First, A Little Background...

Ok, let me get this out of the way, right from the start. I'm what you'd call an Apple Devotee (I refuse to call myself a fanboy, but if you want to... let's just say I respect your right to do so). I've been using Apple products for a little over ten years now, and haven't looked back or regretted it for a second. I get excited when a new product or product line comes out of Cupertino, and I've been willing to overlook some of Apple's shortcomings (always releasing better versions of hardware or software I use within days of purchasing it, adding DRM to iTunes purchases, omitting several key features from the iPhone until the 3GS and OS 3.0 came out, etc.) because of this mindset.

In short, this review might be a little biased. I'll do my best to be objective, but keep this in mind as you continue to read.

Anyway, it was this mindset that kept me excited about the iPad, even as just about everyone around me was trashing it as "a giant iPod Touch" and trumpeting its shortcomings.

However, in spite of this mindset, I also subscribe to the school of thought that one should never buy the 1st Generation of any product. I haven't been an early adopter since my first iBook in 1999, because I saw that product improve by leaps and bounds and it's price drop drastically... so I found myself wishing I'd waited a bit (a piece of advice I still give and follow when shopping for a new Mac, if I feel a new release is imminent). As a result, I waited until at least the 3rd Generation iPod, and the iPhone 3G, before making the leap to those devices.

Being an early adopter gives major bragging rights and that feeling of being on the cutting edge of technology, but it's very expensive, and you get to double as an unofficial guinea pig, enjoying all the kinks and bugs the manufacturer will sort out in the next version... one that, bound to be much cheaper, you might be able to afford... had you not plunked down hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a clunky, buggy, and now quickly obsolete, testing device. Unless you're rolling around in cash, it's just too hard to maintain, and worth it only for the most hardcore of gadget geeks.

So when I walked into the Apple Store yesterday, I figured I'd just play around with the device for a bit. However, I ended up walking out almost $700 lighter and with a shiny new toy, feeling equal parts excited, yet conflicted about reneging on my own advice. What caused the sudden switch? Honestly, it was a hunch. I didn't have a white light, soul-changing epiphany while playing around with the device... I didn't even handle it! Without even thinking, I walked to the salesman and asked if they had the 32GB iPad and a matching case. They did... and I didn't even pre-order or stand in line!

Ok, now the review...

So, having bought it and played around with it for a few days, I'm ready to write the review (I know some of my Twitter followers have been waiting patiently for this). You're probably asking yourself this, so I'll answer it: yes, I typed this review up on my iPad, on the Pages app, specifically.

Short answer: it's incredible, and definitely lives up to the hype. Long answer:

As I've said, the most common charge I hear against the iPad is that its basically a giant iPod Touch. And yes, this is true, but it's an overly simplistic description. I'd say it's everything the iPod Touch (and maybe even the iPhone) was intended to be. Yes, the main difference is that it has a bigger screen and a faster processor, but it's those two things that truly make all the difference.

Let's address both these components. First off, the screen. Yes, it's bigger. But what I didn't realize until after using it is how much crisper it is. The iPad screen is high definition - it will display images at 132 dpi (or "dots per inch" - as a point of reference, most web graphics are displayed at 72 dpi), and video at 720p at 30 fps (for help decoding these cryptic specs, click here).

To say images and video look gorgeous on this thing is a gross understatement. They look downright dazzling. I treated myself to an in-bed viewing of Planet Earth in HD this morning, and I was absolutely blown away (another tip: the HD trailer for Avatar is just as mesmerizing). And it's not just video - the web itself has never looked so amazing. Typography is always crisp, clean, and sharp, and colors positively pop out of their web pages. My only gripe is that, at 72 dpi, most images now look slightly grainy and pixelated on a 132 dpi screen... It definitely helps set a new standard for web imaging... and fellow web designers, take note: there will be huge opportunity found in optimizing websites for devices like the iPad, not just in imaging, but also in removing Flash and other obtrusive plugins.

Ah, speaking of Flash... have to address it at least briefly, as the second most common iPad complaint is its lack of Flash support. Surprisingly, it wasn't as big of a handicap as I thought it would be. Turns out a lot of major websites have been making the transition from Flash to HTML5 (and it's video embedding goodness), and where that's the case, there's a seamless integration between the video elements and the rest of the site (Apple keeps a list of these sites here, but my personal favorites, from a design perspective, were the TED Talks and Vimeo). After browsing these sites, I don't feel it'll be too hard for me to let go of Flash completely, when that time comes.

