We, the few, the strangely masochistic, the perpetually beta-testing, do hereby publicly and shamelessly profess an inexplicable affection for our not-quite-ready-for-prime-time internet tablets.

We readily acknowledge the protests over OS shortcomings, and stubbornly burn each firmware upgrade anyway.

We begrudgingly accept the API breaks, reinstalling our suddenly-fewer precious apps in spite.

We gleefully look forward to testing half-baked notions, unhildonized game ports and random nightmares.

We swallow hard and make the most of odd hardware decisions, such as usb ports hidden under kickstands and those horrid MiniSD cards.

We smile and nod numbingly at iPhone addicts as they chortle over fingers flicking at icons and simulations of popcorn... then <spit!> and mumble pathetic excuses as to Why We Can't Do That.

We gush enthusiastically over the 3 or 4 internet videos that play well on the things and wail with despair over the billion or so that... don't.

We proudly pump DRM-stripped MP3s over the tiny bass-deprived speakers and scratch our collective heads when friends are not at all impressed.

We shrug and deal with application idiosyncracies like file managers that don't and alarms that fail to realize you're traveling.

We shake our heads sadly over missed manufacturer opportunities and unknown promotions, and engage in endless, mindless speculation over unpublished sales numbers.

But above all, we grit our teeth and tolerate the slings and arrows of naysayers, trolls and never-shoulda-bought-its and just keep on tappin'...