Alan Zisman -> Ed Vance said..

 EV>> "When a Ipad is first turned on there is a message on its
 AZ> screen to EV> connect it to a computer (Mac or PC) before it
 AZ> can be used..

 AZ> Yep.... true.

 AZ> I'm not sure why some people consider this an issue - other
 AZ> than that a lot of people don't particularly care for iTunes
 AZ> (especially on Windows). But it should be no surprise that
 AZ> buying an Apple product means taking part in the Apple family
 AZ> of products.

Here's why I consider it "an issue"...

Apple's approach limits iPads to people who already own computers.  If I
wanted to gift my mom an iPad, she would need an addtional pc; this I find
is bad thing.

If iTunes was the main issue for Apple, then they could have provided a
cloud version accessible via the wi-fi or 3G for a situation that requires
it.

I would rather purchase a non-Apple tablet since I know it will perform as
a standalone product, yet marry nicely with a pc only if necessary.

--- Thunderbird 2.0.0.24 (Windows/20100228)