Well done, Steve.

Since everyone is reviewing the iPad, I thought I might add to the white noise. For the first time yesterday, I sat at home and followed along on a techie blog while Steve Jobs and co revealed their new baby, the iPad.

My first thought, "why didn't they run this name by a woman first? Open the doors to the iTampon jokes." Incidentally, I've since seen the MadTV sketch about the iPad, in that exact circumstance, and I'm sure it will have a resurgence on the internet.

But once I got past the name, I tried to follow the various features and see their real-world applications.

Giant games? Okay, I don't do much gaming on my phone and none on my computer, so this doesn't really interest me.
Paintbrushes? It's cool, sure, but I'm not sure I would use it that much. But it's definitely a different kind of application and would be cool until the novelty wore off.
So what was cool?
Giant NYTimes? Definitely digging this application. I think this is one I would use without question.
iBooks? The books seemed a bit cheaper than kindle/sony/nook, and I really like the interface of the iBookstore. This might give the other e-readers a run for their money.

I'm still on the fence about iWork. I've been a mac user for 3 years now, and I've still not made the switch to iWork as my primary platform, because it's not very functional outside the mac world.

The price, of course, is awesome, but there are plenty if hidden costs. $130 extra for 3G? If I'm going to make the investment in a tablet, I'm going to get 3G, and how big are the files for the ebooks?it has a battery life of 10 hours, but I can read for 10 hours with no problem. And movies are 1.5-2 gb each, so the 16gb iPad may still fill up quickly. So then you have to basically go for the 32/64, which is more still. Plus $30/month for the wireless? They should have a way that if multiple people in one household have the iPad, they can get a discounted rate on the Internet. Or if they already use AT&T for their internet.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed by apple's new creation. Of course, I won't be getting it in the first generation (probably not in the 2nd either). I'll wait until you can add Word (because, regardless of what steve & co say, it's still really hard to use other platforms in academia), you can type on a flat surface, and 3G is standard.

I tip my cap to you, steve. Can't wait to see what you think up next.