I agree. It's ridiculous that you need a machine that runs iTunes in order to use an iOS device. Besides leaving Linux users out, it just seems burdensome. I know some people with PCs/laptops on their last legs, and while an iPad will meet ALL of their computing needs, theyll still need a (or have access to anothers) PC/Mac. Its also not very future forward. Steve said were heading into a post-PC, ultra-mobile world. So why do we still need a PC to use our ultra-mobiles?
If the device fails for some reason, and all the data is lost, you'll be glad it's backed up on a computer. If Apple gets the cloud storage thing working, then you could have your data remotely saved. Until then, it makes sense to sync and backup to a computer.