"People thought Apple will revolutionize tablets, but they got an iPad. But to make a revolutionary tablet Apple just needed to increase the size of the iPhone."
I don't remember where I read it but that line is awesome.
Sorry, I accidentally downvoted you while trying to upvote on my G1. Kind of ironic given the discussion.
The fact that the blank canvas got bigger on the web allowed to much better interface patterns, or maybe it was just a question of maturity.
But I guess the most interesting discussion is not the visual part but the utilization scenarios of the Ipad. I'm not sold on it as a mobile device, but how many people use a laptop as a mobile device? Mobile phones are the first truly mobile devices. I'm just starting to notice Iphone owners on the middle of a crowd trying to text somebody, you have to hold it closer to the horizontal plane to have better accuracy making it less natural.
I'm not sold on the Ipad as a mobile device, in the mobile phones sense, but I also don't think its success depends on it.