iPad battery replacement

I'd been wondering what the story on battery replacement for the iPad was, and now Apple has announced that for $99 you can send in your iPad, and they will send you a replacement one (not necessarily new..)

Interestingly, the gadget sites Engadget and Gizmodo have two different takes on it. Gizmodo seems to think it's a good deal:

The Battery Replacement Service FAQ on Apple's site outlines their policy for handling iPads with diminished battery capacity, and its surprisingly generous: for a $99 service fee, they'll send you a brand new iPad.

while Engadget isn't so happy:

Whoa, Nelly! Isn't this something? Apple has just posted details on its iPad battery replacement service, which is really not a battery replacement service at all.

The odd thing is what has their noses out of joint is that your data won't be preserved, and Apple says you should use iTunes to backup before sending the device in.

you'll be waving goodbye to every morsel of personal data on the device that you send in -- unless you backup beforehand, of course

Now if you've had your iPad engraved or otherwise personalized, then I can understand being upset about not getting back the one you sent. But complaining about the data not being on the computer when it comes back is a little misguided.

You should never send or take in a computer for repair without backing up your data, and you should always assume the data could be lost or destroyed.

It's just the way it is. Often - particularly with hardware problems - the memory can get corrupted/swapped out/reformatted while the repair/diagnostics is being performed. And given that the iPad has to be dissembled and reassembled, I can see why Apple might want to save some time in the process by just sending out a replacement immediately.