I'm not buying it.<p>Agreed, Apple is certainly trying to close things down, but there's sufficient competition in the space that I don't see the "frightening future".<p>If pads take off now, there'll be a decent Android GoogPad, WinMo ZunePad, with Amazon selling no-DRM media, etc. and you can decide if you want a slightly less sexy design in exchange for device functionality/flexibility.