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I've had some time now to think about Apple's iPad.
Initially, like almost everyone else, I thought "meh". It's just a big iPhone. The thought came to me as I was using my actual iPhone to check twitter. It was then that it dawned upon me:
I use my iPhone as an "iPad" WAY MORE than as a phone, especially at home. Out and about, it's my phone/calender/mobile web device and it's a very convenient and great device.
At home, on the other hand, I use it a lot as a quick and convenient way to quickly check a web page, play a quick game of something, check my emails, etc etc etc.
So the epiphany came to me - the iPad is a bigger, more convenient iPhone; if, and ONLY if, you're a person who uses your iPhone at home for anything else other than a phone.A good example is in bed. We all like to do some bedtime "reading", by that I mean check our emails one last time (for the 1000th time in the day) and check our favourite social network, and perhaps our favourite forum just in case we've missed out on the next big thing.I typically use the iPhone for that, mainly for convenience.
There are more scenarios I can think of which are too many to list here, but all of which will be filled quite nicely with the iPad.
There is still, of course, the matter of what the devs are gonna do with the device. The much smaller iPhone sparked some amazing creativity in otherwise unknown devs, and practically recreated the bedroom coding scene of the 80s. I believe the iPad will just go to extend this - better games, better apps with bigger, clearer displays and controls.
And the print media will lap this up - the NY Times is leading the pack with it's app, formatting the newspaper to fit the device nicely, complete with embedded videos, links etc. Now imagine your favourite gaming magazine (or even blog/website) formatted to fit the screen (and controls) nicely, with embedded links to demos, trailers, etc. I personally can't wait for the digital version of the printed media, things like GamesTM, Edge, or Wired - in a brilliant package. The Guardian (UK newspaper) already has a brilliant iPhone app that displays its articles formatted to the iPhone's native display.
The book store is the biggest concern for me. It's not announced for the UK yet, but more importantly, how practical is it to read a book on a backlit screen? Screen glare can cause nasty eye-strain, especially when trying to read a novel for an hour or two. As an owner of a "traditional" ebook reader (iRex iLiad), I'm not concerned about the comfort of holding the device (it's a lot easier than holding a standard hardback), but staring at the screen reading words might not be. We'll see.
I know this post might annoy a lot of people (especially those that visit here via twitter), but this is my view of the topic, and after thinking about it a while and reading the various reactions (mostly negative), I've made my informed decision: I will buy an iPad.
And I think, like the Nintendo DS before it (which generated the same negativity but we all know what happened next), the iPad won't be as big but will change the way we interact with our digital world.
Remember you heard this here first - the first person to integrate the iPad in to the health system (results, xray images, etc) will be a very rich man indeed.