Oh, and there's already a batch of iPad-only apps on the App Store that take full advantage of this HD resolution, and they look just incredible.

And then there's the processor... It makes a big difference. Apps load in a flash, web pages load in a flash (no pun intended), videos load in a flash. All without missing a beat, and while being very generous with the battery life (one of my biggest gripes with the iPhone was its ridiculously low battery life... Apple seems to have delivered on their promises this time). Apple estimates a battery life, with heavy use, of about 10 hours on a single charge. And for the first time ever, they're right on target. That's how long I went yesterday - and this is with relentless Internet, gaming and video use. I used it just as heavily all day today, and it still (at 10PM) has a 56% charge.

Some gripes...

That being said, there are still some flaws. First, the keyboard, while a lot of fun, does take some getting used to... And for long typing jobs like this one, it is taxing on the fingers. I couldn't imagine doing extensive coding on it, for instance.

Also, the iBooks app and bookstore is lackluster. The books load slower, there's less text to the page, and there's less book selections than, ironically enough, the Kindle app, which has been optimized for iPad and is crisp, clear and intuitive.

Speaking of apps... say goodbye to $0.99 apps. iPad apps usually start at $5-$10, and the more professional suites (like some mixing and beat-making apps, as well as some productivity apps) can easily run you $50 or even $100. Apple claims you can just download regular iPhone apps (all +150,000 of them if you want) and use them on the iPad like no problem. Theoretically, yes... But in practice, you have to choose between playing the iPhone apps at their normal resolution (way too small for such a big screen), or doubling their pixels, making them look grainy. And on the iPad's HD screen, that pixelation can be visually jarring. It's like switching from regular TV to HDTV: once you get a taste of the real good stuff, the regular stuff just won't suffice.

Some developers are more generous than others, and include that optimization on their next free update. But most will simply develop a separate iPad version and charge much more for it (prime example... Scrabble for iPhone: $5. Scrabble HD for iPad: $10). Sometimes, I can see it being necessary... but doubling the price for Scrabble? It sure looks great, though...

More on apps... apparently magazines will be sold through there, too. And while newspapers and other print publications look amazing on the iPad, there's not much in the way of magazines... just this weeks issue of Time, selling for twice what it costs on newsstands, and not looking much different from the regular print edition! Where the hell is Wired Magazine, who single-handedly elicited ecstatic exhubration from the entire publishing industry with their incredible iPad demo? Where's SI, with their equally impressive tablet edition, with videos and interactive stats and graphics? Do they not realize they are losing valuable time, right off the bat here? The iPad has the potential to save publishing... but if the entire industry is this clueless, there may not be so much hope after all...

Or maybe it's just too early. I could gripe more about how I wish there were more games, or magazines, or book titles... but it's still very early in the game. Much more, I know, is on the way. I guess patience, paradoxically, is part of the ways of the early adopter.

So should you be an early adopter?

The one question that everyone genuinely curious (and not just ambivalent) about the iPad asks is "can it do everything your computer/iPhone/etc do?" The subtext here is, if I'm going to drop that much money on this thing instead of a smartphone or entry level computer, will it do everything I need to do. A valid question.

The short answer is no, it doesn't. Its shortcomings have been pointed out elsewhere, so I won't get into details. I know from my experience, I'll still need my iPhone to make calls, send texts, get directions and look up stuff in the absence of a Wi-Fi network. I'll also still need a computer to work with imaging, coding, and to look up those Flash heavy websites, many of which are still out there, and not going away soon.

But help me, for just a second, look at the bigger picture. When I look at my iPad, I think of the money I'll be saving when I finally kick cable to the curb and stream all my TV through this device. I think of curling in bed, with a book, a game, and a "laptop" all at once. I think of the mockups and proposals I can drum up and show my clients, on the fly. I think of the beats I can make, which I can then mix into my sets and mix tapes. And I think how exciting it is to be a part of what may very well be the future of personal computing... how it feels like to be on the cutting edge.

So my advice is... try it out! Try to withhold all bias and prejudice before trying it out. You may like it... I know that, out of all the people I've shown it to, many of whom used to chide me for my interest in the "iTouch XXL", came out of the experience at most blown away, and at least impressed enough to understand my purchase, and even contemplate a future purchase of their own.

