A long, long time ago, a man named Steve Jobs created a company named Apple Computers. Apple eventually fired Steve. Apple then created The Newton. Then Steve took over Apple again. Steve killed the Newton. Fast forward in time, now Steve creates, iPad.
Coincidence? Maybe. There are a number of sticking similarities between the two devices even though they were created well over a decade apart. Sure, technology has changed a bunch since then, but I'm still wondering where the audience will be for the new iPad. The Newton struggled to find its niche in our daily lives and failed to sell very well. The iPad may well be on the same track of finding an audience because it's so… in between products. It may end up being another quirky, albeit cool idea, much like the Apple TV.
Steve Jobs is betting that you will not be able to live without an iPad. He has taken the stance that netbooks are cheap and slow and very limited. Maybe so, but netbooks are selling and in big numbers. In fact, netbooks are outselling just about everything out there, so why go out on a limb to offer something that very few end users are looking for? Well, because they hope to find a new audience with a really new product.
Here's why the iPad has some serious challenges ahead of it. It's expensive. In fact, when the 3G version comes out, be prepared to drop $700-$800 for one with the large storage options and be prepared to pony up $30 a month for a data plan to get the most use out of it. That's a lot more than a cheap $199 netbook with a similar data plan. Netbooks tend to run full operating systems too which is great for running all of the programs you need everyday. The iPad runs an updated iPhone OS and apps are limited to the App Store from Apple. And while netbooks have cramped keyboards, I really can't see too many professionals banging away on the iPads on-screen keyboard to create a report, email it to their boss only to receive complaints back that it can't be opened in Word or PowerPoint.
The iPad sure looks interesting, however it's going to find a tough, skeptical crowd when it finally arrives on shelves in a few months. It's too big to fit in your pocket, it's too delicate to sling around with you everywhere you go, it has a sealed battery, no keyboard, no full OS option, pricey to buy and expensive to own. I'm sorry Mr. Jobs, but this one will probably be on the shelf with the Newton and the Mac Cube.
A decade makes a lot of difference
You have several faulty lines of reasoning in your comparison of the Newton and the iPad.
1) The Newton had poor syncing options for Mac and PC. - The iPad, on the other hand, has the two-plus year history of the iPhone's OS, which, if nothing else, syncs reliably with both platforms, as well as having a raft of data transfer options available over network connections. One can even use a product like QuickOffice to move data to and from a nearby computer with nothing more than a web browser.
2) The Newton came about before the age of broadband, WiFi, and high-speed cellular networking. - Newtons had serial connections to your Mac or PC, not even USB. The built-in AppleTalk networking was the extent of their networking ability, unless you bought an Ethernet connection for the 2100 or a wireless card for one of the fledgling (and horribly expensive) data networks of the day. There was no TCP stack to support data networks that we all take for granted today, and which the iPad accesses as a full peer to any other device.
3) Sending files to your boss from the iPad will be as easy as doing so from a netbook, since iWork will save in MS Office formats from their proprietary format. You could also compose it in one of the more accepted formats directly on the iPad, if desired. You'll also be able to send it directly to cloud storage, since one can do that today. (Don't forget, none of the current iPhone apps are going to stop working, so anything an iPhone or iPod Touch can do today, the iPad will be able to do on day one. All of the above is possible today with apps from the iTunes App store and a data network connection.)
Having used a cheap ($199) Netbook, I can say that I'd rather use an iPhone for most computing tasks. Netbooks are slow, awkward, and irritating, to say nothing of having to deal with Windows. The beauty of having only one app running at a time is that you get full access to the entire processor and OS, so the speed difference is palpable. With an underpowered Atom processor trying to run a full, resource-hungry OS like Windows, you're always waiting for one of those precious background processes to finish so that the next letter you typed will show up on the screen.
Regarding battery life, a sealed battery that gives half a day or more is better than one that only gives a few hours and then must be changed by shutting down, changing it out, and restarting. No one is going to carry extra batteries around for a netbook, unless they have a bag, and then your small, light, easy-to-carry argument goes out the window. Have you weighed notebook batteries lately?