iPad or other??

[Terry Fox]

I'm seriously looking at purchasing an iPad2.  I've seen some 
interesting ham stuff become available for it recently, and Judy has an 
iPad that she loves.  I've been using the iSDR app with my iPhone 3GS 
for a while now, very cool app.

My main concern is that I don't think that I can develop apps for it.  
When looking at the iPhone development, I saw the cost of registering as 
a developer with Apple as an impediment, but now I think I realize that 
I must develop on a Mac computer as well.  That's a show-stopper, as it 
triples the cost of iPad admission (buying yet another computer).  The 
only good thing left about the iPad is the number of apps available.  
Interfacing the iPad to the real world also seems to be a problem.

Can someone here explain (in details that an idiot can understand), what 
it takes to be able to develop apps for an iPad?

If the iPad is not for me, I may get another tablet instead.  I saw the 
new Blackberry Playbook is coming out tomorrow, and it can run Android 
apps.  Is it easier to develop apps for that platform from Windows or 
Linux?  I see that the Blackberry costs the same as the equivalent iPad, 
so there's no savings going in that direction versus the iPad...
Thanks.
Terry, WB4JFI