I picked up an iPad over the weekend, although I was tempted for a millisecond to sell it to the lady next to me who offered me $20 to give her my reserved copy. The iPad "envy" was strange and almost uncomfortable. It's been sometime since I've seen a product so in demand. Is it worth it? Here's what I think so far:
1) Appearance
After just a couple of hours of using it, the screen was covered with smudges and fingerprints. I found this is a common issue and purchased an invisible screen and had the place where I bought it from install the screen for a few bucks. Well worth it--the screen now shines and is fingerprint/scratch resistant. Shame they don't release it like this. I'd recommend this for any iPad user. Also, they were out of cases at the Apple store so I purchased one at another store, now the back/sides are protected from scratches and in case the unit is dropped.
2) Out of the package usage
The iPad comes fully charged but you can't use it until first connecting it to your computer and running iTunes (iTunes is a free download from Apple). This registers the unit and allows you to use it. Since I already had an iPhone, iTunes automatically transferred all of my applications to the iPad and synced with my Outlook. The process only took about 30 minutes.
The 3G doesn't work until you create an account using the iPad. I signed up initially for the 250MB/month for $14.99. After just a few minutes I had used up 5Mb of the 250 (mostly when my emails downloaded), so I upgraded to the unlimited plan for $29.99/month.
3) Usability
It's intuitive and incredibly simple to follow. Not much directions come with the iPad. Strange until you start using it and realize you don't need instructions. I let friends and family members of various ages try it out and none of them had trouble using it.
4) Potential
Initially I didn't see much of a difference between using the iPad and my iPhone, other than the screen is much bigger. That is until I downloaded Apple's free iBook application, which lets you download books and flip through pages by sliding your finger. Before I had the iPad I didn't think iBooks would be that big of a deal. But they definitely added to the "WOW" appeal. I was totally blown away after downloading the free "Toy Story" application. This is an iBook app that adds animation and music to each page. It'll even read to you and turn the pages automatically if you want. Between the standard iBooks and the animated effects, I think this has alot of potential to excite users of all ages.
5) Business use
One of the biggest eye-openers was when I took the iPAD to an offsite business meeting. It's portable and quite small, unlike lugging around a laptop with case and accessories. As the other meeting attendees pulled their laptops out of the case, plugged them in and started to boot them up, I simply pulled out my iPAD and was ready to go. I was online and ready to start instantly while the others were still waiting for their laptops to boot, let alone connect to the Internet. The iPAD functioned flawlessly and I quickly realized I could do anything on it that I would do with my laptop at a meeting like this. Having unlimited Internet for $30/month with no contract was an advantage, too, as current data plans for laptops can easily be $60/month with a contract and limited use.
One application that put the iPAD over the top for business use for me was the JumpDeskTop app, currently available for a one-time fee of $10. This allows an iPAD user to connect to their desktop(s) and/or laptop(s) from anywhere (as long as AT&T service is available of course). I've found this app incredibly simple and easy to use. Before the iPAD I went through a pre-meeting ritual of syncing my laptop to my desktop to ensure that I had all the files I needed for meetings. Now I don't have to worry about that--if I don't have files I can simply connect to the computer I need and view it onscreen. Sure, there are services out there that enable you to do this with your laptop, but the advantages of the iPAD (portability, power, ease-of-use) in my opinion, can very easily make the laptop OBSOLETE.
It's going to be neat to see how this product usage evolves as more make it out to the marketplace.