Which city? I've seen a whole bunch of people in London standing on street corners using their iPads.
Granted they do look pretty silly...
But I would certainly not say that the iPad has been a 'huge disappointment'; not for Apple, and not for the consumer. Or did you mean for you personally?
In my experience, seeing something brandished ostentatiously on certain street corners in london, but nowhere else (which is my experience,) is evidence in favor of it being a fad of little relevance.
Bristol, although I do travel to Birmingham and Manchester quite a bit. I've not seen a single iPad in any of those places (except at the Apple Stores).
I think the iPad was always going to struggle because when compared to the iPhone it is less likely for someone to be seen using a tablet than a mobile phone.
As I said, the figures may be impressive, but I'd lump this in with Apple TV as being a good idea that will struggle to find a long-term market outside of the typical Apple users.
No point debating if the iPad is a hit or not. Just see their annual report and you'd know that its a big hit. It doesn't matter if you see them on the streets or not. AAPL sells them and its makes them money which means that it is a hit.
In an unrelated note, why do some people refer to companies by their stock name? I mean, you're only saving one letter, and you have to keep shift pressed down all the time. Plus, fewer people will understand what you mean. What's the appeal?
Actually there is a minor point that I am trying to make here by using the stock name. As techies we often forget the end goals of a business, by using the stock names I try to remind myself and hopefully others that no matter how cool is sounds from a purely technical point of view, if its not a good business, it will not survive long.
Granted they do look pretty silly...
But I would certainly not say that the iPad has been a 'huge disappointment'; not for Apple, and not for the consumer. Or did you mean for you personally?