You'll never know till you try it... so head on down to your nearest Apple Store to experience the face of technological progress, in action.

Hats off to you again, Steve Jobs.

Living on the cutting edge of anything is exciting. Just when you think they’ve reached the pinnacle of something, a brand new idea comes and shakes everything up. Being an avid Facebook early adopter, and following it through it’s meteoric rise to dominance in the social sphere, I often wondered what could possibly top it. Then Twitter came along - while it didn’t supplant my use of Facebook by any means, it certainly caught my attention, and it was the perfect complement to my new iPhone. Then I wondered what could possibly come after that... and now the new game in town is “location.”

In the past year or so, “location-based social networking,” “location-based games” or “location-based services” have come (seemingly) out of nowhere and are quickly stepping into the spotlight, much like Twitter did a couple of years ago. The three big names are Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. I’ve had brief experiences with all three. A fellow iPhoner told me about Loopt - I tried it out, but I was very uncomfortable with the notion of constantly giving away my location - especially where I live and work (for this reason, I have yet to turn on location for my Twitter feed). After I eased up a bit, I then heard about Foursquare, signed up, downloaded the app, and just couldn’t figure it out. So I thought the whole thing was pointless, a waste of time, just another fad, and didn’t touch anything location-based for about half a year.

However, after reading coverage of this year’s SXSW extravaganza, which was utterly dominated by location-based social media, I was curious enough to give it another shot. This time, I tried Gowalla, a product of Austin, TX-based startup Alamofire. And guess what? I really like it. First of all, it was really easy to figure out - both the iPhone app and the Gowalla website are very user-friendly, and this time around, I got the whole concept behind “checking in” and “badges” (or “pins” in Gowalla) - big, colorful, beautifully designed icons helped lead the way.

Yes, visual design tied directly into usability on this one. And it made a huge difference - it’s what made me stick with Gowalla instead of going back to Foursquare or Loopt. It made the experience warm, personable, enjoyable, and most importantly, intuitive.

So what’s the deal with these things anyway? Here’s the skinny on location-based apps:

• Location-based social networking is a game, basically. You go to real locations throughout your city, and when you arrive, you whip out your phone and “check in” - pull out your GPS-enabled smartphone and let the app know you’re there - and if you want, share this information via Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• By checking into locations, you earn “stamps,” and for certain milestones (ie, certain number of locations visited) you earn “pins” or “badges.” Think of it like stamp collecting.
• You can also do “trips,” which are like scavenger hunts on your smartphone.
• All the while, you can do this with your friends - keep track of their check-ins, trade items, complete trips, vie for the most visits, etc.

So what sets apart apps like Gowalla and their ilk from other social networks (like Facebook or Twitter), or other social games (such as the most-divisive FarmVille)?

The biggest difference is that location-based apps actually encourage you to go out and do stuff. In Gowalla, for instance, in order to check into a location, you need to physically be there. This has several potential benefits:

• It will encourage people to re-discover (or simply discover, as it may be) their cities. People who actively participate in location-based social networking will not only come back to forgotten old haunts, but also find out about new treasures they would not have discovered otherwise.
• This also means that, by encouraging people to go out and participate in the world, versus staying at home in front of a screen all day, location gamers will most certainly benefit form a more positive state of mind, and possibly even health benefits.
• It’s a fun thing to do between friends - only instead of other social games, like FarmVille, you’ll actually be sharing in a tangible, physical activity - one that involves movement. Location-based apps will tie the fun, bond-strengthening social benefits to the aforementioned personal benefits. It can bring people together.
• As people are encouraged to go out more and check out neighborhood shops, eateries and attractions, they will also be supporting local businesses and jobs. Location-based apps have the potential to noticeably boost local economies (and some shops have already jumped on this potential - certain items or achievements on Foursquare and Gowalla can be redeemed for rewards at participating businesses).
• And who’s to say it has to stop locally? With thousands of locations, trips and users growing all over the world, location-based apps can be a fun way to discover what’s good in whichever cities you happen to visit. It can also encourage travel in and of itself (Who will be the first of YOUR friends to collect a badge or pin for every US State?).
• It can reduce News Feed clutter and junk tweets. We all know someone who updates their status or tweets about every restaurant, club or outhouse they go to (I’m guilty of this at times). Now, instead of typing a generic tweet or status update, they can check-in and share not only their location, but any pics or comments about the place, while also encouraging their friends to join in the fun.

