There’s no escaping the launch of Apple’s iPad this weekend (you might even be reading this post on its glossy, seductive touch-screen). So for those who’d like to contribute something to the conversation beyond the increasingly tired “is there an app for that?” line, we’ve assembled a few interesting tidbits on what might be called (eye-roll please…) “iPad-onomics.”

Early Adopters and Moore’s Law: You want the iPad now, but you know if you wait its price will soon fall and its features improve. This principle of rapid technological advancement goes back to “Moore’s Law,” named after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corp., who back in 1965 predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double each year (since updated to roughly every two years). More broadly, the idea has been described, with no lack of controversy, as the law of accelerating returns or the “digital revolution,” similar if not greater in scope and magnitude to its industrial predecessor.

Back to the iPad. So should you wait to buy one? Probably. But if everyone waits, that’s a problem for Apple, which loses the revenues and publicity generated by record-breaking launch sales. Ultimately, a disappointing launch could be interpreted as a sign of low interest or demand for such a product, removing the incentive for further devices and innovations from Apple and its competitors that help to lower the costs and improve the quality for all users. (Those who haughtily skip the launch to wait for the better, cheaper version may want to keep that in mind).