I enjoy using my iPad and iPod touch; they are very well designed. The iPad is a game changer; it has changed the way I think about all of my computing devices. I don't use my Mac that much these days, mostly if I'm typing a longer e-mail, editing photos or videos, and that's about it.
Personally I am quite pleased that iDevices makes scads of money.
As an AAPL shareholder, my main worry is tripping over these large sacks of money strewn all over the place.
Don't misunderstand, the iPad is a great device and has great potential. Epocrates and other medical software is great and many businesses use iPads now for easy access to files and documentation. I know a few major law firms that implement iPads.
However, it seems with the billions in hardware sales via the iTunes Store model Apple has made, iOS and iDevices have taken a front seat to what Apple has meant for so many of us. Before the iPhone OS X beta's and development were frontpage news. Now almost EVERY post is about iOS and iDevices. Lion? Not so much.
What happened to resolution independence, Sun Microsystems ZFS, and tweaks such as the "Answering Machine" function in iChat that was in a Leopard beta that allowed recorded outgoing video/audio messages and recording incoming messages in voice/video format. That feature would be great for the deaf and it would allow iChat better usage, and there was a possible implementation of landlines/VoIP systems with OS X and iChat.
All these features were dropped, Apple placed a lot of OS X developers on its iPhone development in 2006-2007, and this seems to have not changed. Now the OS X App Store?
Lion seems more of a meow than a roar.
I know a lot of professionals who have sworn by OS X (Photographers, industrial designers, etc) who are considering switching to Windows.
After Apple went to Intel the Power Mac G5 was a reasonably priced tower and was dropped for server grade Xeon chipsets in Mac Pro's with pricetags professionals and businesses cannot afford. XServe is gone, soon OS X Server, the dedicated CCFL LCD ACD's were dropped and replaced with a stripped down iMac LED LCD panel. All this points to Apple's focus on cash grabbing consumer grade electronics.
Where does that leave the Apple professionals who have been with the company for decades? IPads and iMac's are not powerful enough, and Mac Pro's are overkill. I have a friend on the Final Cut Pro development team working for a launch on April. From what I gather, don't expect much of an overhaul. I've even heard hints they may integrate publishing a la iPhoto to Facebook, et al via Final Cut. What?! This is software the film industry has used for years. Now many are considering investing in Avid and Adobe Premiere Pro.
🙁