Earlier, I wrote about Apple’s next, highly-anticipated product reveal.  Like many others uninvited to the press event, I monitored the blogosphere as the announcement was made.  As expected, the press event introduced a tablet device coined the iPad.  Let’s get the jokes out of the way.  Yes, it does remind us of a feminine hygiene product, and, yes, MadTV once spoofedan “iPad” in this regard long before the debut.  Did Apple know about this?  Sure they did!  Were there women involved in the decision?  Who cares?  Wait, I do care if women were involved (and likely were), but that’s not important.  Apple introduced the iPad; and so it shall be named.  Free publicity, humorous or otherwise, creates a buzz and interest.

Now that the world knows of the next best thing since sliced bread, we can provide honest critiques (months before the iPad even hits store shelves).  Disclaimer: Before I continue, it should be noted that I own both a Palm Pre, whose creation was aided by some of the original iPhone developers, and an iPod Touch. I enjoy each of these devices equally. Let’s start with the hardware.  At 7.47″ x 9.56″, it’s about a 1.5 inches smaller than a standard sheet of paper.  Definitely a comfortable size to hold, no doubt.  It’s also reported to be .5″ thick and weigh 1.5lbs.  Not bad at all.  There’s even a optional docking station and keyboard to make activities such as word processing easier to accomplish.

Speaking of word processing software, how does the iPad software stack up?  IMHO, I feel this is where Apple dropped the ball.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, Apple went forth and adapted the iPod Touch/Phone operating system.  Certainly, in terms of usability, this move makes sense.  Millions of people are familiar with the iPod Touch/Phone interface.  Swipe to unlock the device, double-tap to bring content areas into focus, pinch to zoom, rotate to change the direction of the screen image, and so on.  Simplicity that works.  However, the operating system lacks the ability display Adobe Flash-created web sites (at the time of this writing, so does the Palm Pre, although Adobe has announced an upcoming WebOS-supported release) and prevents running multiple applications in parallel.  This, I feel is the greatest downfall for a tablet device.  Devices intended for expanded use, like word processing, should be able to keep open more than one application at a time.  When I’m writing, I find it useful to keep my resources easily accessible by opening separate windows/tabs.  This is possible with the Palm Pre/WebOS and has yet to be adopted by Apple.  Until such time, I’ll gladly accept a free iPad (hey, I’m an admitted tech-geek) but won’t shell over ~$500 out of my pocket anytime soon.