I think Apple have a pretty good market here, and contrary to you guys, I don't feel it at all consists of Apple's 'followers'. I think the market is anyone who doesn't yet have an iPad and finds the iPhone or iPod Touch too small to be really productive on. True, the two of them just received screen enlargements, but only vertically - meaning that typing on them, working with documents and emails and etc., is still difficult for some people. The iPad mini is, imo, exactly what it says on the tin - a slightly smaller iPad for people who want a slightly smaller iPad over the larger one. It's still got the same function, just with a screen small enough to be more portable yet still different from the iPod Touch and iPhone.
...although, I see a big issue in the price. Had it been up to the level of the regular iPad then I'd have said it was reasonable. But this machine has no Retina Display and no A6 processor (featured in the much smaller iPhone 5 - so it's obviously not an issue with power consumption or heat production) - technologically, its processor is a generation behind the iPad and an entire two years behind the rest of Apple's iOS devices in terms of display. When Apple are using Retina Displays from 4" on the iPod Touch to 15" on the MacBook Pro, I don't understand at all why they didn't add a 7" one to this machine. These displays are great and they're becoming standard on Apple products so not having one is a huge step backwards for me. Because of these reasons I feel like the Mini is awfully priced. It has its place in the market, but it's hindered hard by that. It should be a hell of a lot more than $70 dollars cheaper than a device with a larger screen, faster processor, and far higher resolution - the normal iPad. At least the entry model is still 16GB rather than 8GB, though. *shrug*