I don't often think this because, in general, I'm a great admirer of Steve Jobs, man of the year and tech rock star. But he is wrong and wrong again when it comes to the future of 7in tablets. Recently I've had the chance to play with a Samsung Galaxy and I just love the form factor. I have nothing against the iPad as a 10in tablet; but for me it is just too big and too heavy for the sort of tasks I need it for.
When I owned my iPad I didn't play games and I seldom watched videos. But I did read books, browse the web and run productivity applications. The Galaxy, with its 7in format, is far handier for me than the iPad. I sold my iPad simply because of its size and weight. I hated holding it up when reading books, I hated having to carry it around during the day; and this aversion was only reinforced when I got my hands on the 11in MacBook Air. Why carry a 1.6lb 10-in tablet when you can have a 2.3lb OS X MacBook that can do everything you need?
At the moment, then, I have no real use for a 10-in tablet computer; and I suspect I am not alone in feeling this. Ideally I could live with an 11-in laptop and a 7-in tablet, but I am not sufficiently motivated to go all the way and buy a Galaxy. Apart from book reading (which the Android Kindle app would perform admirably) I don't want to go outside the iOS eco-system. For the time being, then, I'm happy with my iPhone, my MacBook Air and my Kindle. The Kindle isn't perfect, but it's as much of a book reader as you want to hold for long periods. It's also light enough to go in the bag without worrying about weight.
With the success of the Galaxy and with many other 7-in tablets in the wings, including the new RIM device, I think the pressure will be on Apple in 2011. I just hope Steve is big enough accept he was wrong and move into the 7-in market. It would be an easy move and would help protect Apple's market position.