"Perhaps the iPad signals an end to the hacker era of digital history"<p>Couldn't you have said the same about the games console?<p>Even now I can't program my Wii or any other major console, and that's been consistently true for over 30 years in games consoles. People knew then, just as they know now, if you want to tinker you get a real computer.<p>The difference is, now you'll be able to program for the device your friends use, where as programs I wrote on my PC stayed there and my friends with consoles could never use/play them.<p>(though it would be nice if you could develop from Linux and Windows machines too)