A burst of iPad enthusiasm

This morning one of my friends tweeted, “Despite what’s trending on Google/Twitter, not everyone seems to know about this tablet thing. Mainstream media fail!#somepeoplehavelives.”  Excellent use of a hashtag if you ask me.

While the news Apple was developing a new product has been on my radar for awhile, I haven’t been following it as closely as many.  I’ll admit, the idea of an “iTablet” didn’t set my heart a-flurry as it did some.  I’m one of those people that appreciated the Kindle’s innovation while quietly passing on the opportunity to download my reading material.  (Coincidentally, I’m one of those people who loves the smell of book.)  In other words, I didn’t see much of a practical application for a tablet in my own life.

But holy hangover, Batman.  I’m feeling delirious just looking at the thing.  My head is spinning.  There are just so many applications for this thing (I’m following the announcement on the Bits blog at NYTimes.com) – and if it’s half of what they promise it will be, it’s exactly what I need.  No, really.  Reason with me.

This Christmas I had an opportunity that most of my friends could only dream about: my dad offered to buy me a new laptop.  I currently use a 2 1/2-year-old 15″ MacBook Pro, but in my dad’s mind, it’s an older computer (my first MacBook Pro was an absolute lemon that was replaced under AppleCare after only a year).   Though slower than the next generation of Apple laptops, with a battery life so short it would make you cry, it’s not a bad computer.  What I need it to do, it does just fine.  So I passed, deferring his pledge of a new computer to my birthday this spring, when I’m more likely to need one.  Plus, I reasoned, five months can make a BIG difference when you’re talking about the latest technology.

Today was a case in point.  The iPad is an option I didn’t even dream I would have when I made my decision last month.  I’ve already said I have a perfectly good computer, even if it has to be plugged in all the time.  I was planning to keep my old MacBook Pro, no matter what I upgraded to.  If I was getting a new computer to be more portable, why not get something’s that ultra-portable?  Mr. Jobs already made a joke about sitting down to write “War and Peace” (this is why there’s an optional keyboard dock, he says).  Even the 16 gig model would have plenty of space for writing on the go and transferring to your home computer at night.

David Carr writes that the idea of holding the internet in your hands is “seductive,” and I’m certainly feeling seduced at the moment.  I know I’ll spend some time in the next few months grappling with the decision, and I’m sure my father, always eager to try out the latest technology, will push me in the iPad direction.  I’ll be interested to see if the iPad holds my interest once this moment of new product euphoria passes – and even more interested in the joys and woes of early adopters.

ETA: Every time I come back to my site I keep staring at the word “iPad” like it’s a typo.