Not so breaking news: the iPad

I told you so. Not that you needed me to tell you guys the obvious, after all these year of tablet rumors and dancing around that Apple has done. But the iPad finally official, and predictably it's also taken the tech world by storm.

Overall, I'm not surprised with the features that Apple has offered with the iPad. It's all standard fare; magazine and book reading, a online store for those publications, some basic web functionality, and music and movie playback. Even though I'm not surprised with the features, there's no denying the impact the iPad can potentially have on not only the tech world, but also the ancient and declining world of publishing. With Apple's new tablet, magazines are no longer obsolete dinosaurs, out of touch with the increasingly wired universe.

So will the iPad herald a new revolution of online publishing? I sure hope so. Apple has established the beachhead in this battle; it's up to those publishers to create viable strategies and push attractive content to win the war. On the ultra-portable computing front, the iPad isn't quite the revolution that some people were hoping. The inability to multitask, the inefficient virtual keypad, and lack of Flash functionality means that the best bang-for-the-buck for ultra-portable computing still lies in the sub-$400 netbooks. Sure, there's an attachable physical keyboard, but honestly having to lug that around is a deal-breaker.

 

Revolutionary or not revolutionary, the iPad will be successful. Why? Because Apple knows that to be successful, you don't just sell a product, you sell a lifestyle. The iPod came with iTunes, the iPhone came with its massive app store, and the iPad will come all of those things plus the iBook store. With the ability to download and organize music/movies in iTunes, use/play/downlad apps, and buy books on the iPad, it's a multimedia powerhouse. Even despite not being quite as good as a netbook for web surfing or word processing, there's promise in what the iPad represents.

Oh, and the base model starts at $499. Easy on the wallet, decent on the features, and pretty to look at. Not too bad if you ask me. Now, about that name...

Images courtesy Gizmodo

Edit: Upon further reflection, I ended a bit too much on a positive note. The iPad is promising, but as a device it's still not quite good enough for me to give a wholehearted recommendation.  Apple needs to fix the issues (lack of multitasking is the big one), but I'm confident they will. So final verdict? Wait a year or so till a newer version comes out.