No, the iPad will not always be above tablets, because tables have good features as well. It is like coming up with a generic after someone makes an original. There are some features about the iPad that are better, but the tablet has a lower price point and that is better for some people.
The beautiful thing about a free market is that there is competition. The iPad will not always be on top of the market, although Apple fans seem to be keeping the product that way. Google and Amazon have some market share for their tablet devices as well. It's only a matter of time before other devices come online and give Apple a run for its money.
The iPad being above tablets is a matter of opinion. Even if
one disregards the principle that states that something cannot be that way
always because nothing is constant in reality, but in theory only, there is still
the matter of the statement relating to the question being a matter of opinion.
There is as large a crowd of those that reject MP3 players because of their
singular purpose and favor those items that multi-task as there are that need a
gadget for each single convenient task. Asking if an iPad will always be
superior to tablets is like asking if Yahoo will always be superior to
Microsoft email; while Yahoo has more gadgets and applications, this is a
matter of preference and cannot be answered without a subjective point of view.
Really, in that sense, because buyers are purchasing and using both on a
regular basis, neither is above the other and while one may be dominant for a
short time there will be factors that change that in the market from year to
year or month to month.
I believe that the ipad like all apple products are just famous for their image and logo. Apple is one of the popular companies that we all know and love. People without knowing it just buy it because it is the most familiar to them. Apple is not always the most innovated but it is one of the most popular.
I do not believe the iPad will be above other tablets forever. I think Apple is at a stand still, they having nothing new to release and they're selling their products at falling prices. Some of them haven't even been popular over the last year or so. Other tablets are catching up, as well as many other products.