendo DSi all at once. Unfortunately, most of what I have read and my personal feelings are that it is just an over-hyped, over-sized version of the iPod Touch. Literally, the only differences in user experience are the 3G capabilities (through AT&T of course, make your own assumptions) and minute differences in the operating system and some apps.

All this and they want you to pay (in some forms) over $500? I know Apple is no stranger to luxury prices. I also know that regardless of what they produce, Apple fanboys will eat them up and proclaim that Apple has made leaps and bounds in future the future of technology (which, I will admit they did with the iPhone). But I feel as though it's a little too soon to be taking stabs at completely capacitive touch input.

With that said, I side with Bill Gates on this subject in that I would rather have a touch-enabled netbook with a physical keyboard and standard input/output than be bound to Apple connections and deal with a substandard product. Maybe someday when more manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon will I consider a device like the iPad. Your thoughts?