It seems like an eternity since the iPad was announced – rather than the couple of weeks it's actually been. This is partly due to the fact that so many of us have been waiting so long, read so many rumours, seen so many 'prototypes'. It's also down to the gigs of commentary that have hit the web since the launch.
The overall verdict seems to be that the iPad sucks. It doesn't have this feature and that feature, it won't multi-task etc. (Similar to the verdicts on the iPod and the iPhone when they launched.)
All valid from a technophile's point of view. And all completely irrelevant to the iPad's chances of commercial success.
The iPad is not about technology. It's about experience. Pure and simple.
The iPad will succeed if it captivates people's imagination – if it conveys a compelling story about how we will all use these kinds of devices in future.
When you watch the launch video and Steve Jobs and co's presentation, it's a story about intimacy. It's about the removal of barriers between the user and the device. No keyboard. No mouse. Touch and gestures. This is the really important thing.
While the launch video is interesting, the best example I've found of what the iPad experience is likely to be like (and what it may evolve into) comes from BonnierR&D in a video created with design company BERG (a month before the iPad launched BTW). They present where the evolution of the magazine is heading and show a possible user experience.
Maybe it's just me, but I find it incredibly seductive. See what you think.