I Think, Therefore iPad

Half “meh…”; half “WOW”. That was the consensus of the gang at the health club yesterday morning, regarding the announcement of the new iPad. Some of the folks I talked to can’t wait to get their hands on it and some said they’re sticking with what they have.

I work out at the UW-Health Sports Medicine facility in the UW Research Park for a number of reasons. First, I’m surrounded by scores of doctors in case I have a “grabber” while pounding the treadmill; second, it’s just a hop-skip-and-a-jump to my hip replacement surgeon’s office on Science Court (Dr. John Rogerson, may he live long and prosper) in case I do something stupid and damage his phenomenal handiwork; and third, there’s a mix of people from senior citizens to young UW athletes. And nobody’s there to “see who’s wearing what”.

One young trainer on the staff told me she can’t wait. She sees it as the all-in-one device that she can “keep her life on”. She’ll surf the web, download and read books, text and e-mail, keep photos on it, write notes, you-name-it. I asked her if she thought the size of it would be a problem (it’s about 10 inches high and 8 inches across) and she said “nope”.

Another young man (I’m 60, so to me, a 30-something is a “young man”) who works in the high-tech world at a company in the Research Park thought it might be too big for him to lug around. He’s sticking with his Blackberry and iPhone. He was somewhat off-put by the size, and says “when they shrink it down, maybe”.

I do wonder about the size of it. I’m not a fan of the Kindle. One of the iPad’s nicknames before it was released was “Kindle-killer”. I prefer the printed page – although Steven King’s latest novel, “Under The Dome”, which I’m reading now, seems to weigh more than a bowling ball. And, as a friend of mine with credentials in the hi-tech field asked me yesterday, what if you drop it – even on a carpeted floor? Hmm.

For years, we were told “smaller is better” in the electronics world. Except when it comes to TV’s!!!

I won’t buy one. But my wife will. She walks around with a Blackberry on her hip for work, and is addicted to the iPod Touch she carries in her purse. She e-mailed me yesterday right after Steve Jobs’ announcement that she’s saving her pennies for an iPad. I e-mailed back saying she’d need fifty thousand pennies. She e-mailed back saying she thinks she has 27-thousand pennies in the bottom of her purse.

She’s got about a month to come up with 33-thousand more pennies, and I’m betting she will.