I have an iPad and love it, so even if they never come out with the smaller version, I'd still recommend it. It's lighter than you'd think and makes an excellent computer substitute -- in fact, my first day with it was at a conference, using it instead of bringing along my MacBook Pro. I can even touch-type on it!

I haven't seen any of the backlash against the rumored new version, but I'll bet it's the same people who trashed the iPad when it was first announced -- people who bitched that it didn't do enough, that they couldn't customize it the way they wanted, that they wanted a real computer. What they failed to understand was that the iPad wasn't for them: it was designed to be the simplest, best e-reader and web browsing tool out there, and it succeeds very well at that. Ignore the haters.