Part 1: The iPad. It’s finally announced. Silence.

Let’s use a visual. Imagine you’re a person who’s decided to go bungie jumping. You stand on the edge of a bridge. Your heart is racing; it actually almost feels like it’s going to burst out of your chest until you finally take that jump. Serenity. After the first few seconds after that leap everything is quiet. You hear the wind going past your ears and for a moment, you start to think “this kind of feels nice, I wish I could keep falli-” YANK, the cord’s extended and your finally shocked back (somewhat unpleasantly) into reality.

That’s what Apple did here. iPad, OMG WTF BBQ!!!11!ONE!! Some people shouted. Looking around twitter I saw that people were more concerned with the fact that they thought it was funny it was named after a tampon. I’m sorry… what?? Notepad wasn’t funny… rappers say “Pen and a Pad”… it’s only one letter different from iPod! (ok that sounds like a G.W. Bush argument).

Point is, to me, it’s near perfect for my needs. Why? I want something thin, light, and can do the basics. I love the fact that it’ll make my life so much more easier when it comes to management. Have you seen the email client? It’s amazing! I’m working all the time and I’d love to have a device which I could pick up, throw in a breifcase or backpack and just use

The biggest scream seems to be that people aren’t happy that there is no flash support. Who cares about flash! Even YouTube is moving over to HTML5 which is much efficient. Have you heard your fan speed up whenever a flash video is playing?

Potential:

There’s just so much potential to this device. It could be used as a great DJing app, a simulator, store management device, home control unit, a project management app, and so much more. I think it’s more exciting to see what the developers are going to be bringing to this device. Having said that, THAT is what makes this a great device. It’ll always be updated.

Marketing:

I think it’s fair to say that the iPad is useful for people who know what they’re looking for.

• It’s an eBook reader, with MORE functionality and a color screen.
• It’s a management tool, with an intuitive interface
• It’s a great browser, with a media player built in
• It’s a Video player, with an option to do something else
• Photo manager, with iWork inside.
• etc….

What I’m trying to come to is that the iPad isn’t this one great fantastic device that does everything amazingly. It’s a device that does just simplifies necessities. It’s got to have at least ONE thing that’s useful to you and the rest are bonuses

What I hate:

• The bezel is too big. I don’t like how it makes the device look so square and closer to a digital picture frame.
• No camera…. No not one for snaps, but for video calls. Would be a great conferencing tool.
• Micro-sim… WHY?! I’m still trying to figure out whether I can just ‘cut’ a regular sim card or not.
• The homescreen is… empty… why?! This should be used with valuable information like how LockInfo provides to the iPhone….
• No multi-tasking is a disappointment
• No ‘linking’ or ‘syncing’ with iPhone via Bluetooth

On a side note, is it an oleophobic screen like the 3GS? I hope it will be so I can wipe off fingerprints easily.

Final question? When will the iPad arrive in Qatar? (it’ll take 2 months for the wifi version and 3 months for the 3G enabled in the US, I’m sure we’ll see imports but 3 months is enough to make me lose the excitement )

Update: So you’re looking for an iPad in Qatar? I helped set up http://www.shipmypad.com ! So go ahead and grab yours now for 1,500-2000 QR CHEAPER than the rest.