There's at least one big difference. You probably didn't make bread before and now aren't making bread without the bread maker, while the iPad lets people do what they're already doing all the time, better: looking at pictures, watching youtube, browsing facebook, reading email, etc.

Does the iPad youtube app work, by the way? I can't remember a time where my iPhone's youtube app has successfully streamed an entire video down without dying at some random point (over wifi - 3G seems to work but the quality is abysmal).

Yeah, it works fine for me. I agree, the iPhone version is seriously jacked up, but the iPad one is beautiful.

Yes. It works beautifully. It's appalling how good the HD looks.

XGA is the new HD.

How do you get it to load the HD versions? I'm seeing 720p and 1080p versions on my Mac but looking at the quality of the video on my iPad it looks like it streams the 360p version.

Really, never had any problems on my 1G Touch

Just checked one vid, it streamed without issue.

That said, I've never had an issue with my iPhone's youtube app either, so I don't know if there's something fundamentally different about my network and yours.

The article makes it sound like much more than a novelty.

I don't have an iPad yet, but I do use my Cuisinart bread-maker twice a week to make delicious and substantial wholewheat bread for way less than you would pay at a store.

The money and the taste is all well and good, but the real reason I kept using mine (until I started travelling): the smell. Waking up in a house that smells like fresh baked bread is just heaven.

* goes to dig unloved breadmaker from the back of the cupboard

Tip: Use the bread-maker (or a heavy-duty mixer with dough hook) to save time on the initial mixing and kneading, but do the remaining steps by hand -- it's much more satisfying, and once you practice a bit, you'll get better bread. You'll spend a little more time, but it's worth it.

Do you really need a bread maker for the initial kneading? It's the same as why a bike is faster than a car. You can either cycle 20 minutes, or drive 10 minutes and spend 20 minutes exercising. Doing it by hand takes maybe 5 minutes longer, but you save 10 minutes exercising.

The very best homemade bread I make is the no knead bread -- it's as easy to make and clean up after as using a bread machine (you just need a bit of time).

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

If you want to get all bread-geeky, this stuff is even better when you've got yourself a starter (I have three kinds :)

Very true. I've already got a nice mixer, so I use it.

My bike is faster than a car in philly

I don't think that is being critical at all. I think the iPad looks very interesting, but I am also waiting to see how its use settles over time.

Honestly, though, looking at some of ways I've seen people using them in the very short time since its release leads me to think it is going to be a likely purchase in the near future.

I know your point is actually about novelty and I fully agree with that however the bread maker analogy is kind of funny because a bread maker actually takes a simple task, obtaining bread, and makes it more complex than the alternative of buying bread someone else has baked. They even slice it for you. Making your own bread has a lot of advantages -- freshness, customization, variety. Yet most people just buy bread because it's easier.

Comparing sliced bread to a breadmaker is like comparing a television to an iPad. Sliced bread is really nothing special. Let me rip off a chunk of bread fresh out of my oven any day of the week.

I was worried about the same thing before I got my iPhone... sure I used it more when I first got it because of the novelty, but since it is actually incredibly useful I still use it all the time.

A bread-maker isn't the same because it only does one thing. It makes bread. An iPad/iPhone does a million things and I am still discovering new ways to use my iPhone.

Now whether the same kind of usability translates from the iPhone to the iPad is yet to be seen, and I'm a little skeptical if only because of the reduced portability, but it is hardly on the same level as your bread-maker.

The same bread-maker argument could be made for a laptop, or a PC, or any number of things

The only thing you can do with a bread maker is make bread. With an ipad, you can connect with your social network, read, play tons of games, watch almost anything, just be constantly online. And maybe, someday, we'll be able to use it to make bread as well.

Since I got a bread machine on a whim, I make a loaf about every week, and I freeze half so I don't have to throw away mouldy bread. I couldn't imagine buying supermarket loaves - even fresh bakery ones. And there's something nice about the 10 minutes it takes to prepare the ingredients, and then it just cooks and fills the house with the bread aroma.

Oh, and I sold my Kindle after 1 month as I prefer to read paper books and they're cheap.

So some gadgets have a 'useful' use, and some aren't really necessary.

You should have bought a rice cooker they are a lot more useful. I suspect the ipad-laptop usability will appear in a bit, but I don't think it will be as bad as bread-makers.

Did it have an Internet connection? (sent from my iPad Nano)