iHave

Yes, we have ordered the iPad.  Actually, my almost 16 year old son has ordered – using his money from his summer job.  I can’t wait to get my hands on this!  Luckily, I taught my children how to share.

Based on the reviews,  I’m considering buying another one for my parents.

The New York Times’ David Pogue deemed the iPad “polarizing” and wrote two reviews for groups at either end of the spectrum. One for “techies” and one review for “anyone else.”

Pogue’s review for “techies”:

The Apple iPad is basically a gigantic iPod Touch.

It’s a half-inch-thick slab, all glass on top, aluminum on the back. Hardly any buttons at all — just a big Home button below the screen. It takes you to the Home screen full of apps, just as on an iPhone.

Pogue’s review for “anyone else”:

The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget. Some have suggested that it might make a good goof-proof computer for technophobes, the aged and the young; they’re absolutely right.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Andy Ihnatko described the tablet as “pure innovation”:

The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations.

The most compelling sign that Apple got this right is the fact that despite the novelty of the iPad, the excitement slips away after about ten seconds and you’re completely focused on the task at hand … whether it’s reading a book, writing a report, or working on clearing your Inbox. Second most compelling: in situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and office menagerie. It’s not a replacement for my notebook, mind you. It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap that’s existed for quite some time.

Stephen Fry writes in TIME that he felt an almost instant connection with his iPad:

That is not strictly true, but giving up the iPad felt a little like that. I had been prepared for a smooth feel, for a bright screen and the “immersive” experience everyone had promised. I was not prepared, though, for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be. I left Cupertino without an iPad, but I have since gotten my own, and it goes with me everywhere.

It is possible that the public will not fall on the iPad, as I did, like lions on an antelope. Perhaps they will find the apps and the iBooks too expensive. Maybe they will wait for more fully featured later models. But for me, my iPad is like a gun lobbyist’s rifle: the only way you will take it from me is to prise it from my cold, dead hands.

Ours is scheduled to be delivered mid-April.  I’ll report back on our experience.

PS:  I’m so excited!