In summary: It's worth spending hundreds of dollars to not have to use Linux / the kinds of devices Linux is associated with.
The message the desktop Linux community is refusing to learn from. At least half your points are fairly directly based on the state of Linux at the moment (e.g. Safari, ease of setup) and the other half linked to the state of the ecosystem surrounding Linux which pushes for cheaper and hackier solutions (wifi drivers, perception of coolness, implementation of software and hardware quality).
Bug in iPad: 1,000,000 million hits on Google with 1,000 solutions
Bug in any of the other Nix tablets: 12 hits, all of them from people like me asking for solutions
Question I have to ask myself is do I want to save $2k upfront and spend countless hours some day in the future supporting the device or just pay a higher price and get a stable appliance that I don't have to worry about.
Bug in iPad: 1,000,000 million hits on Google with 1,000 solutions
I call myth. That's only true when you happen to hit a bug that apple was generous enough to fix. Otherwise you're not only on your own but usually you can't do anything about it.
How do I know about it? Because I'm affected and it forces me to reboot my snow leopard every once in a while. And going by the number of reports I gather it's not just me. The related apple forum thread has hundreds of posts...
Bug in any of the other Nix tablets: 12 hits, all of them from people like me asking for solutions
That really depends on how popular your device is and how obscure a bug you hit. If the tablet is running linux then most bugs will likely be in software components that are also used on other hardware with a much larger userbase. And most OSS projects, at least those surrounding the kernel, have quite active communities, with mailing lists and open bug trackers.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that there are reasons to go for the iPad over other tablets - but this is not one of them.
Counterpoint: my mac stopped seeing my iPhone. There was no advice on the internet on how to fix it. I'm completely lost at what to do. I can't upgrade the phone's software, and can't load new songs, I can't backup my phone :-(
Happened to me a month ago. There was in fact a lot of information on the net on how to fix it, but none of the suggestions worked. In the end only a full reinstall of OS X (done for unrelated reasons) fixed it for me.
Firefox runs on Linux, it is just as good as Safari. Setup shouldn't be an issue as I'd expect it to be pre-installed on a Linux tablet. Don't know the devices you are talking about, though.
> Firefox runs on Linux, it is just as good as Safari
This is the problem with Linux right here... (and I say this as someone who's used Linux as a primary desktop for years and eventually went to a Mac)
When you start saying things like X is just as good as Y, it isn't.
People that choose to use Safari have a very specific reason for doing so. Usually it's because it's well integrated into Mac system. Not in an IE integrated way, but a "it fits with everything else" kind of way. If you choose between Firefox and Safari on a Mac, the biggest difference is speed. Safari feels faster (I don't know if it is or not).
Similarly Chrome on Mac feels faster than Safari. Maybe it's just because it's a little more minimalist right now.
On Linux, no one has the authority or cares enough to say "this is the way we are going to do things...". So you end up with a ton of half assed solutions to every problem. Sometimes those are good (Firefox as an example). Sometimes they are adequate (OpenOffice). Sometimes, no matter how hard they keep trying, they can't keep up with the competition (Gimp).
So, yes... Firefox runs on Linux. But no, it's not as good as Safari.
Yes, I know there are people that choose to use Firefox on a Mac (my wife as an example). I still maintain that Safari provides a better "experience".
It seems to be primarily a matter of taste with Safari vs FF. Except on Linux you don't have Safari as an option.
I also stick with FF on the Mac. I have tried Safari briefly a couple of times, but I didn't have the patience yet to try discover any features that might be better. It's also what you are used to, maybe...
Chrome is perceptibly faster than Safari which is perceptibly faster than Firefox which is ridiculously faster than Internet Explorer. But there we are.
Could it all be perception? Like maybe Safari and Chrome make smoother animations to hide the loading times? I seem to remember there was a similar thing with menus in OS X vs Windows (or Linux?) - one was actually faster, but the other was perceived faster because they animated how the menu items would unfold.
Also there are of course issues with preloading the browser, which would (unfairly) reduce startup times.
It's a meaningless distinction. I don't want a browser which measures fast but feels slow anymore than I want speakers which measure 'loud' but I can't hear them.
What is significantly better about Safari than Chrome/Chromium? (Please don't say something about multi-touch interface b/c that's a different issue; a multi-touch interface is a global operating system/hardware issue, not an issue with a particular piece of software)
Data entry on an iPhone-sized device isn't as efficient as a pen/paper/clipboard, so you'll just end up using a pen/paper/clipboard, and then transferring data into a workstation later. The iPad looks like it could be different—there's just more raw room to place/space the virtual keys—but we'll see; it could be just as crappy.
2. Better on-screen keyboard
3. Safari
4. Ease of setup/use
5. 802.11n
6. Low Cost/Performance
7. Quality/stability that I expect from Apple
8. Longetivity
9. Battery life
10. Coolness :)