I finally picked up a 16GB WiFi+3G iPad a week ago. I can honestly say that I don’t know how I got along before this thing. I haven’t turned my MacBook Pro on once since buying it, and I’m spending a LOT less time at my desk. It’s really the perfect device; it’s larger and more accessible than the iPhone, but far more portable than a laptop or, I’d argue, a netbook. It’s immediately on when I want to do something, and the battery life is astounding.
So you’re thinking, “But it’s just a big iPhone, you moron!”
You’re the moron. After about 2-3 hours of using it, this line of thinking does a total inversion. The iPhone feels like a tiny, slightly pared-down, less robust iPad. Safari on the iPad is, for all intents and purposes, identical to Safari on the Mac or Windows. I’ve yet run into anything of importance that doesn’t work as well or better than a desktop browser.
“B-b-b-but it doesn’t have Flash!”
Browsing the web without Flash installed (or at least with it blocked) is actually a breath of fresh air. Try it. It’ll blow your mind how much smoother and less gaudy the web is without it.
“B-b-b-but it doesn’t have any USB ports! How do I used computer without hooking up all kinds of shit to it?”
You’re a moron.
“B-b-b-but I need my super pro razorback gaming mouse and 35 terabytes of pirated movies with me at all times!”
You’re an asshole, too.
There’s nothing I can really add that hasn’t already been gone over pretty extensively by much better professional reviewers, and I suggest reading what they have to say if you want an exhaustive, point-by-point review. What I do see in the iPad, however, is the future of personal computing. It’s a powerful platform in a very compact package that lends itself to being virtually anything you want it to be. Above all, though, I see the iPad – and the devices it will no doubt inspire for years to come – as the classroom of the future. It’s your textbook, it’s your link to your teachers, it’s where you take notes, it’s where you communicate with your classmates, it’s where you do your homework, it’s where you do your research.. and it’s completely untethered. You can be ‘in class’ while sitting in the back of a car going 70 down the freeway. It doesn’t replace the traditional computer in all things, but it does free you from it for most things. It is, without question, the birth of a whole new paradigm of personal computing, and it’s very exciting to watch.