iPad ships April 3. Preorders start March 12

If a company wants to sell in their home country (as in they were started here), so be it. You're all just out of luck.

As for the price increase, blame your government....
If it makes you feel better there's a decent chance tax in the US will go through the roof if the health care bill is passed.... So I guess we might be even (price-wise) in the future...

I'm a die-hard Mac enthusiast, well-invested in OS X with my day-to-day life. I was completely sold on an iPad, but a recent video of the MS Courier in action has me completely re-thinking that purchase. I realize the Courier is still at least a half a year out, and pricing has not been discussed, not to mention that the video itself is just a concept... but I've been officially thrown for a loop by its elegance. I know the iPad is for the everyman, in price, function, and style; but there's no Apple iPad Pro option for somebody like me, a tech geek looking for a tablet built from the ground up for a creative professional. I'm still considering the iPad, but... well, let me put it this way - I really, really wanted to see an Apple logo at the end of the Courier video.

Is there anybody else out there in my shoes? What are you doing about it?

Developers are going to come out with amazing software for the iPad, just like the did for the iPhone. Steve Ballmer rants"Developers, developers, developers!" (like brainwashing or something_ Meanwhile Steveand company is just providing them with the best tools they could possibly have.

You know, I was going to comment on pricing, but instead I'm going to comment on the inflated head bigots in this thread.

You're making yourself look bad.

Signed; The rest of the world.

Home market always gets preference. Has Apple done anything to show you that they don't know how to successfully launch a product?

Like it or not, the US is still the premiere country on Earth. Immigrants didn't spend their life savings to illegally come here because they like the weather.

re the MiFi - I was a little unsure whether the MiFi and WiFi only iPad would serve me as well with GPS as a 3G and WiFi iPad with Location Based Services and mapping?

The Guy makes a solid point! Why do we ALWAYS have to be greatly disadvantaged? At least Apple should release the WIFI model of this big iPod touch. I can see why we're delayed with the 3G but WTF! WIFI IS THE SAME HERE AS EVERYWHERE ELSE!

So WiFi only or WiFi + 3G?

Will the iPad work with my MiFI? If so, I am likely to look for a 32GB WiFi only.

If not, I will likely go down the WiFi + 3G iPad with 16GB of storage.

Any thoughts from the TUAW community on which way to go and how well the MiFi option might work?

Man, I wish it had a webcam ....

Michael Kaye makes a good point in noting that releasing computer products in the manufacturer's home market places 3rd party software developers who are not in that home market at a disadvantage. Whether it is common practice or not isn't the point. I am not sure that Michael really meant that all other markets should receive their iPad shipments before releasing the iPad in the US. "just once" is subject to interpretation.

So other than limited initial supply, and the possibility that the packaging for the product may have different requirements for each international market, why should the US get preferential treatment for an initial product release?