I'll post a more fully organized post about the new iPad with specs and what not. But right now its about my thoughts. I'll also post some link of other people's thoughts that I value or think is very interesting.
Gut thought: Okay...coolish, but not a "buy" on my part.
Lemme explain my gut feelings. As the rumor mill churned constantly, I was hoping that Apple would really fulfill all my dreams and maybe even kick off the Courier as my dream niche worker. But then the day came and the iPad was released. I secretly knew that there was no way that Apple could live up to my expectations but I wish, wish, wished, because the iPhone blew me out of the water in terms of concept and execution.
And here was the iPad, this 9.7" thing that remarkably looked like a giant iPod Touch. There's nothing wrong with that, it's clean, pretty, and shiny. All the makings of a good thing, especially an Apple thing. However, maybe the software would blow my mind, Apple is good at that. So when Steve Jobs (His Jobness) started moving his fingers across the screen, I was holding my breath only to have it just stagnate. It looks like a Touch, moves like a Touch, it must be a Touch. But its not, its an iPad.
Maybe thats the problem; I wanted something new and mindboggling, and thats exactly what I got. The iPad is new and mindboggling; its not old, because its not an iPod Touch, iPhone or anything that has been in mass production. And its mindboggling because its just so similar to what Apple does have. I understand that one doesn't want to spring something super duper new into a market, just look at Apple's Newton. Nevertheless with Apple's trend of allowing the rumor balloon to grow and grow and making its own products such a big deal (I'm looking at you, Your Jobness) ; this was like a pin in the growing ego of Apple. I also understand that a good company should milk all the goodness out of a product line, instead of making them smaller, let's make them BIGGER. Apple has become the company that wows. So when it doesn't it is off-putting.
Now I don't doubt that the iPad will be successful and will fill that little media niche that apparently I don't have. It's just with the assumption of tablet, the word PC is always close by. The iPad is not a computer, its guts