Several of my friends have recently asked me my opinion on iPad vs Kindle.
I found I'm not reading many BOOKS on it, ala the Kindle. What it is spectacular for is everything else, especially given the long battery life. You'll notice this is mainly geared towards content CONSUMPTION, not necessarily a whole lot of content GENERATION.
- email reading, filing, short replies
- iPad native newspaper apps (NY Times, WSJ, FT, BBC, Reuters)
- multiple calendars coordination/deconflicting
- RSS Newsreader (Pulse)
- Netflix streaming
- Picasa/Flickr/pictures of any sort.
- videos on YouTube, TED, and Vimeo, in addition to short videos (Daily Show, 30 Rock, Rachel Maddow).
- taking text notes at an ALL day conference just on battery power, I have the keyboard dock
- web browsing in general
Via work, I have a Verizon 3G MiFi (wireless hot spot), so that gives real added value to the WiFi only iPad (and 4 other devices). I think ATT's pricing is pretty expensive for their iPad 3G service.
On a subjective note, and one I just can't seem to adequately describe, the iPad is nice just to have around the house everywhere. I take it on the deck, in the hammock, on the porch. It gets quick use (10-20 min) at a time for whatever task I want it to do, and then done.
For some reason, I always feel anxious about disturbing someone when they are on a laptop, not so with the iPad, and it is very easy to go back to whatever it is you're doing on the iPad. It is wicked fast, must faster than iPhone, and the battery lasts for DAYS.
Again, I think one's decision rests on whatever you want this type of device to do for YOU. Hope this helps...