Yeah, Steve Jobs is a genius -- he says it's $1,000 and then you're not shocked that the minimum configuration costs nearly twice as much as a netbook.
I don't think you can easily compare a $250 netbook to the iPad. Lower quality screen, heavier, thicker, significantly less battery life, no multi-touch, lower build quality, and of course weaker software. They may serve some of the same purposes but I don't think they're directly comparable.
Weaker software, lower build quality? Have you even used the ipad? Its a beefed up ipod touch, not a scaled down laptop. The netbook wins from many perspectives.
The multi-touch is sexy, i'll admit. but form is not greater than function. Imagine chatting, posting on HN, or uploading photos to Flickr. These 3 easy actions are not easily handled on the ipad.
<edit> I have never used it and cannot comment on the build quality (which is the point i was trying to make. Sorry!)
Lower quality screen? Hmm, I thought sure there were netbooks out there with .. oh, yeah, the dell mini-10 has a true 720p option.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to get the large screen and a 3G card together. Or the higher powered CPU and an OTA tv tuner. In fact, it's pretty impossible to build a decent dell mini-10 system, so forget I even mentioned it. Or don't, and remember not to spend ten minutes futzing with their customization workflow...
