[harryE123]

Points well taken. Having said that, there's a different between a really nice machine, and game changer, and the ipad is the latter. As for flash unless you go with a full win 7 tablet (if there is one that is vapourware) which as the last purchase in the tech world I would suggest, you have to aware that flash it has been documented to have issues, severe, crippling issues, in all mobile platforms, from stuttering, to not being touch optimised so you can't interact with it etc, etc. Of course if for some reason you do need it, something half functional is better than nothing. Apple opted for the future and open standards in html 5, but I am sure some people might be using flash websites and would want flash. They should check first though if flash actually works in said devices, because adobe's mobile flash isn't the full desktop flash, nor is a touch interface a point and click one.

Let me also add that I too would like the flexibility of an sd card slot, for sure, and when I first came to apple products -being on the pc side of things and used reducing a product to its specs- I found it awful that they would not include an sd card. But I did understand their rationale that they do have to control the storage in these devices to be able to motivate people to upgrade, and what is more, I realised I didn't really need it that much, it would be a welcome addition, but the actual product was so much better than the sum of its parts that it didn't really matter. And the ipad is, to me, indeed magical. It's not just marketing speak. If you haven't used one then by all means do so for a few days, because there's no other way to gauge how good it is in use. Of course I am sure your needs are your needs and you 'll continue to look for something else for usb/sd/flash, but at least you might see that all the actual shortcomings are not as striking as the perceived shortcomings.