So then, the Apple iPad, the long awaited Apple tablet, has been unveiled. My first reaction, being the Apple fanatic that I am, was “I want one now!” However, as the smoke cleared and I started weighing up the pros and cons of the device, I think I’ll have to give it some more thought before I buy one. That’s not to say that I won’t do so, but I want to be sure. There are a number of factors both for and against the Apple iPad device, and here are a few thoughts to mull over, in no particular order:

Pro: The Apple iPad is a marvel of design, sleek and light and easy to carry. It looks great.

Con: It has no way of protecting the screen other than a pouch/sleeve that is separate to the device itself.

Pro: It has the same great touch-screen capabilities of the iPhone and iPod Touch and seems to be a wonderful thing to use.

Con: It runs the phone OS instead of a full OS, which limits what you can do with it.

Pro: The Apple iPad is great for watching movies, TV shows and podcasts and playing games along with surfing the web.

Con: It doesn’t support flash, which will limit the amount of use it is for surfing.

Pro: The Apple iPad is a superb way to stay online when on the go, easy to set up and very fast, and the variety of capacities means there’s one for everyone.

Con: While it’s fast, there are no USB ports and there’s no way of expanding the capacity. Plus, the larger sized drives are incredibly expensive.

Pro: The Apple iPad is superb for travelling and being online when relaxing thanks to the superb UI and the marvellous display.

Con: It doesn’t appear to be much good for doing any work on, which is what many people would want out of it if taking it when travelling.

Pro: It presents a fantastic new e-reader experience for books, magazines and websites to be enjoyed on.

Con: True, but you can say the same about the iPod Touch, the iPhone, the Kindle and the Sony e-reader, all of which are cheaper by a very long way.

Despite its drawbacks, I still want one as they look fun and very cool for casual surfing and entertainment. The lack of capabilities for using it as a work device is the thing that’s turning me off the device right now, but like many other people, I am fascinated by this pretty cool new gadget, and am eager to have a play and see exactly what the Apple iPad tablet can offer me.

Now that the apple tablet iPad has been revealed to the public and the initial industry buzz has subsided, should consumers start planning on purchasing Apple’s latest toy? The general public still has to wait two months for the opportunity to buy the apple tablet and the big question is will the iPad become another iPod or iPhone and change the technology game or will it disappear into oblivion like the Apple Pippin? The professional reviews are in, and what they uncovered with their initial impressions might surprise you.

The Good

Familiarity is the key selling point for the Apple Tablet. The iPad runs a modified version of the current operating system used in the iPhone and iPod Touch. The tablet will synch all your iTunes files, charge and connect using the firmly established white 30 pin connection cord, allow you to purchase applications from the pre existing app store you are used to and the iPad will even transfer the songs, videos, games and helpful apps that you already legally bought (avoiding a “double dip” of a dual purchase for the same content).

The screen resolution is beautiful. Every apple tablet review gushes about the 1024 x 768 high resolution display of the iPad’s 9.7 inch touch screen. The majority of the other technological specs are designed to impress. The CPU clocks in at 1 GHz and provides plenty of lightning quick power for a handheld device. The built in wireless devices on the tablet, WiFi and Bluetooth, will connect and run just as seamlessly as the current generation iPhones and iPods.

The Bad

Get ready for the bad, because there is plenty to complain about with the new iPad. Storage comes in three dainty sizes, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. Regardless of how Apple tries to spin the size of the internal hard drives, these are tiny for a product intended to compete in the netbook market. USB drives come in comparable sizes for a fraction of the cost (another issue with the iPad, but this is true of most apple products). Enjoy watching TV shows and movies on the go? With the minimal hard drive space the apple tablet can barely hold a dozen movies and a single season of the average television show. This won’t truly be a problem though as the battery life is expected to last less than 10 hours under heavy use. Basically, it won’t last a full day under consistent usage with a full charge.

The Ugly

Deal breaker time, and there are plenty. No built in USB ports, no flash support for web pages, no webcam, no SMS text messaging, no Skype video conferences or calls and monthly fees to access the exclusive AT&T 3G network are just a few. But nothing pales in comparison to the lack of multi-tasking. To put it simply, the touch screen miniature apple tablet with the power of a netbook, same size as a netbook, costing twice as a much as the average netbook, designed to bridge the gap between cell phones (iPhones) and laptops (Macbooks) CANNOT RUN MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION AT A TIME! For a product designed as mobile device, the inability to run multiple applications at the same time is without a doubt its greatest flaw.

