7 people who are returning their iPads

You could be among them, but don't delay.

Months of hype built up your expectations -- like one of those Internet romances. There's what you imagined the iPad to be, and now there is the reality. Can you annul this sorry relationship? Yes, within 14 days of purchase and by coughing up a 10-percent restocking fee.

Don't worry, you're not alone. You gave into the peer pressure -- "Hell! Everyone was buying iPad." But there also is a support group of returnees. You can join them, and you can be free. You can reclaim your mind from the "reality distortion field" effects. Other returnees:

Jeff Jarvis fell out of love with iPad, nearly immediately. On Sunday he tweeted: "After having slept with her (Ms. iPad), I am having morning-after regrets. Sweet and cute but shallow and vapid." So much for the Internet romance. Ms. iPad looked beautiful on the WebCam and even more so in person. But there's beauty and there's depth.

Jarvis tweeted late yesterday: "I just talked with two people who, like me, are planning to return their iPads." Tweeted today: "Sitting in the 5th Av Apple Store before a breakfast meeting, reading tweets about me saying on @sternshow that I'm returning my iPad." To which Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz replied: "Is it better to have loved an iPad and taken it back than never to have loved an iPad at all? (With apologies to Tennyson.)"

Old media-turned-new-media convert Jarvis has yet to say why he is returning the iPad. Surely the saga will continue playing out on Twitter.

Michelle Alexandria "hates her iPad and is Returning it!" Alexandria has a litany of gripes -- from "ridiculous price gouging" e-books to "numerous syncing issues" to "gimped" WiFi-only connection (no 3G model yet). Yesterday, I asserted the necessity of multitasking on mobile devices. Alexandria agrees: "The lack of Multitasking was irritating as heck. While downloading stuff, in the above mentioned apps, the only thing I could do is sit there and stare at the freaking downloading bar." She's giving up for now, but not forever:

I'm fairly certain I'm returning this in the next week or so and going to take the $80 (10 percent of $800) Apple Tax for the privilege of being able to return something. We're launching a new iPad website so I have to have this thing, but I'm going to wait for the 3G model ??" yeah AT&T sucks, but what else can I do?

Nick O'Neill announced his qualms in an April 5 blog post:

Not only did I feel like Steve Jobs' pawn when I walked into Apple to purchase the device, but I also spent at least 8 hours following my purchase trying to justify the expense. Ironically I find that the majority of tweets on Twitter are attempts to do the exact same thing: justify the purchase after the fact. Unfortunately though, while Steve Jobs may be able to dictate that a few million people should buy a device, I am not a true Apple cult member.

Today, having returned iPad, he gave some reasons. Apple marketing describes iPad as a "magically and revolutionary product." But that wasn't O`Neill's experience: "It isn't magical and it isn't revolutionary."

Jerome Nichols confessed his lover's regret in a tweet reply to CNET's Molly Wood -- not three hours ago: "I literally just walked out of the Apple store after returning my iPad -- not impressed, just a big iPod touch." Wood had tweeted: "Why on earth can't I edit a Google Doc on iPad? I can edit a spreadsheet, but not a Doc, in either mobile or desktop mode. Augh!" Nichols' blog nor his Twitter feed explain why he returned his iPad.

Mike O`Connor returned his iPad "after 3 hours." He did so with vague uncertainty: "I don't really know why I returned my iPad after 3 hours. I guess it just didn't deliver $600+ worth of smiles." O`Connor rattled off some reasons, nevertheless, such as no Safari plugins, no Adobe Flash and the "whole iTunes/Marketplace sandbox," which "weirded me out." Cory Doctorow's post "Why I won't buy an iPad (and think you shouldn't, either)" impacted O'Connor.

The simplest reason: "Mostly it just wasn't fun. So I returned it and took the 10% 'restocking fee' haircut. 60 bux, for 3 hours, so 20 bux an hour."

Marc Mercuri briefly tweeted late yesterday: "Returned my iPad tonight (wanted it for an Azure+iPad demo) because of wifi+constant rebooting. Genius bar was 5 strong with iPad issues." Mercuri works for Microsoft, but don't assume that as reason for the return. Wifi problems on a wifi-to-Internet only device is reason enough.

Nick Ellis bought his iPad on Saturday only to return it -- along with a case. He explains why in a post from earlier today:

I took it home, started playing and something weird happened. I wasn't blown away. It was cool and all, but I just couldn't figure out how it fit into my life. It seemed to be an "if" device.

• If I didn't already have an iPhone.
• If I didn't have a laptop.
• If I had time to actually read books or watch movies.
• If I really needed it.

But I didn't need it. If anything it was going to complicate my life. One more device to sync, keep charged and clear email from.

Ellis got a surprisingly good deal. The Apple Store charged no restocking fee (saving him $60) and he had renewed MobileMe for $30 off when purchasing the iPad.

Wrapping up, are you ready to part with your iPad? Do you want to return it, or perhaps you have already? Go ahead, confess in Comments. You'll feel better for it.