The iPad could easily be called an oversized iPod Touch. With minimal interface improvements and nagging lack of multi-tasking the operating system is nearly a joke. There is a fundamental problem with making the core upgrade feature of something like the iWorks productivity suite, and that is the inherent disadvantage a touch interface has over a standard keyboard. If you are going to be writing or editing a 5 page essay, you are not going to want a touch screen interface, you need a physical keyboard. The keyboard dock aside, which pretty much invalidates the entire concept of the iPad, the laptop is the superior form factor. The iBooks eReader application seems nice, but I cannot imagine reading a 300 page book on a LCD screen, even if it does last 10 hours in-between charges.

I do like the thin nature of the device, battery life and the frame and face look extremely appealing, but poor way it handles existing iPod/iPhone applications makes this a difficult sell, especially when the lowest price of $499 is almost a hundred dollars more than an entry level laptop.

Many questions still remain about Mobile OS X 4.0, and how the iPhone and iPod will be affected by the upgrade, but with their focus on the iPad I don’t expect any real changes there. Most likely the details of the upgrade will be announced closer to the launch in 60 days. That is, if the internet doesn’t rip Apple to shreds for this whole affair.

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