I want the tax included on the tag for convenience, but I also want it called out on the receipt for honesty.

...and there's the joke you were looking for, Pojut.

Gotta give it to them... they actually DID innovate this time. Or at least, we thought they had.

Actually, the iPad is surprisingly light, given that it's made out of aluminum and glass. I don't know how anyone could hold one and think it was heavy. Half of the body is actually completely empty (contributing to the decent bass levels in the audio it can produce with its built-in speaker).

Premium design and development warrant a premium price. While Apple does keep their premium in place, they increase the specs rather than lowering prices. It's true that the iPod Touch hasn't dropped in price, but Apple has doubled its capacity and RAM, with significant improvements to its performance and feature set.

That said, if Apple thinks it's important enough to hit a price point, they do. Few people thought we'd see a $99 iPhone when we were all forking out six bills for the device at launch.

It's all in the fine details you can focus on when you combine really good ideas and technologies. The Nintendo DS was successful because it was built upon excellent hardware and software, and Nintendo knows how to make things usable and fun. They also supported their developers well, and the library grew rapidly.

The iPhone is the same thing. Apple brought their usual level of fit and finish to the table, as well as lots of experience with portable industrial design, miniaturization, and fine materials.

Touch took so long to catch on because nobody did it right, plain and simple. The success of these devices isn't due to any one thing that you can just copy, and expect to succeed with. They succeeded because of a lot of effort and sacrifice, and decades of hindsight.