I haven't posted about the iPad (or tablets in general) since
before the iPad announcement. I thought this prudent given that
we all knew what was announced but I hadn't actually tried using
one in person. Last week I played with a couple at my friends
company and my initial thoughts were confirmed: the iPad as
existing product today is interesting but not amazing, but as an
indicator of the future is amazing.  When I picked it up it
seemed smaller than in the pictures, and a tad heavier. Very
solid, though. The interface is essentially a large iPod touch
with a few flourishes. This isn't a bad thing, though. The
iPhone interface was clearly designed to scale to larger
devices. And on the faster CPU of the iPad it absolutely flies.
This is one advantage of controlling both the software and
hardware. I am surprised that they didn't put more memory in it,
however, given how cheap memory is. Perhaps it was the only way
to meet their margins.  The screen is gorgeous. Viewing
websites, news, facebook, mail, etc. i