It's both the hardware and the software. For $500, you can get a high quality, well designed piece of hardware tightly coupled with the software and it does everything you need it to do. If the iPad breaks, throw it out and get a new one. But chances are, it won't break (that is, unless you break it).
Meanwhile for $500, you can get a cheap plastic laptop that will break on its own through normal wear and tear. It runs an OS that is far more advanced than what you need. The OS needs maintenance, and you need to pay attention to what you're doing. It's super hard to keep a computer running. You might not think it is, but look at the existence of Geek Squad and how many people are afraid of their computer, or can't do simple things. But they're using iPads like an expert.
That's post-PC. You and I will keep our x86 systems with massive globs of RAM and terrabytes of hard drive space because we need them. And the rest of the world will finally get to use their computing devices the way they want to use them for a change.
Meanwhile for $500, you can get a cheap plastic laptop that will break on its own through normal wear and tear. It runs an OS that is far more advanced than what you need. The OS needs maintenance, and you need to pay attention to what you're doing. It's super hard to keep a computer running. You might not think it is, but look at the existence of Geek Squad and how many people are afraid of their computer, or can't do simple things. But they're using iPads like an expert.
That's post-PC. You and I will keep our x86 systems with massive globs of RAM and terrabytes of hard drive space because we need them. And the rest of the world will finally get to use their computing devices the way they want to use them for a change.