HTML5 = non-proprietary.
Flash = proprietary.

HTML5 > Flash.

Give me a break.

The guy went to the US because he could. He didn't want to wait, he didn't want to jump the queue, and he could afford it. It wasn't that waiting "would kill him", it was that he had the money to do it, so *why* wait? He certainly didn't do it because our healthcare system would kill him.

Let me tell you a *true* story:

My dad was born in 1933. That makes him 77 years old. He had his hip replaced 15 years ago. About 7 years ago he contracted an infection (one of those nasty antibiotic resistant ones that are so popular these days) and it settled in his hip. Multiple courses of antibiotics didn't help, so they pulled the artificial hip out, replaced it with a "block" (a non-functioning hip doused in antibiotics), then a month and a half later, they replaced the hip again.

A year later, that pesky infection came back. This time, no bullshitting around. His doctor got him an appointment with one of the top artificial hip guys in Canada. It took a couple weeks (not months or years). They scheduled Dad for another series of operations - the hip came out, a new block went in and this time it took care of that infection. Then back in for another surgery, and a new artificial hip.

It's been 5 or 6 years since that last operation, and my Dad is doing great. We're not bankrupt, we didn't have to take out a loan or 2nd mortgage to pay for it. And all this happened when he was in his *70s*. Nowhere along the line did anyone say "Oh, you're over 50, you're not worth it". We didn't get any kind of special treatment either - my dad's just an average retiree who lives in a small town in Southern Ontario.

I love our healthcare system. It may have its faults here and there, but it most certainly works.

But you have a small, tiny screen. With no window manager. In order to "Google something while composing email", you have to switch between two full screen applications.

So from an end user point of view, there is no difference between multitasking between two running apps, and starting/stopping two apps from saved states.

"So I can look over my contacts list while on a phone call"

You can do that on a "non-multitasking" iPhone. In fact, you can browse the web while on a call. Or compose an email for that matter.

None of the examples you've provided actually require a device that multitasks user applications. Now, if you had thrown down the "run an instant messenger in the background" argument, *then* you might've had something... but push notifications work surprisingly well for that too.

You just *think* you want multitasking because you haven't realized yet that the way you interact with full-screen modal apps in a small handheld device is very different from how you work in a windowing desktop operating system.

Sorry, *NO* multitasking in the new OS. The response of the Microsoft-using phone community is going to be *so* much fun to watch over the next few months.

My mom doesn't use USB sticks (there's a bad joke in there somewhere). Neither does she write code in an IDE (seriously? You're concerned you can't build code on a tablet device). She doesn't care about Flash.

She reads books. She watches videos. She sends and receives email. She looks at pictures of her grandkids. She plays the occasional game (like the kind you find in the app store).

The iPad is a *perfect* device for this kind of person. Why would I buy it? Well when it's $10 more than a Kindle DX, why the hell wouldn't I buy it?

As for "office" apps, did you miss the bit in the Keynote about Apple releasing the iWork suite for it? If that's not good enough, then how about this: both *Microsoft* and *IBM* have been making noises about developing for the iPad (sources: http://www.t3.com/news/microsoft-hints-at-office-for-ipad?=43603 and http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/ibm_plans_to_design_apps_aimed_at_ipad/

You obviously don't get it. You want a full-featured computer. One that you can play WoW on, write some Java in Netbeans or Eclipse, maybe download a few torrents and re-encode them from DIVX to some other format.

You don't want an iPad. An iPad is a general purpose computing device meant for the 95% of the population that *doesn't* do all of that. Yes, they're out there and there are a *lot* of them. Way more than there are of us. And they'll want iPads, for the exact same reason that they're all buying iPhones over other manufacturer's phones.

My mom and sisters never complain that the iPhone doesn't multitask. They don't care that the iPhone isn't an open platform, or that you have to go through the Apple store to develop these things.

As the *only* techie in a decidedly non-techie family, I can tell you that the average person just doesn't give a crap about the stuff we geeks love.

You watch - the iPad is going to do *very* well, much to our combined consternation.

Tell me, when you and your mom video conference, do you often hold the camera in such a way so as to get a clear view of your nasal passages?

Because that's what video conferencing on a tablet would be like. If it's on your lap, it's POINTING UP YOUR NOSE.

But tell your mom not to worry - she will soon be able to enjoy nasal video conferencing, as a recent job post at Apple indicates that they're looking at an iPad w/a camera.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_job_posting_hints_at_a_camera_in_future_ipads/

Mmmmm. Nostrils.

I've had Flash on my N800 for years too. And I hate it. Incredibly slow. This is one of the reasons why Apple is doing the right thing by dropping Flash in their browser. I mean, what's the point? Having a web page that renders well and quickly except for blue boxes, or having "flash support" that results in your browser slowing to a crawl on all but the most "lightweight" flash pages?

And, to offer an opposing view:

I was until very recently a mature student in a university physics program. Most of my classmates in the Science dept were between 19 and 24. And probably 90% of them were *not* as comfortable with technology as the professors assumed they were. Sure, they could operate Microsoft Office, Facebook and a few websites well enough, but when presented with a new app or technology, they almost always preferred going back to what they were comfortable with.

I now work for that university, looking after their online learning management systems (for distance ed courses). And I'd say the profs and the 19 year old students are at about the same level of comfort with this stuff. A certain percentage just "gets in", while the majority struggles.

The funny thing is that many of the profs are intimidated by their students, thinking that they are all technology wizards due to their age ... yet the students aren't any better with the learning management stuff than the profs are.

Yes, you can load your own documents on the iPad. Unlike an iPod / iPhone, the iPad has a "shared folder" that is accessible to all applications, and that you can load your own files into via USB:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the_ipad_an_inside-the-park_home_run/

(near the bottom)

"I have begun to look over what's new in iPhone OS 3.2 SDK. It offers some positive signs. In particular, applications will be able to "share" documents they create using a new file-sharing support feature. All documents to be shared are placed in a Shared Directory, which will mount on the desktop when the device is connected to a computer. This works independently of iTunes syncing."

I have an iPhone dev account and have confirmed this in the SDK myself. So yes, you can load your own documents onto it.

Ah, but:

I'm the family mechanic. For some reason my family is full of lazy bastards who can't figure out how to pump gas into their car. It's a simple process, but they just can't be bothered to do it themselves. I've spent *years* trying to teach them, but they always have some excuse or another as to why they can't do it themselves.

Now they discover that the Ford gas stations are all full-serve, while every other gas station has gone self-serve. I have two options:

1. I tell my family members to buy the non-Ford cars. I give them instructions on how to pump gas. I write it on a little post-it note and stick it to their dashboard. But invariably, several times a week, they call me from the gas station and ask how to turn on the pump, or where the gas tank is, or something similar. And I know that I'll have to drive other there in my non-Ford vehicle and pump it for them.

or

2. I tell my family members to pay a bit more money and get the Ford. Sure, they can only buy gas from Ford itself but they're OK with that. They like having it done for them because they just aren't into cars like I am. Sure, they like driving around and getting from A to B - but they *really don't care* how they got there, or if their Ford is missing some of the features of my non-Ford. They're just happy to get to their destination without breaking down.

You know what else? If they go with option #2, then I get to enjoy my long non-Ford drives uninterrupted. I discover that they just don't call me for car advice as much. When they do call, it's because they actually want to talk to *me*, and not for support.

After a few years of this, I really begin to appreciate Ford for that they offer, and for freeing up my time.

Does that help you to understand it better?

Have you done any Android development work? I have, and I can say that it's more likely that Activities & Intents have fueled his rage. The debugging thing was just the kindling that got the fire started.