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The belief that the iPad is a trojan horse into the publishing industry seems mis-guided to me. There are benefits to "visually enriched" book or magazine content but for those publications which are about words -- The New Yorker -- an iPad is a "nice to have".
Tablet computers are really more about the whole computing experience as a consumer, not producer, of content. So they occupy a fuzzy space between "full function but portable" netbooks and "full function but high quality output" desktops. The tablet is "partial function high quality output" ... with lots of gotchas.
There is room for "budget" dedicated e-readers; mid-range larger "magazine readers" in b&w and colour; netbooks for portability; tablets for playback; advanced laptops / desktops for everyday heavy duty work. In this mix of "tiers", tablets have the least compelling raison d'être and will have a hard time justifying the $829 price point for 9.7" 3G and minimal 64 GB storage. (And that SIM card to run 3G: it's a special model, not the one in your phone. And that USB cable -- it's extra. Extra too for: the docking station. And the external keyboard. And the leather case. And each and every app that runs on it since it can't run a single Mac or Windows app.)
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