16:9 is better
I wonder whether the people who disdain 16:9 tablets have actually used one. To be fair, I wasn't sure before I got my Asus Eee Transformer, but there's one big reason that 16:9 is better than 4:3 - it's closer to the aspect ratio of A4 paper.
When I'm using my tablet at work, I'm often looking at PDFs or Word files, and holding it in portrait orientation means that the A4 page is fully visible, with space for the toolbars above and below. When you try that on an iPad, you end up with letterboxing or cropping.
That's right - for real work, 16:9 is better.
And I'm not convinced by the aesthetic argument either. 4:3 just means there's less difference between the two orientations - and hence less point rotating it. With a 16:9 tablet, there's a real difference between the two modes, and each has its uses.