Okay I'm sorry but this is ridiculous. If the iPad ships, as expected, with a multi-core processor, a revised screen (same resolution but improved quality), 512Mb and camera(s) for facetime... how is it behind the competition in any serious way? The practical difference between a 1200x800 screen and the 1024x768 in the iPad is almost non-existant, 512Mb versus 1Gb is only relevant if there's software that actually NEEDS that memory (which isn't the case in iOS), the cameras are good enough for video chat and that really is just about all most 10" tablets will ever use them for... the list goes on and on. How on earth you can claim with a straight face that the iPad would be DOA with the rumoured specs I have no idea.
Actually I'd say the "Apple is typically behind in hardware" line is nonsense too. Yes, they don't usually go for the most powerful kit available but there are trade offs for that in ways that are FAR more valuable in the real world, namely power consumption, heat and size. The Xoom is a good example of the difference here, a lot of power under the hood but battery life significantly worse than the iPad as a trade off and very little real world difference in the vast majority of tasks. Saying Apple have different priorities in hardware than most manufacturers (and spec nerds) would be far more accurate but that doens't mean they're 'worse'.