These potential benefits are very exciting. However, location-based apps still have a long way to go before reaching the amount of traffic that Facebook boasts - or even Twitter, for that matter. Here are some impediments to location services’ mass adoption:

• The most obvious one involves technology - location-based apps need smartphones in order to be used properly: more specifically, GPS and a 3G connection are essential. There’s a long way to go here... according to Forrester Research, as of January 2010, smartphones only command a 17% market share in the US. These numbers are reflected in overall users for location-based sites, too: Foursquare boasts the most users at over just over 1 million. Impressive, but nothing compared to over 44 million users on Twitter, or more than 400 MILLION on Facebook.
• And even within the smartphone arena, there are obstacles - for instance, a countless amount of smartphones run some version of Android. But coding an app to run on each and every one of these is a daunting task (As an example: Gowalla’s website claims their Android app will run on the Droid, Nexus One and MyTouch. But what if you have a Cliq?).
• Then there are issues with the apps themselves. Gowalla, for instance, suffers from an intermittent bug in which check-ins won’t post to Facebook - this bug seems unique to them, and if left unchecked, could seriously undermine their potential for growth as frustrated users run out of patience. And Foursquare has some serious catching up to do in terms of usability and easing new users into the game.
• There’s the question of which service will emerge victorious... or will it be an even split? What to do in a situation where a third of someone’s friends use Foursquare, another third use Gowalla, and yet another third use Loopt?
• Then there are security implications. In an age where people are already freaking out about the (inevitable) death of privacy, location-based apps will not do much to assuage their fears. In fact, it’s been pointed out how tech/socially-savvy burglars take advantage of social media to find out when homes are vacant. While Facebook and Twitter are their most prominent tools, they will no doubt be making more and more use of services like Foursquare and Gowalla as they edge more and more into the mainstream - though the cops are starting to play this game, too. Of course, just like the on the rest of the web, staying safe on Foursquare/Gowalla is a matter of common sense, and in any case, you can always change their privacy settings - but to the paranoid, they make a very easy target. The mass implementation of location services may well rest on the court of public opinion.
• And then there are people like me, who simply thought these things pointless before really giving them a fair shot. Here, the impetus is on the services themselves to prove these folks otherwise (and to this, I continue to attest to Gowalla’s outstanding efforts), and also on location-app devotees to spread the word and show their friends how fun they can be (hey, kind of like I’m doing now in this blog post... but further than that, demonstrating the app on their next outing, etc).

But don’t take my word for it... come try it out for yourself. Be warned, it’s addicting... but for the first time ever, that might actually be a good thing.

More Info:

You can always follow my exploits, regardless of whether or not you join, here:
http://www.gowalla.com/users/Jaywalker

For more information, and to sign up, click here:
http://www.gowalla.com

Or, you could always try out some competing services:

Foursquare
http://www.foursquare.com

Loopt
http://www.loopt.com

Whrrl
http://www.whrrl.com

Yelp, best known as a social restaurant/business-reviewing site, recently incorporated check-ins into their service:
http://www.yelp.com

The following is a personal account.

Intro

December 22, 2005: It’d been a few months since Katrina hit New Orleans. As I drove into the city, I could already feel an all-permeating grimness. The damage greeted me as I made my entrance, and it was everywhere. The first responders had long since made their rounds and most of the muck was cleared out, but it was gloomy nonetheless. It looked like a war zone in places. I stopped by the Lower 9th Ward, right where the water breached the Industrial Canal - entire city blocks washed away, cars on top of houses, centuries of history, gone.

Later that night, I’d go to the French Quarter - which went through Katrina largely unscathed. Still, it was so quiet, the eeriness crept through. I got lost, stumbling throughout the Quarter. I didn’t have to worry about getting mugged - the place was deserted - but I could feel the ghosts of the city, both old and new, haunting my every step. What was to become of New Orleans, my natal hometown? Was this it? Would people ever come back and rebuild? Would things ever be the same again?

