Stuck on Apple logo after attempted iOS 8.0.2 update My iPad was at the latest iOS 7.x when I decided to update it to 8.0.2 via iTunes.  At the end of the update I got an error, 6 IIRC.
After that the iPad was stuck in restore mode for around half an hour.  When it got out of restore mode somehow (without doing a restore) it wouldn't boot up.  It gets as far as the Apple logo then dies after a few seconds.  It does the same thing whether plugging into a laptop or a wall charger.

To make things worse the sleep/wake button is stuck.

How can I unbrick this thing?

Edit:  I've found that by pressing the home button while plugging into the laptop, I can put it in restore mode again.  But restoring is a last resort.
In the end I had to get the iPad to a useable state so I went ahead with the restore.

This was a non-ideal solution, I'll be checking back to see if anyone has other upvoteable ideas.