Well, they finally did it. After years of speculation, Apple has announced the iPad. Being an Apple fanboy, I'll no doubt get it, and claim to use it for teaching my residents (the big screen will make for easy reading of pdf journal articles and Keynote talks I use), but in reality, I'm jazzed by the big screen for videos, reading and the Calendar app. Given how the app market on the iPhone gave unprecedented functionality to that device, I'm very curious to see what the developers will come up with on this gorgeous screen.
Of course, it isn't the perfect device. I'd like to have seen a smaller bezel (I guess the design leaves more room to grip it without obstructing the view), and I'd have liked to see it incorporate GPS (it would make an obnoxiously large, windshield blocking navigation device, but other location-based apps might benefit), plus an integrated front camera would make it great for video chat, but as far as tablets go, it looks slick. I do lots of presentations and the new iPad Keynote ($10) will let me be even more mobile -- the instant on aspect makes it even slicker to set up for a talk.
For Pat, I think he needs a large screen just to keep track of his huge brood of offspring, if only to make sure he recognizes them all. Russian subtitled videos will also be easier to read. Did I mention that Pat is considerably older than me, thus anything he can do to work around nascent presbyopia will be beneficial, thus, the large screen is crucial.
