The iPad is great technology, to be sure.  And a lot of that technology may be incorporated into the future of computing.  However, I'd suggest that the shock comes from the fact that this particular iPad is a computer for the past, not the future.  It's great for moms and grandpas--people who grew up without computers.  The moms and dads of my generation--people who are in their teens and twenties now--are pretty comfortable with the computers we have already.  We want a computer that incorporates the technology of the iPad to enhance the power and flexibility that we are used to, not cripple it.  That's why the iPad is disappointing--because we wanted the future, not an indicator of the future.