It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an ... iPad?

So Apple have finally released their tablet: the iPad.  From first looks, it appears to be a media device only -- like the iPod was for music, this is now extending for print, video, and web.

But is it really going to be successful given that other choices out there that are much more featured, open, and cheaper.  But none of them do what this device does.

I think that's the genius at work here: this device does things that the others do not and do so in a way that the others do not.  Rather than compete on a laundry list of features, it will compete on just a couple: print, music, video, web.

The other thing that strikes me is that the investment that Apple has made in the iPhone and OS X for core animation and iTunes (content discovery and content synchronisation) is now really paying off.

I also note there's no stylus. Nor handwriting recognition.  (Remember THAT Apple device?)

Pak