[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"Seems like an overgrown iPod touch."

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

A friend is on a 40-country, seven-week trip right now with his wife and a combined total of 38 pounds of gear, including a base-model iPad and a digital camera. Ten days into his trip, he has already amassed more than 2,000 pictures. He and his wife are keeping in touch via email, web and Skype. His entire itinerary, many dozens of pages including ferry and train and bus schedules, is stored on his iPad in .pdf form. Meanwhile he has ebooks and movies and music to give them a touch of home.

If the history of computing teaches us one thing, it's that sometimes the hardware has to come first, and the applications will follow. My friend is finding the iPad's unprecedented battery life, ease of use and broad functionality--and yes, it's bigger-than-iPod-touch screen and keyboard--gives him a critical mass of capability that is enabling all sorts of enjoyment as they journey along.

He's 67, by the way.

Bottom line: don't knock it until you've tried it.

[glasseye]

“Bottom line: don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

I’m a PC guy...for almost 25 years now, so I have a bias.

A Buddy is an engineer for Apple and pulled one out the other day to show me some photos. What an awesome little machine.

You just want to put your hands one it.

Just a delightful product.

[Caipirabob]

Great for your friend! We moved to Arizona last year and found just a single IPhone loaded with a few apps was an indispensable tool for finding our way around the area, where to shop,eat and what to pay. It was an amazing tool and I bought my own within 2 months of purchasing one for my wife. I never thought I’d be a convert but here I am.