Judging by the reaction from the multiple Einsteins here on MacRumors to virtually EVERY new product Apple has introduced in the last ten years, this site and the majority of people who post here aren't even CLOSE to representing Apple's buying public. If you think the reaction to the iPad is intense, go back and look at the reaction to the iPod when it was introduced. Go back and look at the reaction to the iPhone.
If the reaction to the iPad here on MacRumors had been positive, I'd have sold off all my Apple stock immediately. Trust me, this place DOES NOT in any way represent Apple's market. The problem is that everyone here THINKS they do.
As to the lack of a front camera...I agree that would have been nice if they have a good video chat paradigm (Skype too, not just iChat). Whether they took it out to keep the cost down (main reason, I suspect), or to save battery consumption, hardware/software problems, or part of some vast marketing conspiracy, I don't know, I don't care. Even if it is, at least I can admire a company who's taking care of its shareholders. I'll buy version 1.0 because I need it now. Like you, when version 2.0 comes out, I'll evaluate it and if I need what it has, I'll buy it too. As I sit here, I note my three iPods here on my desk.
Here.....check out
this thread about the iPod from 2001. Look familiar? Sheesh. If these MacRumors geniuses WERE actually running Apple...well, we'd all be trying to type on crippled netbooks right now.