>>What else am i missing?
As they say in science, "the animal is always right". We may expect something different and may be amazed at what we see happening, but that just means we are wrong. In this case, pad form factors have proven wildly popular not only in show-off consumer circles but into education (some districts are adding iPads to their school stationery lists and have funding initiatives so that no kids will be left out) and in business. Presumably the next change will be to slightly smaller devices that are easier for smaller hands, but there's no guarantee of that either.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
