Yanay Zohar

Apple fans are ecstatic.

The iPad is probably getting more attention than the Haiti earth quake.

Dear gadget-obsessed pals,
Stop drooling over it. it’s embarrassing.

Yes, it looks Gorgeous, Smooth and Sexy (strangely these are not Apple trademarks just yet), but what do we actually need the iPad for?

I find it somewhere between the best device for leisure-related computing, and best thing ever happened to your coffee table.

Some facts to keep in mind, before you hyperventilate:

• Best web experience, but no Flash support (some relief comes from the built-in YouTube application).
• It can’t multi-task (a well known Apple genetic disorder), so you can’t buffer that new Lady GaGa YouTube while reading your emails.
• Reading while holding a ~0.7kg, will get you down. Literally. The Kindle (Amazon’s ebook) weighs less than half, but the iPad’s flipping experience should keep you smiling. At least for a while.
• If you go for the 3G-enabled version (used when no WiFi around), you’ll have to bond with AT&T for a $30/month contract.
• Fixed capacity (16-64GB flash drive) that you can’t expand with memory cards.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this baby too, but let’s face – it’s only good for very few uses:

I would love to have one lying on my coffee table, just to impress my friends, quick emailing, facebook-ing or casual, purposeless internet browsing, and would absolutely love to use it as an on-flight entertainment device.

It could be fun to own one, but not exactly a life changing experience.
It’s OK to exhale now.

* in case you somehow missed the hands-on demos, here’s one: