The iPad - vanguard of almost-needed consumer electronic devices.

Last month saw me travel to three cities which had Apple stores; I was with my brother who was visiting from Kenya at the time and we found ourselves visiting the stores in NYC's Soho Area, a shopping arcade in Las Vegas and finally at West Edmonton Mall in well, Edmontown Alberta, whilst he considered buying (and then bought) an iPod Touch and Macbook Pro.

When I’ve watched people in each Apple store pick up an iPad for the first time, its obvious that they aren’t sure what to do with it. I found this really curious (it was my first reaction when I played with one a couple months ago) because they don’t even jump straight into Safari and check their gmail, like on the conventional computer setups in Apple stores. Instead, they immediately seem satisfied to play around with hand gestures to seemingly first feel confident in being able to use the iPad – which is noteworthy because I think its become such a desired object that most folks who’ve considered buying one felt obligated to make the purchase rather than urged by some sense of necessity.

The iPad is certainly cool and has a ton of uses, though they all seem ancillary to other devices which do more, albeit in perhaps a less easily-tactile way. I've felt compelled on whimsy to purchase one yet confused by a feeling of guilt driven by the non-necessity of having the device for a specific function in my life (which isn't currently fulfilled by my touchscreen phone, laptop(s) and so on). Of course, there must be a correlation here between my needing to justify buying one and their price - a $600+ read-blogs-on-the-toilet-device certainly seems extravagant!

I asked some friends and colleagues what they've been using their iPads for - here are some responses:

Reading! Kobo, Kindle, Instapaper and Safari are by far my most used apps.
- @flashlight

It's my weekend device - laptop pretty much stays at office
- @mkuplens

Google Reader, comics, ebooks, video, IM. Experience is better than doing any of these on a laptop or phone.
- @joncrowley

Reading the news on the couch.
- @matt416

Breakfast/lunch/dinner table computer.
- @adamschwabe