Looks Matter!
The iPad is, as one might expect, quite a stylish device. So stylish in fact, that one might consider twice using it on the subway. At least for the first few months.

The display framed with black aluminum and glass is 9.7 inches, LED backlit, IPS and Multi-touch. While we're betting you all know what LED and Multi-Touch are, IPS has generally been reserved for extraordinarily pricey monitors for graphic artists. In-plane Switching is the full name, and it gives you wide viewing angles and great color reproduction (which will come in handy with Brushes, right??) by making the crystal molecules move parallel to the plane of the screen instead of perpendicular. So basically, the good looking screen make the stuff on the screen more good looking.

We love Apple.

Also, the iPad weighs in at one and a half pounds and measures only half an inch thick...tech geeks around the world have just gotten a second round of the holidays!

What's Inside
Your mom was right--what's inside counts more than outer beauty, and the iPad has inner beauty in spades. Two wireless options (Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus AT&T 3G), a brand spanking new Apple A4 chip, a battery that'll last you ten hours per charge and three levels of flash storage are enough to make your head spin...and that's before we've even gotten into applications.

Other interior features include the standard Apple 30-pin connector, built-in speaker and microphone as well as a headphone jack for private listening. Accessories to us are sometimes like icing on the cake when you just want the cake itself, but Apple's incredibly designed Keyboard Dock means you can type for hours without wearing yourself out on the soft keyboard on the device itself, and iPad's case not only folds around the screen to protect it but folds up into a viewing stand.

They have literally thought of everything.

What About My Apps?
What about them, buddy? You can run almost every app from the App Store straight out of the box in one of two ways: in a pretty little iPhone frame at their original size and resolution, or put them in full screen mode, doubling the pixels. There's an accelerometer built in, of course, so all your shooters and drivers will still work like a charm, and when you're done playing you can open up iWork and get down to business.

Keynote, Pages and Numbers have all been specifically retooled for iPad, and at $9.99 each they're a great investment in your productivity. As in, if you see them on the home screen, maybe you'll stop fooling around with iPad long enough to use them.

Other than iWork, you've got the new iBookstore for e-book reading, iTunes for music, a camera connector kit available to sync photos to iPad and an HD screen to view it all on. Not only that, but the new Software Developers Kit (SDK) is available already so we can all set our sights on a get rich quick application for this "magical and revolutionary device."

Questions and Concerns
We have to say that, while completely taken with the beauty and intuitive function of this device, we're a little surprised about two things: the lack of a video camera and lack of Flash support. Rob Griffiths of MacWorld said it best with regards to Flash:

" I don’t like it, I really don’t want it, but there are times I want to view a site that uses it, so I need it in order to make the iPad fully usable as the ultimate Web surfing machine."

Ultimate machine indeed. We're all a-flutter about the release over here, and have already signed up for the shipping notifications. This is a great in-between device for any consumer, but if you haven't made the switch to a MacBook or iPhone yet and are thinking it's about time, the iPad may be the perfect "third device" for your first foray into the world of Apple.

Find out more: www.apple.com/ipad/#video