They will take advantage of the size and multi-touch with multiple hands. I can envision a whole slew of apps for recording studios, live music, art, home automation, health, education, etc. Apps that would be inconvenient, too small or just plain stupid on something the size of an iphone.

Sure, it makes a great e-reader, but that just barely scratches the surface of what this thing can be capable of. Think long term and not what it will do on day one. This really is a new category of gadget.

Reason why I recommend that we both do some hands-on with the iPad stems from what I did when first iPhone came out…. I went to an Apple store and observed the people testing out the device….. two things struck me: 1) the broad demographics of age/sex/lifestyles of the people interested….and 2) the almost universal sense of delight that was on their faces as they used the iPhone.

Sometime, product/platforms success are based less on the “speeds & feeds” aspects of feature/functionality/applications, and more on the overall experience.

The iPhone succeeded on the basis of the latter, not the former….am assuming that this is what Apple/Jobs is also betting on with the iPad – that it does SOME things better than previous platforms.

We shall see……

And I laughed really loud at that last one, Gregg. Love it!

BTW, my own (non)contribution to the issue #1 discussion was to observe that Apple is really out for blood with this product……. :)

@Gregg: You make great points, though what I love most about my iPhone is it minimizes the number of other gadgets I have to carry around or even buy (eReader, GPS, cellphone, PDA, handheld gaming device for light gaming, etc.). I don’t want to have to carry around a phone AND some other gadget, though I can see the convenience of having an expanded UI for mail and limited productivity tools.

And as for point #1, I’m simply echoing the mass response. I find the name unfortunate and I think it deflated a lot of the Apple tablet hype’s momentum.

I think more than anything, I was expecting something beyond an enlarged iPod Touch. I’m still nonplussed.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/27/adobe-flash-ipad/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

I came into yesterday hoping for the same thing I think you want – a Macintosh running OSX in a tablet form factor. We didn’t get that yesterday – and when I say we – I mean you, I and others who are looking for a replacement for their notebook/netbook with a tablet style interface.

OTOH, what I think Apple is going for – and what has made me rethink my disappointment – is a class of device that lies between a smartphone and a computer.

Clearly the iPad is not going to be a replacement for a computer – desktop or laptop – that will do “industrial strength” productivity apps such as CAD/design/image editing/etc..

However, most people don’t necessarily want or need that type of productivity tool in a or factor in other than what they already have – a decently powered notebook or laptop. The failure to date of the Tablet PC is testimony to this. If Apple had gone down the same path, albeit with the incremental advantages of OSX, I think they would have failed.

I do agree that the non-Flash support is a bit of a downer – that may or may not be resolved between Apple & Adobe – or by a 3rd party solution – at some point.

Am actually leaning towards buying one, and here’s why – I have both an iMac and a MacBook Pro – as well as an iPhone. I do most of my major imaging/drafting work on my iMac at home. It is a rare occasion that I need to do this mobilly, and when I do, I carry around the MBP.

I do use an iPhone for mobile email, PIM, web access, and a bit of diversionary gaming in downtimes.

With the advent of the iPad, a more efficient scenario for me is:

1) a low-end iPhone or other Smartphone. Not a lot of storage required, and likely even a lower-cost data plan.
2) a desktop Mac/PC to do the bulk of my productivity work at home, and also for completely robust multimedia capabilities
3) an iPad with 3G to become my mobile PIM/Web/Email/media platform, with some limited productivity tools (word processing / spreadsheet / presentations / others TBD) that I can do within an easy to use form factor. And oh, it also becomes my eReader (replacing a Kindle), and mobile gaming platform.

Others – particularly yours – mileage may vary…but I think I see what Apple is shooting for here.

And, one last point re your issue #1 – while I think it is is cute and oh so fun to jest about the use of the word Pad, I will point out that this word has been in common usage for other than feminine hygiene products for quite some time. In fact, a Google search on “pad” this morning disclosed no links to such hygiene products for at least the 1st 10 pages…..