Since January 27th when Steve Jobs announced the iPad I knew that I had to have one.  Being a developer on the platform now, it is almost a necessity as all of our future apps from RedCat film will be iPhone/iTouch/iPad compatible.

This is the first time that I have directly dealt with the Apple store on a huge product launch, and I do have to say, Apple really knows what they are doing.

We arrived at the Apple Store in Clinton Township around 10:30am on April 3rd and were greeted by an Apple employee.  He asked my last name, punched it into his iPod Touch and found my reservation for 2 iPads.  We picked up 2 additional units, were in and out of the store within 10 minutes.

Now onto the device.  I do have to say that it is indeed a game changer.  I’ve had a Hackintosh Netbook before, but found my use dwindled after the first initial novelty had worn off.  Typing is really a non issue on the device, the keyboard is very responsive and easy to use (in fact, I am doing this blog post using the Wordpress iPad app).  Apple really hit the nail on the head with this device.  I really do feel that it is the “In Between” device fitting in with my iPhone and Notebook.

Speed: This thing is FAST!  I cannot believe how fast it is on tasks such as browsing and email.  I will have to go out on a limb and say that the browsing experience is faster than safari on my MacBook Pro.

Build: The first thing that got me when I unboxed it was the weight.  I was surprised on how much it did weigh.  After a day with it, it became a non issue.  The display on this thing is awesome.  Both Photos & Video looks incredible on this.

Battery life has been incredible on this thing.  I’m used to having my iPhone dead by the end of each day.  The iPad has had major use in the first few days, and I finally charged it last night.

Apps:  While the iPad app store is still in it’s infancy as of this moment, I didn’t feel as though there was many “Killer” apps, YET. I am anxious to see what this thing can do after developers have had the unit for a few months.

Surprisingly, all of the offered twitter clients are flawed.  I am waiting for Tweetie to release their iPad version.

iBooks:  I did love the ebook reader on the iPad, but where it does fall short is the iBooks store.  The buying process is easy, but the titles are very limited.  I did buy my first ebook: “Viral Loop” by Adam L Penenberg and did get 60 pages in on my first reading experience.  Apple also bundles the iBooks app with a free Winnie the Pooh book, that I did read 20 pages of to my daughter.  I was pleased that Amazon did release a Kindle app for iPad, and I find that I have been using it as much as iBooks due to the vast selection that Amazon offers in it’s book store.

Along with the unit, I purchased Apple’s soft case.  It’s pretty good, but I’m not sure how it will stand up to day to day use.

Bottom line: This is a device that will be part of my lifestyle for quite a while.  Using it, I have found that both my iPhone and Notebook use has declined.