The iPad

Unlike some people, I'm actually pretty impressed with what I've seen so far with the iPad device. It could be a real winner, and it's hard to imagine it not being a great product after 2 or 3 years at the most. There's a place for tablets (whether made by Apple or someone else). I personally don't need the 3G version as wifi would be just fine for my needs.

Given that the virtual keyboard works decently well, here's the financial reasons I'll likely be getting a first generation iPad:

• Portable photo frame. I'd end up paying about $250 for a really good photo frame. The iPad looks like it will be even better than the wonderful Sony high-end models.
• Video frame. I'd willingly pay $100 for a bigger video watching device for when I'm traveling and other situations. Currently I use my iPhone for that, but the size of the iPad is much more attractive for this functionality.
• PDF reader. I'd guestimate it would be worth $50 to me to have a good size PDF reader when traveling, at home, and in other casual situations. I can use my iPhone for this, but the screen is a bit small. I already have great PDF viewing software with my iPhone that will transfer over to the iPad.
• Sketching. Okay, maybe this is only worth $25 to me. But there's some very good finger-sketching software available on the iPhone. Yet that screen is too small for my needs. However, on an iPad this finger sketching software now becomes quite useful for a variety of needs.
• Email and web. If the virtual keyboard works decently well (i.e. I can type without having to look at the keyboard all the time) then these two pieces of functionality become quite useful to me—again that extra screen space makes a difference, especially when viewing and writing to discussions at my course websites.
• OmniFocus. OmniFocus is my "to do" software of choice. It works great on a Mac, works great on an iPhone, and the syncing capabilities are solid. Adding my iPad as another device that incorporates OmniFocus would be a plus.

There's likely other obvious things I'm not thinking about right now that would make the iPad useful to me. To me the iPad is like having a great sweatshirt—casual and comfortable. I wouldn't wear/use it in formal intensive work situations at all. But for informal, less keyboard intensive work (or play) it would be fantastic. Given the price point (about 50% of the price of a laptop I would buy), the complete package becomes very attractive.