I monitored a twitter feed from someone that was at the IPad announcement the other day and he did seem excited. Nothing went wrong during the presentation and at the time I didn't feel any sense of disappointment (or overwhelming glee) about what was passed on to me via the less than 140 character pings I was able to get. (It was nice that I was able to get some useful work done at the same time.) I was able to see what it looked like through other sites and was at first delighted by the screen size. Then unimpressed by the looks of the size of the border. Technology, looks and functionality conspired to force them to have that big black frame but I got over it in a few days. What I still haven't gotten over is the fact that it is just a big IPhone that can't make phone calls and has no GPS system. The price was lower than I expected but at the low end price, what do you really get? I can't take it on my business trips because too many of the hotels have free Internet service in the rooms that use wires not WiFi. I can't use it for presentations on those trips because there is no video connector to hook up to the projector and there are too many people that want to see what I have to present to just "show them the screen". Mr. Jobs says I can watch a movie on my over seas flight because it has the power for such a long flight. Well, I don't fly over seas except for business trips and if I can't use the IPad for business purposes, well, it's just one more thing he wants me to carry onto the plane. No, I will not put my laptop in my checked baggage. So, as far as going on airline trips with this device, I can see how it might be my vacation companion, sort of. I just got back from my yearly trip to Pompano Beach Florida. I took my G-1 Google phone. So, if I now have an IPad, I'll still need to bring my Google phone because I need it to make phone calls and do my GPS based driving and my On-The-Fly-Photo sharing with the poor saps back in their cold homes. (I do have a nice view of the ocean that I like to torture my friends and family with each January.) I can use the IPad to read an eBook on the beach, I think. But I'm not so sure about that bright sunlight. I also don't think I'll be able to get the book I want in e-format but since the book I wanted on my last trip was sold out down there I guess that was a wash. I'm also not so sure about the whole sand and computer thing but the IPad might be looking very good in that area. One or two pieces of black electrical tape covering the few openings in the case and it would be the most sand proof device I've ever seen. I never brought my G-1 down to the beach because it has a slide out keyboard and trackball. Sand getting into either of these just scares the crap out of me. So, vacation mode, a once or twice a year event, could be enhanced by the addition of an IPad if I can find the book I'll read in e-format. But otherwise, it's just yet another thing I'll need to pull out when I go through airport security. Now for the home. Well, I don't know where I'll use it at home, at all. I already have a laptop up and running upstairs and at least one desktop up and running downstairs. OK, I also have one running in the garage but we won't talk about that today. I use whatever system I'm closest to, to read the NY Times and Drudge and Huffington Post and BoingBoing and all the other sites I regularly visit and I can do that from my G-1 too. I have e-mail clients on all of them so I can check and respond to e-mail any place and any time. I use my TV to watch movies and either my G-1 or laptop to play music and every system I currently own can at least take a picture and most can video chat. I'm no kid so I have my limitations. If the IPad could do all the things that an IPhone could do, then I could use it like a magnified IPhone and leave my reading glasses behind when I make phone calls but, the IPad can't make phone calls can it? I think I'll wait for the GPad. You know it can't be long.
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