Partial, because I do think it's likely people are still recovering from "why didn't I think of that"-itis (or maybe "why didn't someone make this sooner"-itis). Apple just one-upped the entire world of things-that-cover-things, possibly by a greater degree than Tupperware that burps so you know it's keeping things fresh. It takes a while to re-define your place in the world when something like this first comes into existence - until then, everything is awesome: flowers smell more flowery, covers cover more completely, and computers compute like never before.
I'm still unconvinced about the smart cover. The magnets are a neat hack, but I've found that with my various (metal backed) i-Products that if they are out of a full body jacket their metal cases scratch, scuff and loose their shininess very quickly.
Additionally a 'full metal jacket' cough provides some protection from getting wet and that seems to be #1 priority in Apple's product doco that you should never ever do.
I'm just referring to the cover's shinyness - it turns the ipad on and off, it has magnets, and it attaches without any attachment points cluttering its body. Simple, but very much something that nobody has done with tablets before.
</ partial sarcasm>
Partial, because I do think it's likely people are still recovering from "why didn't I think of that"-itis (or maybe "why didn't someone make this sooner"-itis). Apple just one-upped the entire world of things-that-cover-things, possibly by a greater degree than Tupperware that burps so you know it's keeping things fresh. It takes a while to re-define your place in the world when something like this first comes into existence - until then, everything is awesome: flowers smell more flowery, covers cover more completely, and computers compute like never before.