" However I, and billions of other people, haven't opted to buy it. The market waits for something that fits our needs better."
are that this could have been said of any object 9 months after its appearance. This could have been said about movies, TV, radio, cell phones, etc.
I think it's clear that there is a market for iPad like devices.
My statement about shape versus experience is that there are a slew of tablet devices that clearly have been rushed into production. I think companies are doing this because they want to say, "We're in the tablet market too." Samsung made a tablet for the sake of making a tablet. I don't think they put much thought into the device. They were more focused on having a device than on having a device with a good user experience. Apple spent a lot of development time before they released the iPad. This shows in their product.
There is nothing wrong with a 7" tablet. There is something wrong with a 7" tablet using an OS not designed for such a device. Android isn't tablet ready and people should not expect Android tablets to be as good as the iPad.
BTW I don't own an iPad. I never buy first generation hardware.