It's the same with various PC OEMs introducing gestures to their trackpads. The problem is, the trackpads are plastic garbage, the gestures are unwieldy, and it's just nothing like an Apple multitouch trackpad - at all.
I think these new tablets are going to be the same. iPod touch and the 2G iPhone were lackluster and "underwhelming" at launch, too. And then OS 2.0 came along and blew everyone else out of the water. Killer apps are on their way for the iPad, rest assured.