Why I may not be buying an iPad come launch day.

I've been pretty damn excited by the launch of the iPad. Since it was announced I've known I would own one. There were several reasons for this, both pragmatic and sheer geekiness. My G4 iBook is both creaky and old (and rum soaked, another story.) All I use my iBook for is web browsing and, when on holiday, storing photos from my digital cameras. I had been looking at a new MacBook Pro to replace it, but an iPad actually does what I need at half the cost.

And I've always dreamed of playing Command & Conquer on a tablet. How much more sci-fi does it get than commanding an army of tanks on your lap with your fingers? Thanks to EA, the iPad does that! (Albeit at a cost.)

But the current announcement that the iPad will not ship until the end of May to international customers. And pricing in those regions will remain in the dark until May 10th... Well, I saw that coming. Apple had given no pricing details as of the 8th of April, for a device on sale only 3 weeks later, it was suspicious.

But the end of May? All bets are on Apple announcing a new iPhone G4 for release in June (following the pattern of the original iPhone and the iPhone 3GS) Considering that the iPad wont be running the newest version of iPhone OS 4.0 until the Autumn, why would I buy an iPad now? First gen adopters always get shafted, and now for those adopters outside the states, there's a much better feature enhanced O.S. due for release potentially as little as 4 weeks later. All wrapped up inside hardware likely to be much, much better than what is out there now from Apple.

The iPad has done exceptionally well in the states, and Apple blames its delay worldwide on the level of demand in the States. But really, were they not expecting this thing to sell like hot cakes? Why weren't there enough to go around?

My excitement for the iPad has died somewhat, because just round the corner, there will be the newer much more exciting iPhone 4.0 OS running on the new iPhone G4. What is the point in my buying the latest kit, only for my new iPhone to outshine it a mere 6 weeks later?

OpenTTD might swing it... But I doubt many people will be swung to the iPad based solely on a 15 year old DOS game. Pretty sure that's just me.

...

I loved that game. Why aren't we commuting to work on MagLevs already? The year 2000 was 10 years ago for chrissakes.