"Apple will come out with the tablet and blow everyone away," said Dan Ackerman, senior editor at CNET.

Now, neither DiDio nor Ackerman say they've seen a prototype of the Apple tablet, and yet they're convinced the product will be huge. To be fair, if they have seen it under a non-disclosure agreement, they couldn't say so. But given Apple's legendary secrecy with its unannounced products, I'll assume they haven't.

Apple's reputation for amazing the tech world is clearly the driving force behind the tablet's positive buzz. Then again, not everybody is upbeat about the prospects of a notebook-sized slate that may be awkward to carry around.

Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala tells CNN that multifunction devices seldom perform as well as their single-use counterparts. Example: Would an Apple tablet with a gorgeous, high-resolution color display and a (likely) limited battery life be a better e-book reader than a Kindle, which can last for days between charges?

I guess we'll find out soon enough. Personally, I'm excited to see what Apple has up its sleeve. The company has amazed us before. Can it do so again?