My first impression is that it is a total flop.

A couple of years ago, when the Kindle was new, there were many people arguing for the creation of exactly this product. Unfortunately for Apple, they listened to those people, and it is almost exactly the machine that these people were advocating, and that is why it will fail.

The only hitch in my prediction that it will be a total failure is the fact that Apple has so many devoted followers who will buy any product that Apple releases. Then there are the trendy, early adopters who don't really want or need such a device, but who will buy one anyway. So, my guess is that there will be an early spike in sales, it will be declared an overwhelming success by Apple and it will fade away and it will not be kept up to date as a viable product line.

When the first automobiles made their arrival on the scene, they were an inferior alternative to the horse drawn carriage in almost every measurable way. At first, some people saw the future potential in motorized vehicles while the majority of the population did not. The iPad is a pretty horse drawn carriage at the dawn of the automobile age.