I kind of have to agree with cardfan on this one folks. As I mentioned on another post I have a Kindle bookreader. The DX in fact which is the large one. I take it with me everywhere in my (don't laugh) "man bag". I read it on the metro, at the restaurant or anywhere else I want. The convenience of having hundreds of books, magazines, blogs, my own documents and even the web (sort of albeit lame) with me at all times is quite compelling. If my Kindle could hook up to a bluetooth headphone and take and make calls and was in color I would do it in a heartbeat.
The iPad will do all this and more when you lump in the richer web experience, video, apps, etc.
I think the problem is that most of us are not understanding where Apple is going with this technology since it is all so new. Ever hear of "convergence"? We need to rethink how we use these gadgets. Just because the iPhone is first and foremost a phone doesn't prevent us from playing games on it or updating our Facebook status does it?
With the Kindle Amazon stated it is not about the hardware but the reading experience so the hardware disappears as you are reading. When you look at it, (forgive the pun) the iPad is about the media and not the hardware (although I can't wait to hug my 3G ver when I get it, LOL). Yes the intended media is web, books, apps, movies, etc. but what's to stop enterprising individuals from adding more functionality? No I'm sure Apple does not intend for the iPad to replace iPhones but have you seen the specs on the IPhone HD yet? Look at it and you will see a device that is larger than the current iPhone, higher resolution (940 x 640 resolution display) and more uses. (iPad version 2 anyone?)
iPhone HD Specs Leaked, Launching on June 22? | Redmond Pie
Loving this tech!
Jaayquan