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Depending on your preferences, you might want to have a look at the WeTab. Since it's based on MeeGo you can install basically any PDF viewer you like (xpdf or evince for a slick experience, Okular if you want to make annotations). And no need to hack it, root access is just one sudo away.

While things may well turn exactly the way you describe, I see the situation quite differently.

To me the Playbook happens to be the last independent platform in front of Apple/Google duopoly*.

And just for that reason, I'll buy one as soon as they are available here in France.

That less applications are available on it is almost a non-issue to me. Time is now to the Cloud, as they say, which is even more monopolistically gobbled by Google/Apple.

In that area I am intensively searching for php/mysql apps that I, independently, can install in reasonable cooperative server hosts, of which many do exist but only propose ridiculous "your site here" services for now.
I already have been using for years calendars, wikis, document hosting; I recently discovered a bayesian-filtering RSS aggregator that's really punchy --and none of them needs anything more than a good browser.

Because RIM has an excellent experience in establishing safe links between servers and devices, I believe it is at least imaginable that they offer this for precisely the kind of "independent cloud apps" I am dreaming for.

That's why I definitely will drop my $500 or so, whenever I see a Palybook here.

I can do this, I can't do more. I won't cry of I lose the bet.

H.

(*) I believed for some time in the Wetab, http://wetab.mobi/en --even though it really had all the German technical impetus behind it, in the end it was clear that one newcomer just coundn't fund it all, and the resulting quality showed poor. In contrast, yes RIM can ;-)

Do you know anyone that has actually tried developing for MeeGo?

Apparently the WeTab has MeeGo installed, and a bunch of software do go with it, so somebody must be. (And if they didn't only sell in Germany and the Netherlands, I would be as well).

A few months ago I bought a WeTab from these people http://wetab.mobi/en/, and it rocks. I don't know if it's already shipped to the U.S.A., as I'm in Europe, but the specs look really good: 2 USB ports, 1 mini HDMI, the usual audio out jack, and a proprietary port (for a dock) on the bottom, but unused at the moment (the company hadn't produced a dock yet). It runs a WeTabOS, which is basically MeeGo + a graphical interface known as 4tiito, and that OS can easily be replaced by whichever flavour of GNU/Linux you'd like (MeeGo, Ubuntu, ...), and I think someone could also try cramming windows on the SSD. The processor is an Intel N450 at 1.66Ghz, with 1Go of DDR2 RAM. There's also a webcam, a SIM port... Basically everything you would need. At less than the price of an iPad (I paid mine about 460 euros, while the iPad here is 499 euros).

or just get a wetab http://wetab.mobi/en

Word is that it sucks bad [German]... (Ships without the promised Android compatibility layer, without hardware video acceleration enabled, without Flash...) Pity, it's a nice concept...

or just get a wetab

http://wetab.mobi/en

Display 11,6“, 1366 x 768 Pixels, Color, Touchscreen
Processor 1,66 GHz Intel Atom N450 Pineview-M
RAM 1 GB
Memory 16 / 32 GB, Extension with SDHC Card up to 32 GB possible
Java /Flash / Adobe AIR yes / yes / yes
Applications WeTab Meta-Store integrates multiple Stores, Support for native, Java, Linux, Adobe AIR® and Android Apps
Supported eBook formats ePub, PDF, TXT, Mobipocket, WeBook premium format at Q4/10
Battery up to 6 hours
Wireless Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), optional 3G (UMTS/HSDPA)

http://wetab.mobi/en/product-details

Price from 449 euro. I don't know what the iPad cost, similar?

Oh good, some remembered the MeeGo option, I was surprised you Open-source buffs didn't pounce on this one immediately.

Check out the video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EdNBTwHxWk, it's quite nice, and seeing it run Open Office give me great hope that it will not have to worry about the whole "does it have apps?" question, since it will most likely run all existing linux apps.

Details here: http://wetab.mobi/en/product-details

Amazon( http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B003JFKUSK ) lists this as starting from EUR 449, though I would take that figure with a pinch of salt.

I am hoping a lot more companies seriously consider MeeGo, I kinda like it :D

Was there any product other than the german Wetab (of which... we hear less and less...) that would feature an open architecture?
FWIW, and with all my wishes: http://wetab.mobi/en

Steve can sleep at night.

Judging by what happened to most of the iPod killers and what Microsoft is looking likely to do I'd say he'll be sleeping soundly. I'd be more worried about Android based tablets, ChromeOS on the other hand is IMHO a joke.

So, like the weTab, previously known as wePad?

This one looks awesome:
http://wetab.mobi/en

http://wetab.mobi/en
http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_5it/
http://www.slashgear.com/dell-streak-5-inch-3g-android-mid-leaks-2161220/
http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/
http://www.slashgear.com/icd-vega-and-ultra-android-tablets-hands-on-video-0869180/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4OCItW6ecc
http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/4d5337e2
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/quanta-tegra-2-prototype-hands-on/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/msis-10-inch-tablet-launching-this-year-at-500-patently-ignor/

Yeah, I to wouldn't want to run my whole desktop on a smartphone... and not on an iPad either. Probably better to design an UI which work well on the smaller screen ..

Depending on what it is.

Waiting for someone to make a good quality, aesthetically-pleasing and ergonomic tablet with Android as its OS. No tablet for me until then.

Here you go http://wetab.mobi/en

The more they waste time, the better it'll be for the german Neofonie to negotiate most european publishers for hts rival Wetab tablet machine.
Which may not be so bad ( Linux based, yes sir).

http://wetab.mobi/en
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/neofonies-wepad-tablet-shown-to-german-journalists-seems-legit/2#comments
http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/03/29/europes-biggest-publisher-embraces-the-wepad/