iPad – I want one?

So – hype hype hype for months months months, all I heard about on my favorite tech pod-casts was the upcoming possibility of what everyone thought would be the iSlate.  We didn’t even know for sure, it was only guesses and rumors.  So I thought I would talk about my journey with the soon to be sold iPad.  I don’t even have one yet and I feel like I have a techy relationship with this device.  I think Steve Jobs does this on purpose, I wish he would just do the press release and start selling the thing on the same day instead of making us sit around and wait until April before we can purchase one.  So anyway here is my thought process the last 3 days.

Jan 27th – The Big Day

Would you believe on announcement day I actually forgot about this long anticipated press release until late in the day that afternoon at work.  I got a call from a techy buddy asking me what I thought about it.  He said, “it’s cool, huh man”. I totally forgot about it, I was in my car on the way back to the office and upon returning to my computer I immediately did a few google searches on iSlate (not knowing the actual name was iPad) to finally see an official pictures and read the head lines on the device.  All I could think was it’s just a giant iPod.  I was immediately unimpressed, rather I was more depressed for all the hype I had been hearing about the proposed iSlate.  In addition the name “iPad” just another immediate turn off.  All I could think was come on Apple, come on Steve Jobs, you guys cans do better than a ginormous iPod.  Well I got home that night did a little more reading on the specs and just more of the same:

• No multitasking
• No Adobe Flash (yet)
• No camera or iChat capabilities
• No HDMI port
• 4:3 aspect ratio
• Still dependent on AT&T’s 3G service
• Dependence on adapters

I was disappointed to say the least.  All that anticipation and you stick us with another monthly service fee with crappy AT&T! I was hoping at least get on the same level with the Kindle and do some free 3G or subsidize it through some content deals.  I bought my wife a Kindle for Christmas and thought about buying a second one because I love hers so much.  However with the release of the upcoming iPad, I figured waiting was the smart thing.  Well now I was starting to think, bummer I have a iPod what do I need a second one that’s just bigger.  I might as well get the second kindle for myself now.

Jan 28th – The Morning After

I download a couple pod-casts.  Namely TWIT’s last one from the  Sunday the 24th before release and the Mac Break Weekly press event one taped the day it came out.  Well it was interesting to hear all the rumors and guesses everyone had on this thing.  Most people were pretty close on everything; cost, OS, physical look of the device…  I quickly got bored with hearing about the rumors and predictions and switch over to the MacBreak Weekly Live Press Release pod-cast, I had to hear what the experts thought.  I was shocked to hear how impressed everyone was with this thing.  I thought, man Apple must be paying these guys to brag about it because I just don’t see how they are so amazing by this iPad.

However, the more I listened and thought about it, the more I got intrigued.  I began to drink to Kool-Aid…

Jan 29th – I want one…

I am a Mac lover, I bought a iMac about 2.5 years ago and did I mention I LOVE MY IMAC.  Also I am a Windows guy by trade and deal with MS products all day long.  In addition I am a faithful Crackberry addict, so I am not even a iPhone lover.  Actually I am a iPhone hater.  I had a iPhone for a day and could see all the iPhone enterprise limitations within 24 hours and quickly switched back to the Blackberry.  So I don’t have a strict following on Mac devices, other than my touch iPod and iMac (which is just a home PC).  After using my Mac at home for a couple years I have really come to appreciate what Apple has done and personally see the superiority in using a Mac, at least at home.  I am forced to use and support Windows at work, so I really don’t have experience with them in a enterprise environment so I can’t speak on using it in that capacity.  So I preface all that for this, I can’t wait to get a iPad.  I can see where Jobs was going when he said he wasn’t trying to replace your smart phone or your laptop, this is a new category.  Actually, I think the only real thing the iPad is even closely competing with is e-readers and maybe tablet laptops, however a tablet PC is closer to a laptop than the iPad.

I think this is going to be one cool device, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.  After some additional though, I realized all my Kindle books my wife and I have purchased for her Kindle will work on this also.  That pretty much sold me once I realized this…  I use the Kindle app on my iPod touch and actually its a great app, even for reading a book on a small screen.  So having the ability to reading it on the larger 10″ iPad would be awesome.  Especially if its more interactive.  Sure there still are some downsides, I am disappointed in it having a free wispernet type service like the Kindle.  The thought of giving AT&T another $15 – 30 a month makes me want to throw up.  However I can see the iPad really going places with all the apps that are going to come out.  I can just imagine using this dude to travel with as a GPS.  A 10″ GPS screen, that would be killer!  Also having access to a browser on the iPad anywhere I think is the solution we have been waiting for, for a long time.  The iPhone & iPod do in my opinion still have the best web surfing experience for a smart phone.  mainly because of the large iPhone screen and Safari.  I try using Opera Mini 5 Beta on my BB Bold, and its just OK.  But give me that 10″ OLED screen and its got to be just awesome.  In addition all the content you can put on the iPad; HD movies, pictures, music, and e-books.  That would keep me busy for hours on a trans-Atlantic flight.  Way better than watching that tinny iTouch screen.

I’ve drank the Kool-Aid and haven’t even touched an iPad yet.  Not exactly sure where it fits into my lift with all my other toys; blackberry, ipod, laptop.  However, I definitely want one and just feel really good about this despite my initial first day reaction.  I can’t wait!

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