Of course, all of the haters are out posting furiously on blogs, forums, twitter, newspapers, you name it.

All of the haters simply don't get the Apple way of doing things, and how most of us just want our shit to work well. I know Flash is shit on my laptop, why the hell would I want to burden my iPad with it? Adobe still hasn't shipped anything that works well on a tablet. Do people really enjoy playing FarmVille on their Android phones and tablets? Really? Let's face it, if I could watch every video on the web embedded with an HTML 5 player, I would. Sure, the technology is new...but remember, Flash is OLD. In the computer world, it's out with the old, in with the new.

Apple's computers are simply the best computers available. They may not always have more power than some crazy gaming rig, but also remember that they aren't built for Windows. That's a huge and important distinction. Macs are built to multitask like no other, and the way they pull it off is simple, elegant and amazingly usable. You'll find yourself much more productive and efficient once you get used to doing things the Apple way. The elegance of a Mac computer is continued in every product Apple makes. The iPad is no exception.

See, all of the geeks who like to run Linux, and play games and hack their software and all kinds of other techy things want the kind of hackable flexibility in their computers and tablets, and that's fine. I don't need a computer to do all of those things. I am just a regular guy who uses computers a lot, but has no desire to have to fiddle with them either for fun or because something isn't working right. All of my Apple stuff simply works with no fuss, and that means a lot to me. I know by Flash not being allowed on the iPad I am going to have a much better user experience, and that's all I care about.

I know many of the developers in the world are upset about the recent news, but let's face it. Get over it. Write your apps for Android. Android is going to eventually be bigger than the iPhone and iPad, plus the market is growing. Get over it and move on. We don't really need or want you.

Of course, now that all of the developers who don't code with the code we like are out of the picture, we only have the loyalists. Loyalists are simply going to write the best apps, and many of them will be optimized for and exclusive to the iPhone/iPad ecosystem. The result? Superior user experience. I'm a user, I want the best experience.

Ultimately, all I'm saying is to each their own. If you like Windows or Linux or Android or Blackberry, that's fine! If it serves your needs, then I'm happy for you. The Apple way works for me, and that's why I use their products.

As for the haters, and you know who you are...The ones making lots of noise in the press, blah blah blah. I know what's behind all of your anger...you're jealous. Jealous that Apple makes cool shit that's beautiful and works well, and has a massive following amongst the world's most fashionable and famous. It's ok...Maybe instead of making so much noise, you go out and make a product that has the kind of thought put into it that an Apple product does.

The whole vision of the iPad is to fall between a laptop and an iPhone or iPod Touch. It was never intended to be a watered-down laptop. The iPad is a more specialized device rather than a generalist like a netbook. Like el Jefe said in the speech, he wanted the tablet to do a few things well. The main things are the internet, movies and music, books, and apps/games. If you want to do other stuff, you'll just use a regular computer. The people who will buy an iPad aren't people who need their device to do everything; they just want a device that can do a few things very well.

Once we understand this, then we can understand what the iPad is all about. So, what are the criticisms, anyway?

Flash Support:

It was an EPIC FAIL when Steve was reading the NY Times, and that familiar icon that iPhone users are used to seeing on websites popped up. This criticism is actually a good one. Flash is still used by tons of websites, and if the iPad is supposed to be excellent at looking at websites, not supporting flash is straight up dumb. If you like to play Flash-based games on Facebook like Farmtown or Restaurant City, for example, you're out of luck on the iPad.

However, one thing about Flash is that it's a bit antiquated. It hogs computer resources, and it's becoming less relevant every day. With HTML 5 and CSS 3.0 already supported by the most modern browsers, many of Flash's tricks are easily reproduced by using web standards compliant technologies like HTML and CSS, plus Javascript. Sure, some lazy developers probably won't be changing up their Flash-based sites for awhile, but the truth is, Flash's days are numbered. UPDATE: Maybe the iPad will have Flash support?

Camera:

No Camera! So what? Are you telling me that you want to take pictures with this huge tablet thing? Don't drop it! With regards to video support for things like videoconferencing, I don't think the tablet is the right device. For one, you'd have to hold the tablet, so videoconferencing would be sort of wonky. Of course, on the other hand, with a stand, videoconferencing makes a bit of sense on the tablet. I wouldn't be surprised if v.2 comes with a video camera. I mean, if they can put one in an iPod, why not a tablet?

Multi-tasking:

The iPad is a specialist, not a generalist. There really isn't much need to switch back and forth between a web page and an other app. You either browse the web, or you use the app. Same thing with video content. You usually just focus on watching. With books, again: You focus on reading, that's it. Of course, there probably is a degree of multi-tasking on the device, similarly to the iPhone: You can listen to music while you do other stuff, for example.

No Optical Media:

Optical media is dying. I expect Blu-Ray to be the last mainstream optical media format. It's all about the internet and wifi, and it's better for content providers and consumers.

But! Let's look at the bright side:

Gorgeous Screen:

The screen is very nice, and is perfect for consuming digital media, whether it's movies or webpages. It's awesome for gaming too.

Long Battery Life:

Great for those long flights. You can watch a few movies on it, no problem. That won't happen with a laptop, or even a netbook.

Games:

This looks like a serious threat to Nintendo and Sony. Those tiny screens just can't compete with the massive iPad screen. Plus there are thousands in the app store, and most of them cost significantly less than what you would pay for a Nintendo DS or PSP game.

Digital Content:

This is the whole point of the iPad, and this is where it excels. If you want to read, watch, or listen to digital content on the go, then the iPad is for you.

So, just to clear things up, the iPad is not a generalist computing device, it's a specialist device. If you're the type of person who likes to consume digital media, then consider it for that purpose. If you're a person who wants to edit digital photos, write documents, program, and multi-task, you're probably better off sticking to a laptop. The iPad is a device for passive activities, not active. It's not a netbook, but it never was intended to be one either.