It's not
that phenomenal. I can get ~14 hours battery with the Asus and it has a proper keyboard, a 10.1 inch screen, usb ports, runs Linux (ubuntu or arch), 250gb HD, can multitask, use Flash video and is very portable
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/21/a...1005pe-review/ and you can get it for around $350
Why would I pay more to Apple for significantly less? It's a horrible, horrible toy that has been roundly derided already within the tech community. If this was going to be my primary e-reader (and not just a gimped netbook without a keyboard) it would have to do a lot more than 10 hours reading time....a lot more.
My question to those thinking about buying this iPad and who don't mind reading on LCD; why pay for a device that is so crippled out of the gate, when you can pay significantly less and get more by getting a netbook or maybe even the HP Slate coming out in the next few weeks?