For many people, it's a safe bet that the iPad will not replace or preclude the purchase of a Netbook. A quick look at the specifications and it's pretty obvious why.

The iPad is definitely not a laptop and that's not necessarily a good thing.

(Credit: Apple )

As this tweet succinctly put it: "What has no webcam, no multitasking, no HDMI port, and (possibly) no Flash, and costs $500? Hint: Not a netbook." This tweet, of course, is referring to the Apple iPad. And, by the way, you can eliminate the parenthetical; the iPad definitely does not support Adobe Flash video. (Also see this post at Gizmodo.)

But specifications aside, here's the most fundamental difference. The iPad is what analysts call a purpose-built device. It does certain things very well (e.g., video, Web browsing, e-reading) and other things (most notably office productivity apps) not so well or not at all.

The Netbook--though not as fast as a standard laptop and handicapped by a relatively small screen--is still a PC and is capable of doing pretty much everything a standard PC does. In other words, it's a general-purpose device.

Then there's the physical difference. Consumers who make the leap from a notebook or Netbook to a tablet will immediately recognize the ergonomic limitations of a tablet. In short, the inconvenience of not having a physical keyboard: the keyboard on a laptop also acts as a ballast--or stand--for the screen. Needless to say, that's why laptops decorate Starbucks tables and airplane trays. (Yes, Apple will sell an iPad case that serves as a stand but that does not make it a laptop.)

That said, preemptively panning the device is foolhardy. Consumers will undoubtedly find novel ways to use the iPad. And I will likely be rubbing elbows with an iPad user at Starbucks as soon as it hits stores.

This Aava Mobile design uses the upcoming Intel Moorestown chip. Devices using the chip can multitask.

(Credit: Aava Mobile)

How important is the ability to multitask on tablet-class devices like Apple's iPad? Important enough that the feature will likely be touted as a trump card for Intel-based smartphones such as a tablet-size phone from LG due later this year.

How do we know this? Watch the embedded CNET video below, which I took at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, and find out. Toward the end of the video (the 2:55 mark), Pankaj Kedia, director of Intel's Global Ecosystems Program for Mobile Internet Devices and Smart Phones, makes it clear that multitasking--in this case using Intel's Moblin operating system--is a marquee feature for devices running on Intel's Moorestown chip technology, due sometime in the next few months.

Kedia shows three applications running but is quick to add that "you can have more apps running."

Of course, on an Apple laptop, where a user can easily have a dozen or more apps active, multitasking is taken for granted. For example, users can watch a video feed while writing an e-mail. For the iPad, however, Apple is betting that the snappy interface, as demonstrated in this CNET video, will more than compensate for the lack of multitasking.

On Friday, I asked Keida about the importance of multitasking on Intel-based smartphones and tablets.

"Consumers want to do multiple things at the same time: listen to music while browsing the Web, look for directions while looking at your calendar and talking with your friends, and so on," he said in response to an e-mail query. "Multitasking is one of the key differentiators for the LG GW990 smartphone, based on the Intel Moorestown platform," he said.

To date, Intel has gone public on three Moorestown-based designs. The LG GW990 smartphone, the Aava Mobile smartphone, and the OpenPeak tablet. "The LG GW990 is a product, while the Aava and OpenPeak are two of our leading reference designs, which will generate multiple end-user products," he said. "As we launch Moorestown in [the first half of this year] and products begin to ship in (the second half of the year), you will hear about additional customers."

Like the iPhone, Apple stands to make a greater profit on the iPad when consumers choose models with more memory, according to an estimate released by iSuppli on Wednesday.

The $729 version of Apple's iPad is estimated to carry a bill of materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of $287.15, making it the most profitable iPad model, according to iSuppli. The iPad is expected to go on sale as early as next month.

The firm did not have an iPad in hand when doing its analysis but based the virtual teardown on an in-house cost model that includes commodity components that are used across many devices.

Though the estimate does not account for non-hardware costs, as the price of different models increases, other costs will stay the same, according to Francis Sideco, an analyst at iSuppli. "Regardless of the configuration, software and licensing is going to stay the same. The only thing that's going to change are the hardware costs and primarily the memory," Sideco said in an interview.

Apple iPad price tier

(Credit: Apple)

That memory-based pricing scheme has become standard practice for Apple when pricing its iPhone and iPod, for example. For the iPad, the 32GB model will be the most profitable, costing only $29.50 more to produce than the 16GB versions, but the retail price gap is $100, iSuppli said. After the display, the NAND flash memory is expected to be the most expensive item. In the mid-range 3G model, the 32GB of NAND accounts for 21.4 percent of the total BOM, iSuppli said.

The ThinkPad came long before the Apple iPad. Lenovo makes this clear in a video showing the genesis of the ThinkPad brand name, though the clip raises some pesky questions.

As some quick background--and as many readers probably know--a line of laptops using the same ThinkPad brand name ultimately became a hit for IBM, though the PC business overall didn't pan out financially for Big Blue, which sold it to Lenovo in 2004.

IBM was first: In the video, the Lenovo marketing executive (originally an IBM employee) talks about how IBM, in 1990, designed the ThinkPad 700T slate computer with a cutting-edge (at that time) magnesium case; how it used an "integrated heatsink" to obviate the need for a fan; and used a flash drive instead of a hard disk drive. Again, all of this way back in 1990.

While certainly an enlightening video, it still leaves one wondering why Lenovo is talking about this in the past tense. In other words, if IBM had such a head start in 1990, why is everyone fixated on Apple's tablet and why aren't we drooling over some highly evolved Lenovo Pad today? (Note: the Lenovo U1, though compelling, is a little late.)

I'm sure there are hundreds of reasons why IBM, and later Lenovo, didn't have a commercially successful consumer slate device (no, I'm not talking about a convertible laptop), but it seems odd that consumers have to wait for Apple to bring out a tablet before anyone takes serious notice of the slate computer.

So, what happened? Here's one facile answer. In the intervening 20 years, IBM sold off its PC business while Apple actually made a commercial success of innovative consumer designs and ballooned into one of the largest and most successful consumer device makers in the world.

(Via Engadget)

When Apple introduced the iPad in January, it said the device would be made available in late March. However, one analyst is now saying the launch may be delayed.

(Credit: Apple)

Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams, wrote in a note to clients on Monday that production problems could limit Apple's launch of the iPad. The production issues could be bad enough to even delay the launch for a month, according to a report on AppleInsider.

"The upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple's newest device," Misek wrote. "An unspecified production problem at the iPad's manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the U.S. and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of march, far lower than the company's initial estimate of 1,000K units."

While Apple is being quiet about the rumored production delays, Wired.com said an Apple spokeswoman told it that the "iPad will be available in late March." In other words, there is no change in the shipping schedule.

Apple representatives were not immediately available when contacted for comment by CNET.

It's hard to tell if the iPad is facing any challenges or not. One analyst claims to have knowledge of production problems, but Apple says everything is on track. We have less than 30 days to know for sure.