iPad

"The reason Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts. To get the best of both, to make extremely advanced products from a technology point of view, but have them be intuitive, easy to use, fun to use. Fit the users, rather than having users come to them. The combination of these two things has let us make the kind of creative products like the iPad."

Well, here it is a few skinny hours later and Apple did not disappoint. And it's a good thing because I need diversions right about now. The iPad is one very impressive tablet computer. It's super thin and light with a 9.7" multi-touch color screen that looks like computer candy. It's got a 10 hour battery life running and one month in standby, so you can watch movies on a plane all the way to Europe. It knows to go to sleep when you lay it down. And the interface is incredible, next-level stuff for sure. The pop-up keyboard is way cool, and it's context-sensitive - it adapts to the specific app you are in. And speaking of apps, it will run current iPhone apps and all the basic on-board apps (Mail, Safari web browser, Maps, YouTube, Calendar, iPhoto, etc..) have been redesigned from scratch with this new interface in mind. And likewise there are new versions of word processing and spreadsheet programs that can be used with the your finger. It's so easy to use a child could pick it up in a few minutes. I kid you not, that is no exaggeration...I have a three-year-old expert iPhone user at home to prove it.

Now that is cool.

Apple product reveals are like a kind of cultural event. The sheer volume of the technical press in attendance brought the WiFi and 3G systems at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco to a complete meltdown. As the new York Times reported: "Zero bandwidth at the event." Another techie wrote "We haz broke the internets!". But the information leaked out eventually and it was worth the wait.

Steve came out and said, in his typical pumped-up style: "Last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it."

Aside from cruising the internet, music, movies, email, and other typical uses, this device will be huge in the educational and medical fields. eBooks are available by the thousands already, and textbooks will be available as well. There are apps in development to let the iPad read medical records and interactive MRI scans from anywhere.

iPad is pretty reasonably priced too, considering what it does...it starts at $499, and that base model is more than enough for a casual user.

I think David Wild Photography is going to be needing one of these in the very near future. :)