The iPad is cool!
This past week, we replaced my wife's Acer Aspire One (a small XP-running netbook) with a 3G iPad. This thing is very cool. I am amazed, yet again, at the effort Apple puts into a great user experience. The netbook was basically a shrunken laptop that didn't do any of the things a laptop does well except be lighter in weight. The iPad is light and portable and you can use it on your lap a lot more gracefully than the netbook. The screen space is well used, so it doesn't fell cramped. I wouldn't do a lot of typing on it, but a trip to BestBuy for a stand and a Bluetooth keyboard will take care of those times when my wife needs to get something done that involves more typing. Very cool device. Unexpectedly, I have found myself wanting one of my own. It fills that space where you want to do some internet surfing, check your email and facebook and look at your calendar and the weather without having to "sit down" at the computer, or haul out the MacBook Pro (which to me feels like I'm going to work), but you want more space to work with than your iPhone (or iPod Touch) allows. I think Apple has really hit the nail on the head with this one. I'm excited to see them add additional features with future OS (especially iPhone OS 4, which is coming this fall to the iPad) and hardware updates.
