The iPad as a standalone device
The iPad is a device you could easily use without another laptop or desktop computer to sync it with. A $500 internet-consuming device, no configuration needed. I can imagine a lot of people will buy one so they have a light device able to check their email and Facebook when they get home from work. Cool, this is what Apple had in mind, their perfect audience!
But there’s one thing you can not do with a device running the iPhone OS that Mac OS X can: Uploading files via the browser. People will want to upload a new avatar, upload holiday photo’s to sites that don’t have a native app, uploading documents to their company’s intranet…
There are still a lot of unknown facts about the iPad (and Apple is known for adding last minute features). Also: In the SDK currently available, the simulator doesn’t have a copy of Safari to play with. My guess: Rumors about iPhone OS 4.0 are true, and it’ll be more than just a bug-fixing update.