Wasted Potential versus Crushing Reality

Every apple tablet review speaks of the potential of the iPad. It has the potential to be apple’s next big game changer, but its apparent shortcomings and suspiciously missing norm applications and hardware specs also leave the door open for a major flop. The best analogy I’ve come across compares the Apple iPad to a concept car. Similar to a pre-production concept car, the apple tablet iPad introduces plenty of new technology, great ideas, sleek and modern design but its implementation aims at lofty goals while ignoring the current market and reality. It’s lacking in basic functionality and there are simply too many faults in the iPad’s initial version. Essentially, wait until the multi-tasking is ironed out and for the iPad apple tablet version 2.

So, there’s lots of talk going around these days about the forthcoming Apple tablet (notice I’m not speculating here, I do believe the tablet is coming), and whether it will be seen as a Kindle killer, or any other ebook reader, for that matter. I, for one, don’t expect it to kill the Kindle. Kindle already has an established user base, and I don’t see all of those buyers abandoning their Kindle just because Apple is releasing a new tablet. But will an Apple tablet eat away at the Kindle market share? That’s another story.

Let’s look at it this way. The Kindle has been around for a few years now, and when it first came out, well, it was pretty darn expensive. OK, so it wasn’t like buying a new car, but it was pretty expensive for an item that’s sole purpose was for reading books. At that point, it was mostly people with disposable income and techies who were your main buyers. Since then the Kindle has been growing in popularity, and is even now being used on some college campuses as a replacement for all those bulky (and expensive) textbooks. Imagine having all of your textbooks with you at once, and not having it mean you’re carrying an extra 20 pounds in your backpack. That’s a pretty nice feature. To top it off, Amazon touts the Kindle as the number one item gifted on their website to other people this past holiday season. That’s a lot of people with a Kindle already. (We don’t know that actual number of Kindles sold, as Amazon doesn’t release that info)

We can see that the Kindle already has some marks in the win column, and like a good sports team, I don’t expect it to go from greatness to wallowing in defeat in one season. But that doesn’t mean they won’t suffer some losses. When the Apple tablet (and other tablets, lets face it) are released, one huge leg up they will have on the Kindle will be the fact that for a few hundred dollars more, you get a device that can do WAY more than just read ebooks. Too me, that’s a huge selling point. I, personally, don’t have a Kindle, but I do have the Kindle software for my iPhone, and I love using it to read books. Sure, the pages are smaller, but for the most part, that doesn’t bother me. Because I can read in the dark without a book light, and my iPhone can do a LOT more than just read books, and you can get it for less money than a Kindle. Of course, there is the service contract for the phone part, but you can also get an iPod Touch and put Kindle software on it for less than the cost of a Kindle, and you’ve still got a device that can do a lot more. I love that added value, as then I get a lot more for my buck.

Now, let’s take all that’s great about the iPhone, and make it bigger and more powerful, and you’ll have the Apple Tablet. It will read e-books, but it can also help usher in a new era of digital publishing. Imagine reading a book and having it embedded with video clips, full color pictures and the ability to post tweets from within the book. Or reading the latest Sports Illustrated with video highlights from the games of the week, or for the stories. Now add in the fact that it will do that and then some, and now you’re looking at some serious competition for not only the kindle, but laptops and netbooks.

If Amazon is smart about it, they won’t try to fight the tablets, but instead, embrace them. Take their whole e-book business to another level and add features that the Kindle can’t do. Make Kindle software available for tablets, and now you’ve just increased your customer base. Sure, they may not be buying your hardware, but they are still buying books from you. Market the Kindle as a low cost ebook reader, but also embrace those who will spend the extra money on a tablet. If they want to survive in the long run, they’ll need to adapt to a world that keeps moving forward in technology, and not expect the status quo to remain indefinitely. The Kindle will survive, but it won’t emerge unscathed. The time has come for the tablet computer, and it will be one heck of a ride.