The IPad in One Word: Cool

I was in my local Apple store for an hour and one-half; at least 15 or so people came in and they all use one word, "Cool."

Sleek, elegant, 1.5 pounds of function, form, and performance, the iPad is a rare beauty indeed.

Apple captured the interactive feel of video games and mixed it with high-quality virtual reality graphics and packaged it into everyday content. The newspapers on an iPad look as if you are physically holding one in your hands. The text and the graphics are clear and legible, no fuzziness nor optical effects (that 3D-ish looking jittery effect.) The load-time is so fast you need a computer to clock it. It is almost instantaneous.

I was amazed when Korean tourists, brother and sister, were able to pull up a Korean language newspaper in the same amount of time I was able to pull up the NY Times. The Korean tourists were able to use the iPad's virtual keyboard in the Korean language, as easy as I was to use it in English. This is a major selling point for consumers who can read and write Asian languages. There was absolutely no time difference between using the iPad's virtual keyboard in English than in Korean.

The virtual keyboard is one of the best features of the iPad. I had no problem using it. You only need to lightly touch it, don't press it. A light touch is all you need and you type with the same comfort and ease as a physical keyboard.

I used the iBooks app and the pages turned just like they do in the physical world. Again, the text and photos are clear and legible. The good news is for people who need large print, the iPad is what you need. With a two-finger touch and spread, you can enlarge the text and photos to read at a size that is comfortable for you. No more reading glasses.

I like using my fingers to move things around because I don't use a mouse anyway. I only use the touch pad. When you think about it, the touch technology of the iPad is just the touch pad technology taken to the next level. I tried Pages and Numbers. Overall, the apps work well and I think they are good for an academic setting and if you need to put together that quick "elevator pitch" on the fly.

Moving images around in Pages and Numbers is very easy and they go where you want them to be. I had some difficulty rotating a photo, but after a couple of tries I mastered the technique of the rotation feature.

There are some bugs in the device. I got stuck twice on Web sites and had to back out of them. Once when I turned the iPad from landscape to portrait, there was about a one-second delay before the device responded. A whole one-second delay. It is only noticeable because, for the most part, there is a seamless transition from portrait to landscape and vice versa. Bugs are expected of course. So this did not bother me

The major disappointment with the iPad is there isn't the ability to do video-conferencing; the iPad does not have a camera. Here is my reason why I think this is so. It was not an oversight by Jobs et al. I think the reason the iPad doesn't have a camera is because Jobs et al is working on the second-generation iPad that will achieve instant video phoning.

Yes, I know the idea of a videophone has been around for ages and people have been debating its feasibility. With the right telecommunications interface with the iPad and a Bluetooth headset (or something similar), the time is near.

I can imagine where you would touch your address book; touch a photo or the name of a person. The person's phone numbers appear and then you touch which number you want to call (home, office, or cell). For example I touch "cell". A telecommunications interface (similar to Skype) will automatically dial the number and a video of the person you are calling will appear when the person answers the phone. Of course you have the option of setting the phone call to video or not video.

Either Apple is developing their own version of a Skype-type telecommunications interface or perhaps they are in negotiations with Skype or a similar company to add touch video phoning. I would not be surprised if this functionality is in the second generation of iPad.

What affect would this have on the iPhone? Well, there will still be people who prefer to use their iPhone rather an iPad, but if touch video phoning works as smoothly as the iPhone, then the iPhone may become the secondary or back up device. I think the touch videophone would work better as part of the inter-workings of the iPad and not as an application.

As an education media, I can foresee, university professors and universities offering course content in the form of a downloadable app from the App Store. Anyone can buy the course content app, not just matriculated students. Want to take a course about the Internet, "Internet 101? Download a course content app and learn about the Internet on your own time.

When I got back home and lugged out my MacBook, I thought it was heavy and clunky. I couldn't believe I am using such old technology. My MacBook feels like a typewriter now. The laptops are the new desktops.

The revolution is not the iPad itself but the technology. When the iPad fades away the technology, will not. It will only get better. This is just the beginning of the future of information/telecommunications.

Globally, there are a lot of enterprising brilliant minds out there that can take this technology to a level that most of us cannot even imagine.