iPad - What's the big deal?

I tried to get the iPad for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. The stores are completely sold out. If you order one you might get it in a week or so. Of course, I have had my 64GB 3G for almost a week now. Opening the box was like the Hanukkah when I got my radio flyer red wagon. Wow, did that feel great!

I can now attempt to explain what all the excitement is about. Plain and simple, the iPad is a fine piece of high technology. There is no instruction manual in the box, just a card with 4 simple to do items listed. If you are one of those (many) people who are computer illiterate, you will find the entire experience foreign. But if you use a PC or a MAC and you have connected a printer or a camera or a hard drive or an iPod, this should be a piece of cake.

There are many things to list that make the iPad the big deal that it is. So, I have tried to think of the one thing that really puts it over the top. It was not hard to think of it. The iPad is fun to use. I have used it for both pleasure and for work. I enjoy using it. It is fast and responsive the way a computer should be and it gives you a feeling of control. As with any computer program, I discover new and better ways to use it and that is always a pleasure. I am not really talking about that. From the moment you turn it on and slide your finger over the beautiful backlit screen you take a certain degree of joy in it's response.

It is certainly a winner. Apple has made another big step.