<i>The thing that bothers me most about the iPad is this: if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I’d never be a programmer today. I’d never have had the ability to run whatever stupid, potentially harmful, hugely educational programs I could download or write.</i><p>Bad assumptions.<p>Are we sure there won't be an 'XCode' or other dev environment for the iPad? (See also, "YCRFS #5: Development on Handhelds" &#60;<a href="http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html&#62;." rel="nofollow">http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html&#62;.</a>)<p>The MobileSafari browser alone is in many ways a richer programming environment -- with Javascript, Canvas, network and storage facilities -- than my Apple ][+ was with Applesoft Basic / Pascal / S-C Macro Assembler, or anything included in the early days of the Mac.<p>And won't many curious kids jailbreak their iPad? (Did young Al3x ever run pirated software on his 'hackable' machines? Does a bear shit in the woods?)<p>Given its larger format and educational uses, I also expect Apple will eventually loosen the scripting/runtime limits on the iPad (as compared to the iPhone), and possibly even offer an official 'jailbreak' for full access. They've already broken the lock-to-single-carrier and required-service-plans.