The iPad

The announcement on the iPad today confirmed a couple of things and denied a couple others. This is not a netbook. It will be light - a pound and a half and seems to have a very quick processor. It can include up to 64 gigs of flash storage (the same as my Air). It has lots of communications options - 802.11n, bluetooth, and optional 3G. It does not have a camera of any kind. Several Mac aps have been redesigned including the calendar and photos. The device will also include a version of iWork (Numbers, Pages and Keynote) - which is the Mac based productivity software (that could get me to use the device a lot like my laptop because most of what I use my laptop for is mail, web browsing and presentations and writing.

The device is touted to have a 10 hour battery life. That would be wonderful and could stay with you during a normal business day.

The price points on this device sound about right to me. $499 for the basic model and up to $829 for a 64 gig model with 3G. There will be two types of data plans a 250 MB plan for $15 per month and $30 for an unlimited plan.

I put my name in today to be notified when the device is ready for sale in 60-90 days.

One other part caught my eye. I am a big fan of the Kindle. The device has a new software called iBooks. It looks like a quantum improvement over the existing Kindle software. Pricing on this is a bit more expensive that Kindle books but the functionality of the additional features look like a value.