Could be, but unless Apple changes a few things, I won't be buying another one. I own an iPad 2, and, while overall I'm reasonably happy with it, there are a few things that annoy me.
(snipped wishlist of file browsing, USB, Flash, app store)
This isn't supposed to be a rant or an anti-Apple post because I do believe they've made a few nice products, some of which I own. It's just that I hate to see the way they cripple their own products because of some sort of 'vision'.
To be somewhat blunt, it sounds like you bought the wrong product. Apple does continue to sell laptops that have USB, support Flash, expose the file system, and allow any 3rd party application. Including one that is just slightly larger and heavier then an iPad. I personally don't see Apple ever meeting your demands for the iPad. Neither do I see Ford meeting my demands that a Focus be able to haul a 2 ton trailer
Apple's vision for the tablet is that it is a different device. It's not meant to replace a laptop, it's meant to add a new device into people's lives that they may benefit from. A Kindle also isn't a laptop, and didn't do anything new compared to a laptop. It simply allowed people to read digital books in a nice form factor, along with adding a store to acquire more. And the devices share something similar, they try to approach computing from a task based view first, instead of a general platform upon which computing tasks can be performed. The Kindle hides the filesystem as well, because Kindle users don't care about "BOOKX3284.MOBI", they care about reading the newest best seller. Apple believes that for the tasks on an iPad, an exposed filesystem is also unnecessary. This is born out of the difficulty the mass market continues to have with filesystems in general. Microsoft, Apple, Google and others all see this, and all attempt to mask the complexity in varying ways across their devices and services.
(Sorry for the out of order replies in flat mode, going backwards today it seems)
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