February 7, 2010: I’m at the Clevelander on Ocean Drive, just one face in a sea of black and gold. There’s just over three minutes left in the 4th Quarter. The atmosphere is tense, yet brimming with hope and optimism. Then, it happened - Tracy Porter intercepted a Manning pass and returned it for a touchdown, sealing the deal. The New Orleans Saints... now Super Bowl Champions. The sea of black and gold erupted in a surge of unadulterated joy and euphoria. Elated, I reached for and squeezed my female friend, swaying back and forth while joining a booming chorus of “Who Dat!”‘s.

Two gentlemen from Boston congratulated me, saying if anybody deserved this night, it was, without a doubt, New Orleans. It then dawned on me... I hadn’t seen my fellow New Orleaneans so elated since long before the storm hit. I thought back to that night in the Quarter four years ago, and I couldn’t help but feel it... as I’m sure everyone in or from New Orleans must have felt as well... I felt hope.

A Love-Hate Relationship

I’m not exactly what you would call a sports fanatic. I don’t play any - I was never an athletic person. I don’t spend copious amounts of time memorizing stats. Yes, I know what teams I like, their key players, their winning records for the season, and I'll casually follow them through the season.

Don’t get me wrong, I do see a point to, and derive some pleasure from sports - hell, some of my fondest college memories took place at the Orange Bowl. But I never understood people who were downright fanatical about it - sure, it was an enjoyable passtime, but it always perplexed me how seriously people took it. Especially when it lead to violence... it’s only a game, right?

However, following the Saints this season has shown me another side of sports... one that is most powerful. It’s shown me how a game can have the capacity to forge bonds and heal communities, to bring people from all walks of life together to share in a common experience, be it joy or pain. It can be a truly transformational force.

As anyone from New Orleans will tell you, growing up with the Saints is an exercise in frustration and disappointment. So that’s already a shared experience - besides the food and music, one thing all of New Orleans, a city with deep racial divisions, had in common was disdain for a franchise that was all but synonymous with failure. At one point, fans would go see the “Aint’s” with paper bags over their heads.

I remember being in New Orleans when the Saints won their first playoff game against St. Louis back in 2000 - the city was ecstatic they’d even made it that far. In a way, the team was a reflection of the city - while the rest of the country saw New Orleans as a nice place to party and eat some good food, I doubt they took the Big Easy very seriously (but then again, neither did we). Looking back, it only seems natural this would extend to the football team.

A City and its Team, inextricably linked by Fate

Then, in August 2005, it happened - Hurricane Katrina came knocking. By then, I was living in Miami, and Katrina had plowed through as a Category 1 - blowing over trees, flooding streets, and knocking out power for a good week. I remember getting power back and turning on CNN, to see Katrina become a massive, Category 4 monstrosity making a direct pass at New Orleans. I freaked, and was nervously following coverage of the storm all night.

Then, what I feared the most happened - the levees failed. My heart sank, and I wept for the city... I knew what had just happened. New Orleans was underwater. Worst of all, I felt helpless being so far away.

And then, the images came pouring in... people stranded on rooftops, masses of starving crowds waiting desperately for aid that was too slow to come, houses in the garden district set on fire, bodies floating around the filthy water... all heartbreaking enough to people WITHOUT such an emotional attachment to this place.

Most iconic of all, in my mind, was an interior shot of the Superdome, torn up inside and out, light pouring in through a big crack in the roof. It was like a visual elegy to what was once such a unique bastion of history, culture and good times in this country.

I was fortunate in that I didn’t lose any friends or family to the storm. But right then and there, I knew New Orleans had changed. Just as devastating as the physical damage was the blow to the city’s morale. The city’s overall zeitgeist can usually be summed up by its unofficial slogan, “laissez les bons temps rouler” (“let the good times roll”).

But after Katrina, this easygoing, laissez-faire attitude was displaced by a deep despair, cynicism and uncertainty. It didn’t help that the government all but abandoned the city, leaving New Orleans to re-build itself... never mind the fact that most of its citizens were now displaced.

Among those displaced were the New Orleans Saints themselves. They’d spend the 2005 season split between San Antonio and Baton Rouge. There were serious doubts as to whether they, like most of NOLA’s displaced residents, would even return to the city. Again, a perfect reflection of the city’s condition.

But then, things started to change a bit. In 2006, the Saints were back in New Orleans - but also just as importantly, that year saw the Saints’ acquisition of Sean Payton and Drew Brees - two names that need no explanation. At the same time, a very real, concerted effort to rebuild the city was underway, aided in large part by an influx of new residents.

