While you've made your point on various counts, there are a few things that I'll contest here just because I think they're misleading. Overall, I will not agree that an iPad is a replacement for a laptop, the way techies use laptops. It is, however, a great replacement for a netbook, the way non-techies use a netbook.
Also, I'd assume you jailbreak your iPad. Yes, this means doing something to unlock features you should already have. But jailbreaking makes the iPad much more tech-friendly.
First I SSH and VNC into the home server (after paying any requisite app fees) and...now I have to type with an on-screen keyboard? And it's damn impossible to hit anything accurately with capacitive touch unless I zoom right up. Well this sucks, but moving on.
You get used to the on-screen keyboard very quickly, and the same with the touch screen. It's actually quite accurate once your fingers calibrate themselves :D. I would not recommend using emacs via an SSH client, though. I have tried, and it's not fun.
Now I need to read some files from a CD. Oh wait.
Honestly, I'm curious. When was the last time you've had to use a CD drive? It's been years for me, but maybe you (or I) have some non-standard use patterns.
Next I need to work on some files stored on a USB flash drive. Nope, can't.
It's a little-known fact that the USB keyboard adapter is actually just a standard USB host adapter. You're only some hotplug scripts away from USB drive happiness! Not easy, for sure, but not technically impossible.
It's anime watchin' time....and there are no subtitles now T_T
I was not aware of this... that's quite sad. Subtitles are important! Fortunately all my GitS has pre-baked subtitles so it's easier to figure out how, exactly, the characters are talking to each other, so I've never noticed this before.
Okay so now it's time to put some DRM-free ebooks on this thing, reading ebooks is it's specialty right? I'll just Bluetooth transfer it...oh wait can't do that...I need to use iTunes...great...so I fire up the power-guzzling gaming desktop (as I often have to do now that I've replaced my laptop with an iPad) and install it in a VM, and sync the files across. Well that was a lot of work but it's done now.
I've never needed iTunes to put eBooks on it. The reader I use (which was free at the time, though maybe not now) lets you copy and paste URLs to download, and handles just about anything. For extra points, it includes an "eBook Store" that includes the free Project Gutenberg texts. A lot of the readers even run a small web server so you can upload your books via web browser, no iTunes required.
So now maybe I'll take this ebook with me outside the house. And I have to carry this bigassed thing in addition to my phone that can do everything it can and much more. But I have a lot more screen space...in terms of inches, in pixels not so much...but that makes up for it, right?
You underestimate the power of a larger screen, I think. It's way nicer on your eyes, even if you don't notice it immediately. I carry mine in my book bag, instead of carrying all my textbooks -- a good tradeoff, if you ask me.
Basically, yes, it is not a laptop replacement, and it's dumb to even suggest that. However it is quite a bit nicer than most people make it seem.