iPad, will uPad?

Had to laugh at the Apple press launch yesterday - quite literally the iPad is a giant iPod Touch. They could have even named it the iPod XL or something. Many were hoping for a touch-screen laptop minus the keyboard, like the Windows based tablets on show, which would be nice for business users and those wanting to integrate with their work. I can't say I'm overly surprised at what it turned out to be, and I doubt it will be that sucessful in its first version.

However, I really really really want one! Sure there's no GPS on the base model, no front mounted camera that would allow for awesome Skype video calls and no standard USB ports for adding storage, cameras, game controllers, midi devices etc. If there's one thing we have learned from Apple in recent years, it's "expect to be underwhelmed and the device to be underspecced compared to what others have been doing for years."

So why do I want one? Web browsing at a higher resolution would be great. My iPhone is already my main browser these days, so a bigger version has to be cool. No flash though (d'oh!). Being able to use my many apps without re-buying them would be great too, although I'm not that convinced about pixel-doubling meaning games will simply "just work" (not least of which due to the placement of on-screen controls that were designed for a 3" device not a 10" one). Video will also be amazing - BBC iPlayer, YouTube HD etc. Bring it on!

Mainly I look forward to music apps. Full width virtual keys, more stuff on screen, more multiple touches (is that one true, about the 10 finger multi-touch?). That's going to be awesome.

It's far from perfect, far from business-like, far from a Windows tablet killer, looks like it'll slip off your lap and smash into a thousand tiny pieces and far from pocketable. I love it :o)