Hands finally on the device, Alex Payne — who once called the iPad a “deeply cynical thing” that “does little to enable creativity” — has changed his tune about it:

You can be as cooly aloof as you like about the device, but it won’t change the fact that it’s a fundamental step forward in computing. Many consumers can surely afford to sit this initial release out until the costs come down and the quality goes up. But if you work in tech, you should spend some time with an iPad. If it doesn’t change the way you think about what you do, you’re either a genius or an idiot. A Moderate’s Position on iPad Openness

I get the sense that whatever position Alex is taking tends towards the hyperbolic. Which is fine — I’m guilty, too. And his position has become quite a bit more nuanced: rather than attack the idea of the iPad, Alex has now chosen Apple policies about the device that he doesn’t like, and thinks they should change these policies in order to encourage and help people who want to tinker and learn.

Either Apple will do this or someone else will. We will have open systems, closed systems, and somewhere-in-between systems for as long as there is computing because there are different values in these different systems and approaches, and the apocalyptic hand-wringing of people like Cory Doctorow is really baffling.