There a whole lot of people having a go at the failings of Apples new iPad, citing things such as it doesn’t support Flash, it’s not multitasking and even it lacks connectivity.  But I don’t see these as problems with it, as quite simply I don’t see the iPad as a replacement for a computer, but more as a supplement for a computer.  It is quite simply a large iPod Touch with some additional software touches to take advantage of the large screen.  However the possibilities of putting that to some valuable uses are amazing.  It can supplement your computing experience by becoming the open manual beside you as you learn a new piece of software.  It can provide you with a means of moving a document to a mobile platform so that you can take it over and show your boss.  How many of us geeky people have either their laptop open beside their desktop computer or have dual monitors to increase productivity.  Usually the second monitor or laptop is there to provide us with a quick look at our email inbox, or some sort of semi-static document, that’s a perfect use for the iPad.  The future no doubt will bring with it an App that allows you to drag documents to your iPad from your desktop and have those documents displayed at the same page you were at on your desktop.

We have all seen the SciFi movies with the data tablets that they just slide data across to and then move it off to somewhere else, or show colleagues…  that’s exactly what the iPad is.  It’s just a prototype version of those wonderful SciFi data pads.  It’s certainly not a laptop replacement or a games console.  It’s a tool to manipulate data, and sure, at the moment it is a little over priced, but just like Mobile phones and every other piece of technology as more and more people start using it, the price will drop until you can pick them up for under $200 and I’ll probably have 3 or 4 of them around the house, which is what I assume Apple were hoping for when they built the iPad.

I resisted purchasing an iPod, as I didn’t see the reason for having a piece of technology that couldn’t to as much as my mobile phone.  My Mobile phone has all of the functions that an iPod does and some more, and I really didn’t see a need to add another piece of technology to my collection that I would only use for one function.  Hell…  My mobilephone gets used more for music and entertainment than it does for phone calls…  so why be carrying more?  But The iPad has given me a reason to want one, and that simply the convenience of being able to read PDF’s, books and other data comfortably without having to start up my laptop and wait for all the bloatware to start before I can get into it.  The ease of use and the fact that there are minimal distractions whilst using it make it a fantastic tool to supplement a technogeeks arsenal.

Lets think of some other uses for the iPad…  Hmm  Lets save our students backs for instance, instead of carrying around kilo’s of paper books, they can have all of their text books available to them on the iPad, AND still have access to their laptop to actually work.  Effectively the iPad is an iPod for those who work with or read documents and need a larger screen to better display that information and the fact is I’m sold…  and I’m going to be working at finding a job even quicker now so that I can afford to get one myself.