So what is the iPad?

It is thin, has a great display, a multi-touch display like the iphone, uses the latest 1 GHz A4 chip, has an optional 16, 32, or 64 GB flash storage, always on WiFi using the latest technology, has the latest bluetooth technology, a compass, speaker, and microphone. It has impressive battery life of 10 hours and a month of standby time. And, if you want 3G you can sign up for a new data plan with AT&T for just 14.99 or 29.99. And yes, it is beautiful.

On the software side, it has updated programs like calendar, maps, and email, and has a near life-size keyboard that pops up when needed. iWorks has been redesigned for the iPad to take advantage of the iPad functionality and touch display. The software in iWorks will be available for an amazing $9.99 each. Browsing capabilities look impressive. To-date consumers have downloaded 3 billion apps from approximately 140,000 available in the Apps Store. One example shown was Brushes, an amazing app that allows painting by finger strokes with stroke playback. You can also watch sports like baseball from mlb.tv and monitor real-time information with their app. The apps from the store will work with iPad from the get-go. New and better apps will surely be delivered soon. The iPad is graphically driven like so many of Apple’s products (and the reason we are drawn to them) so games also run beautifully on it.

Books. Some believe a key driver for the iPad was Amazon’s success with the Kindle. Amazon must be nervous. Steve Jobs even gave a nod to Kindle stating they would “stand on their shoulders.” I am a Kindle fan. However, I love using Whispersync to read on my iphone and have often thought “if this were only bigger.” The iPad as an e-reader will be fantastic. It solves many of the short-comings of the Kindle. It is backlit, bright, in color and can handle beautiful graphics. The touch control will make navigating much easier. However, there was quite a bit missing from the launch presentation about books. There was no mention of how many books will be available at launch. There was no mention of the price of books. It is believed that publishers will control pricing. Like Amazon, Apple is launching its own store - iBooks. The experience will be very much like iTunes and the Apps store. If the past is our guide, the quantity and pricing should not be an issue but we will have to wait and see.

So what is missing? Nay-sayers are all ready taking issue with everything from the selection of the name to the fact that there is no cell phone capability. From my view, the biggest miss is the lack of a camera. Think Skype. Storage capacity will grow, and do we really want to have cell service on a ten inch tablet? It would be nice when you are sitting with your headphones on but this is not the iphone. It just looks like a big one. This will not replace a cell phone and I can’t imagine anyone wanting it to. Consumers would complain about having to have another service agreement because you would certainly not use it as your only cell phone. But the camera is a miss - not for taking pictures per se but for the revolution that is occurring with interactive communications a la Skype.

Bottom line is that this device has been created for our personal pleasure with the capability to do more. It is for leisure. Reading, playing, listening to music, watching video, surfing, emailing.. It may evolve into more and it will likely impact Apple’s development of other products. The device engages the consumer who wlll understand that they can slip this into their bag, keep it in their kitchen or den and have fun with it.

Apple was very smart with pricing. The entry level iPad will cost just $499, and the highest level with 64 GB storage and 3G will cost $829. 3G adds $130 to the price of each model without.

Competitively, this is a great new product. It may not have lived up to the hype but how could anything. Overall, the product looks to satisfy Apple devotees and will likely convert more. We will have to watch the iBooks store, how many books are made available and at what price. For the e-reader market, access to content will be just as important as for the music market. But then for those of us with Kindles, perhaps we can just use the Kindle App and Whispersync.