Jason's take : "Fanboy" not impressed

I begin with fanboy in quotations because I do not consider myself to be an apple fanboy but I'm probably the closest thing to it.

For those who may not already know, Apple just announced their latest creation. The iPad. This device is to serve as the bridge between the iPhone/iPod touch and the MacBook notebooks. When this product was only a rumor, the question I asked myself and others over and over again was "What is the need for this device?" "Why should I want it?"
It was my hope that today would answer all of those questions for me and I'd fall head-over heels in love with the device as I've done time and time again and I'd live happily ever after with my latest Cupertino creation.

So far. It hasn't happened.

This device is entirely too big and offers no new features from the iPhone I have in my pocket right now. The demo of the keyboard, as my friend puts it, looks like a child's toy. The OS is almost identical to the iPhone OS except you can change the background. Wonderful. Can you run multiple apps on this device? Can you customize it anymore than wallpaper?

The demo of running existing apps on the iPad was insulting. Especially if you already own an iPhone or iPod touch. If I want to run the apps in the best resolution,sounds like it's best just to stay put. I've never watched a feed and been so embarassed and I hold no position, no stakes in the company at all and I'm embarassed!

I will admit the pricing is better than I thought it would be. However, the cheapest model at $499 is wifi only and 16gb?!! My iphone is 16gb. Again, I ask. Why do I need this device? This wouldn't replace my 500gb laptop if I wanted a 3g iPad that's $629 plus a monthly charge with AT&T (no contract) AT&T?! This just keeps getting better.

I just had a discussion with a facebook friend who said that the iPad just cut the Kindle off at the knees. Did it really? Their books are more, they are being displayed on a back-lit screen, and the iPad has a battery life of 10 hours. The Kindle measures it battery life in days.

I hope things will evolve and maybe this device will grow on me later. For now, it's a total failure in my book.