The Saints made it to the NFC Championship that season, and sports pundits were endlessly invoking the pain of Katrina as a backdrop for what had been their best season thus far. Little did they know what was to happen later...

Who Dat Nation: A Phoenix rises from the Ashes

I went back to New Orleans for the holidays this year, the first time I’d returned in years. I sensed a different energy running through the place. Joining in a Second Line parade, I marched through the city echoing the crowd... “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?!” The Saints were 13-0 at the time of the parade - enjoying a so-far perfect season, and the city was clearly riding on its coattails.

I paid a visit to the French Quarter right after Christmas and again for New Year’s... and I’d never seen it so bustling, so busy, so full of life and energy, even before Katrina. And of course, the Saints were on everyone’s mouths and minds. They were bringing the city closer and closer by the day.

As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I was watching fireworks go off over the Mississippi. I looked back at the crowd gathered at Jackson Square, and felt an overwhelmingly positive vibe sweep through me. I couldn’t help but smile. It was going to be a good year, I knew it.

Fast forward to February 7, the day of the Super Bowl. As I took my place at the Clevelander, waiting for kickoff, I pondered the position New Orleans was in. While still having a long way to go, it has made incredible progress in cleaning up and rebuilding after the storm. The Superdome, the site of such horror and inhumanity but a few years ago, had just played host to a full house of fans for the NFC Championship.

And now, the Saints were on the cusp of a Super Bowl victory, a thought that even a year ago would have been scoffed at outside of Louisiana. Who Dat Nation had completely taken over South Beach, turning it into a mini-Bourbon Street, away from home. The entire country was pulling for us - the Cinderella story, the underdogs, the little guys, the ones carrying the hopes and dreams of a entire city and people who’d just gone through unbearable suffering.

And sure enough, it was the perfect end to a perfect season. I looked around me, throughout the sea of black and gold. I’d never met these people before, but tonight, we were brothers. Many a times that night, I’d start a greet with a handshake, a pat on the back, and just two words “Who Dat” - by this point, no longer a question, but a declaration - and nothing more needed to be said.

The Big Easy, after going through so much, had finally gotten its spot in the sun. No longer the laughing stock or battered son of the country... we were on top. This was just the morale boost we need to forge ahead with our recovery. If our Saints could win the Super Bowl, then dammit, we can bounce back just as well!

Epilogue

I arrived home from the South Beach revelry to turn on the news, where I was once again greeted with powerful images - this time, much more positive ones. Commentators gushing over the highlights. Video footage of all the jubilation on Bourbon Street. A people who, if just for a night, could shake off the ghosts of the past and let loose in ecstasy.

I finally understood why people get so fanatical about the game - to share in such joy with the people you share a geographical bond with, especially after they’ve been through so much agony, is incredibly moving and transcendental. I shed tears again... but this time, in the joy of knowing that yes, not only would New Orleans bounce back from Katrina, but the best is yet to come.

Because, to paraphrase the late, great Louis Armstrong, I know what it means to miss New Orleans. And now, I can rest in the comfort and joy of knowing... what it’s like to have my city back.

WHO DAT!

So, this is it. Months of waiting and useless speculation are finally over. The 11th Hour has come and gone, and the clock rests squarely at midnight. The day of reckoning has come and gone. Steve Jobs has finally announced the fabled Apple Tablet - the iPad.

I'm no tech oracle, but I pretty much saw this coming: it turns out the iPad doesn’t do a lot of things it was hyped up to. It doesn’t shoot laser beams, it doesn’t track UFOs, it doesn’t read your thoughts, and it doesn’t wipe your ass. As a result, the blogosphere has taken quite vindictively to the iPad - the same blogosphere that, up to a day before the announcement, was proclaiming this device would do everything short of curing cancer and powering our homes, and then some. Give me a break.

People are railing on the iPad from every angle, ranting on everything from its name (ok, I’ll admit, after seeing the MAD TV sketch from 2006, it puzzles me to think how they could have missed that one), to its less-than-stellar hardware specs, and way-too-familiar software... in fact, the gist of everyman complaints about the iPad seems to be “it’s just an oversized iPhone.”

