OK, but everything will still be in a case so still fat and heavy and clunky looking. A shock proof case can only be so thin and only when you can prevent thin glass/metal/plastic from breaking or warping so easily (let's see how long that takes) will that cease to be the limiting factor. And the cases you see around town aren't the mag covers, I'm talking about fully blown folio in synthetics or leather. Mag covers only protect the screen from scratches and provide the auto sleep function. You can't bring the MBA into the comparison. People don't carry them around everywhere they go, whipping them out 100+ times a day and dropping them on a regular basis.
Full disclosure: despite my argument, I hate cases on my devices and refuse to use them aside from a thin tablet screen cover.
So they should make it out of rubber because "it'll end up in a case anyway and be fat and heavy and clunky looking"?
There is a severe flaw in what you're saying - Apple didn't design the iPad 1, iPad 2 or iPad 3 with a full case in mind, in spite of the audience using them lots.
Yes I realise they make the smart case. I think of this like the bumper - offering something demanded, but the core product was designed without it. They also introduced it significantly after the iPad 2.
Full disclosure: despite my argument, I hate cases on my devices and refuse to use them aside from a thin tablet screen cover.