Apple Announces the iPad

Yup, the name is awkward. Here's some pics!

Initial reaction? It's a giant iPhone. Even the demo Steve Jobs is doing right now (I'm listening to a live feed from live.twit.tv), makes it sound EXACTLY like a giant iPhone with a higher-res screen. He's using the examples of buying tickets online, browsing the web, sending photos, opening pdfs, pinching and swiping like the iPhone, etc. It even has a microphone, speaker, and connector like the iPhone.

So...this is a fanboy device, probably. Unless there's something that is totally new. Which there's not so far.

EDIT: 12:22 p.m.: More on the name: this thing was doomed to have a stupid name. Apple's naming formula is "i + physical description of object," so they couldn't name it something fancy like the Pavilion or Aspire or any other of those made-up techie-sounding computery words.

Oh well. We'll see what it can do.

EDIT: 12:31 p.m.: Okay, now that Jobs has listed some more specs, it's got a pretty nice chip in it, a 1Ghz Apple A4, which is pretty quick for a iPhon-I mean, iPad. It's also got 10 hours or battery life. Not bad.

EDIT: 12:38 p.m.: Alright, another strike against it. It can run iPhone apps, but only in an iPhone-sized window, or blown up to full screen and pixelated beyond recognition. Fail.

A win, perhaps, is the rather slick-looking eBook app, iBook. (duh.) Might be Kindle's competition.

EDIT: 1:02 p.m.: Yet another strike: no 3G connectivity announced. Meaning, you have to use this while connected to a Wi-Fi network.

EDIT: 1:16 p.m.: Alright, I'll give this one to them. They just announced AT&T-only 3G connectivity. One back to you, Steve.

EDIT: 1:29 p.m.: Price was just announced: $499 starting, 16GB, no 3G. Ouch. Minus one again, Steve. Looks like there's a separate price tier for 3G models. $130 extra for 3G.

EDIT: 1:37 p.m.: They're done, and they announced some accessories including a fancy leather case, a dock with a keyboard that reminds me of a sleeker version of those portable Palm Pilot keyboards. But the lack of any cameras in it whatsoever is definitely a strike against it.

My final reaction? A giant iPhone with a few extra applications. It can run iWork, the Macish-type Microsoft Office looking thing. AND NO MULTITASKING. That alone kills it for most people.

Meh. The thing is, tablet computers' user base is so small anyways, I can't see anyone really needing this unless they already use a tablet. Oh well. I never buy FirstGen gadgets, so we'll see how version 2.0 holds up.

(And just to be clear, I have nothing against Apple. Sure, their stuff is a little overpriced, but it's a good company. I've had the opportunity to use both Macs and PCs on a regular basis, and I simply prefer PCs. If I were a graphic designer or something like that, I would most certainly have a Mac. I have an iPhone now, and that is because I wanted a smartphone, and at the time I bought it, Apple simply made the best smartphone. Now, in a year or so, I'll be looking at other smartphones and will most likely be walking away from Apple, unless the fourth iteration of the iPhone is incredible. It's all a matter of personal preference.)