Which, to a certain degree, is true. It runs the same operating system. It runs the same apps. It uses the same multitouch interface, and similarly employs an accelerometer and compass. It even runs on the same 3G network, at least in the US - and that's not even getting into the things the iPad lacks: camera, app backgrounding, HDMI output, etc. So, is it just an oversized iPhone? On the surface, yes - but if you look behind the specs, and look at the subtext to try and get a glimpse at what Apple is trying to achieve here, then the iPad’s potential becomes truly exciting.

Think about the iPhone, if you will, since we’re already drawing comparisons. What is it that really makes the iPhone stand out? It’s not the OS. It’s not the multitouch interface. It’s not the accelerometer, or its web-browsing capabilities. When it first came out, this might have been the case, but Apple is no longer the only, or arguably even the best, player in the smartphone market. Especially if you’re going by specs alone. What truly makes the iPhone stand out is, quite simply, the amount and variety of apps available to users.

Thanks to the App Store, there’s an app for just about everything. Games, news, organizers, social networking, imaging... you name it, there’s an app for it. This, more than anything, is what makes the iPhone so successful - the average iPhone user has almost everything he or she needs, just a few intuitive (another key word) finger strokes away.

Likewise, the iPad will not be defined so much by its specs or firmware - rather, it’ll be the apps that come out of the woodwork that make or break this device. And it’s here that the possibilities are truly exciting. Sure, there are some limitations in terms of hardware, firmware, etc. but keep in mind... this is a First-Generation Device. Think back to the first iPhone, or better yet, the first iPod to come out, and look at the progression. The iPad will get better over time.

And once it does, and as developers get more creative, the possibilities are truly exciting. Consider the possibilities:

• The iPad’s supposed to save publishing and print media. Whether or not it will ultimately do so remains to be seen, but it will open up whole possibilities for publishers to court and engage their readers. For instance, the iPad’s e-reader is simple now, but think about future potential for dynamic, interactive publications. Animated magazines, for instance, is an awesome concept that would absolutely shine on the iPad.
• It’s no secret that Apple’s trying to court TV networks into an iTunes-based subscription service. This could turn the iPad into the world’s first truly portable TV.
• Students should be excited. Backpacks will weigh a lot less when all your textbooks, and notebooks, are on the iPad. (Also, on a side note, Doctors could quickly pull up medical charts, x-rays and other information with this thing).
• The possibilities for games are endless. Obviously, MMOs immediately come to mind. And while I can’t stand the copious amounts of FarmVille spam on my News Feed, I will concede that real-time social gaming is ripe for expansion and maturity on a platform like the iPad. As for me, I’d like an expanded Civilization: Revolutions app optimized for the iPad.
• As the iPad gets more powerful, I’d love to see a fully-capable image or vector editing app... think full-on Photoshop or Illustrator, but on a touchscreen tablet... many a digital artist and designer’s wet dream, and it could finally come true.

And that’s just a few. Remember, this device is still in its infancy. It’ll take a while to iron out some of the kinks - keep in mind it took the iPhone a couple of years before it got cut, copy and paste - but should Apple show a willingness to learn from past successes and failures, and most importantly, build on feedback from both consumers and developers alike, this could be the start of something truly revolutionary.

Me, I'm hoping It could even replace the laptop - or be the precursor to those cool, holographic tablets in Avatar. How awesome would that be? More than likely, though, it'll start out revolutionizing content, rather than hardware (if you look at it from this angle, it's easy to be excited about this. More on that here.)

And who knows, maybe we’re just scratching the surface. Maybe this is just a transitional step to something better (just like the original iPods led into the iPod Touch and the iPhone, and in many ways, I’m starting to think, the iPhone led into the iPad), one we can barely begin to comprehend, yet probably already envisioned and being brought to fruition by Steve Jobs, a man always ahead of our time.

So in short, stay tuned... and give the iPad a chance. It may not change the world, at least not immediately, but it can certainly change your world. To say its potential is exciting is a big understatement.

Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to providing you with a veritable cornucopia of web treasures. My posts range from informative, practical and thoughtful to creative, funny, relaxing or just fun to look at. Regardless, I always strive to provide something of value, and never to waste my reader's time.

While this blog is linked to my services as a designer and media consultant, I'm hoping it can connect me to more than just potential clients - through it, I hope to forge an ever-deeper link to this digital world at large.
I hope you will find a thing or two worthwhile here.

-Jay Rooney