One thing this enables is switching platforms. If a future MacBook Air runs on ARM instead of Intel, anyone using Xcode would only need to recompile to target the new platform. Similar to how Intel support was easy for Xcode developers (but very hard for Metrowerks developers). Getting everyone on Xcode gives Apple tremendous flexibility. They could even have apps target LLVM-IL (whatever it’s called) instead of the CPU directly.
There is also the guilt of having an item flown across the country and delivered by truck. An item that costs $10 and is readily available at a store 1/2 mile from your house. I’ve done that, because I can be done with it in two minutes and forget about it.
No, this device meets a real need. Not everyone is buying it because they are easily-duped consumers (whereas you have mastered the fine art of seeing through marketing messages...).
Specifically, those friends and family who constantly call you for tech support are friendly enough when they see you, but they deeply resent having to deal with you every time their computer breaks down. It's not personal. They just hate that it's "their fault," or that they have to lie because they really were surfing sketchy porn sites. The iPad solves that need.
This type of passive-aggressive attitude towards end-users is not helpful. People who buy the iPad are not doing so because they are too dumb to be programmers. They are buying it because it meets their needs, not yours. To you it's a dumbed-down device. To them, it may be the first computer they can confidently use without your help.
How about getting people to release apps as source code?
Those who want to put anything we like on our iPhones pay $100 for a developer cert, but after that could install anything we want, without the hassles of jailbreaking. Just think of it as adding $100 to the cost of the phone.
This would open up regular iPhones to 3rd-party apps that bypass the App Store.
Go into Best Buy and you’ll see RAM, CPU speed and hard disk sizes listed on the features tags. Those specs are increasingly meaningless for most consumers as any computer in the store will do what they need.
The more they focus on these specs, the more PC makers allow their product to become a commodity.
Design, usability, buying experience and after-sales service are what really differentiate computers. If any computer is sufficient to do my daily tasks, I’m going to look for the cheapest one available. But I’ll pay more if you can sell me on those intangible benefits. That’s the high-end of the market.