Form Factor

Just ran uptime on my n800: 267 days. And the last I know of, it was powered down because I forgot to charge it in time.

I use it heavily(!) everyday. To listen to online radio in the bathroom, to tune into a podcast while cleaning up, to look up a recipe while cooking, I even occasionally pick-up a call to my SIP or XMPP account. I don't think iPad users will/can use it that way. The Apple device is too big, it will probably not be nearly as robust, it does not have things like a stand, and you cannot use with dirty or wet hands.

I use the Nokia n800 with its basic setup, so I do not want to get into the whole discussion about how Nokia strategically handled the n-series and why an open source platform is obviously superior. Instead, I simply wanted to point out, that from my experience a simple, cheap, and robust device will be more successful when it comes to Bill Gates' and Steve Jobs' predictions of how homes and families are going to utilize the internet in the near future.

I am not so sure why these companies are so focused on an up-scale market with things like the Surface and are still presenting these products as forerunners for how the whole world will work in the near future.

Experiment a bit yourself. Go and try using your little gadgets and smartphones with any given task in your life (and awkwardly drawing attention to yourself). Maybe you as easily come to an answer as I did: What will the kiosk owner in Mumbai use as a cash register? What will you hand over to your kid for play? What will you use during your workout?