Why Buying an iPad on April 3 Isn't Dumb

If the disadvantages of buying tech early are holding you back from buying an iPad when it goes on sale April 3, you're well-informed but wrong, Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate. The many reasons buyers have for regretting first-generation gadget purchases—they're "usually more expensive, more buggy, and offer fewer features than later generations"—just don't apply to the iPad.

Planned tech obsolescence is passe, Manjoo writes: Software updates ensure that early adopters won't miss a thing, and Apple "can quickly make changes to the device to satisfy any customer complaints." And even if the iPad fails, it "already has access to a wide range of applications and content that's not going away: stuff on the Web." Sure, "none of this guarantees you'll love the iPad, or that it'll be a success. But neither of those possibilities is such a disaster. You'll get years of great service from your iPad—even if Apple decides to discontinue it by Christmas." (More iPad stories.)