> But two things: that does not - as you likely know - imply that iOS itself is [effectively] open sourced (other than the bits open sourced explicitly by Apple).
I didn't bother to retain the links, but a couple months back the tech press was doing line counts of open source code in the various mobile OSes. iOS turned out to be the "most open-sourced" of the bunch, beating Android and Symbian.
I think what flummoxes everyone is that, on an iOS device, there's no notion of a "file system". Each application has its own data area, but otherwise, applications are sandboxed. Sharing data isn't impossible between applications, but the overall design needs to evolve some more.
Although it costs $90 a year to be an iOS developer, allowing you to develop applications for the App store, it's really much easier to get started with developing for Apple devices than any of the other brands.
> I do agree with Wojtek that if you are using the device primarily for this sort of thing, then you are better off with a laptop. I just got a new MBP a few months ago to replace my 4+ year old MacBook. I did not even consider the iPad an alternative.
I think you need to consider the business uses of these things as well. Consider the tablet that the UPS and FEDEX guys carry around with them. I work in an area where portable computation is very useful, and the ease with which I can develop specialty applications that capture locational information and photos taken with an internal camera in a database is fantastically useful.
You shouldn't also undervalue the way the UI design and form factor makes it a group computer that can be "on all day." Folks can sit around one on a job site and use it like a white board, with everything captured as data. No need to photograph the board as you're working, if you could even have a whiteboard on-the-go.
Best, Charles