Behold: The Apple iFlop

Day Two reaction from analysts has also been mixed.

Suitably impressed by the introduction, Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid bumped up his iPad sales projections to 4.1 million this year, up from the 2.5 million he initially forecast. Reid sees a sales opportunity for the iPad, but not without a little impact on Apple's other products. The iPad "should drive incremental demand well above the minor cannibalization of iPod touch and Mac that may ensue," he says.

RBC analyst Mike Abramsky noted a few hits and misses, but sees where some of the 30 million iPod Touch users may trade up to the iPad.

"The iPad's launch partially exceeded hype, but -- owing to a) high 3G pricing and b) the absence of hoped-for features -- investors may be uncertain whether or not Apple has created a new computing category," Abramsky wrote in a research note Thursday.

AT&T(T) managed to work its way into the iPad party, a surprise to more than a few observers who expected Verizon(VZ) to get the first whack at the Apple iPad. We haven't heard the last on that, say analysts who expect Apple to produce an iPad for Verizon later this year.

On pricing, Apple managed to cover a broad range of iPad prices, which fall between $500 and $830, not including a $15 to $30 monthly data plan.

Depending on your personal inventory of gadgets and your access to cash, the iPad may not be a must-have item.

"Don't get me wrong -- the device is a nice 'want'," says Martin Taylor, an independent investor and former business development executive at IBM. "But considering that most people probably don't have a discretionary $500-$900 to spend on yet another electronic gadget, especially one carrying another subscription fee, the iPad is not a burning 'need'.

-- Reported by Scott Moritz in New York

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