The iPad Mini seems more like a product that iPad customers would buy instead of a bigger iPad, perhaps because they've always thought the iPad was too heavy, and they wouldn't mind the cheaper price (nor the slower performance and lower resolution that comes with it).

But from what I've seen so far, people use it exactly like a bigger iPad. It seems too big to use it as a 4"-7" device, covering it from the back with your hole hand. You'll probably end up using either with 2 hands, or by the side, like the bigger iPad, so there's not much improvement over the bigger iPad there. It is lighter, though.