At lest for now, it appears an iPad owner will need a Mac or PC in order to make it work. So tinkering lives for now. It seems to me that once the file system is abstracted away, then the system needs to be more locked down as the user has less of an idea than ever whether their machine has been compromised by malware. Thus, the manufacturer/developer/app store needs to exert much tighter control. This is intuitively a bad thing. I don't know about others, but I would not tolerate it if this were being done by any company other than Apple and Steve Jobs and I am uneasy even so. Say what you will about Jobs, but I doubt he'd tolerate or take advantage of the kind of opportunities for abuse and plunder that Apple's position holds. However after Jobs retires and his staff drifts away, watch the hell out!

Mac users will always lose the Cheep-nez argument with PC users, although it is tasty troll fodder once in a while. For many PC users, Cheep-nez is equivalent to that one hot button issue that motivates one issue voters. Certainly, if you lower your standards enough by ignoring things such as build quality, out of box usefulness, overall ease of use, freedom from anxious nagging about security threats, updates, etc, you'll always be able to find a Cheep-er widget down the street. There are many sellers (LIKE THE BALLMERS OF THE WORLD) willing to satisfy your appetite for Cheep-nez.

Mac users will always lose the Cheep-nez argument with PC users--for many of whom Cheep-nez is the tech communityâ(TM)s single hot button issue that has its equivalent in the world at large--one issue voters. Certainly, if you lower your standards enough by discounting things such as build quality, out of box usefulness, overall ease of use, freedom from naggiing about security, updates, etc, youâ(TM)ll always be able to find one Cheep-er down the street.