Apple Inc have recently released the iPad with the fan-fare we have become used to for new electronic gadgets of late. What is it and can it function as a "regular laptop"?. In this article I'll discuss this and more. 

iPad is a tablet (touchscreen) computer designed and developed by Apple for consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games; and for general web and e-mail access. Weighing 700 grams, its size and weight are between mostsmartphones and laptops. Light enough to carry under your arm on a motor scooter I see from the Apple TV ad. To their credit  Apple have sold over 3 million iPads in the first 3 months after its April 2010 release.

What is iPad?

People have been divided over whether to consider the iPad a personal computer. Some say the iPad should be considered a form of personal computer in spite of Apple's restrictions on creating and editing files with the iPad and other limiting features. Others have argued that the iPad isn't a personal computer due to it omitting several key features including multitasking and support for USB, Adobe Flash and other things like a "file system".

Most agree with this statement:

iPad is a consumption tool, not a creation tool",

meaning iPad is great for online reading of books & magazines, movies, games, internet and for email access. iPad is not great for "business computing", a lot of typing, or creating things like graphics.

Key Advantages

-           Very good battery life, low weight, and silent use

-           Touch screen interface is slick, easy and familiar to iPhone users

-           Great for "entertainment" style uses

-           Lots of Applications from the Apple App store

Noted Disadvantages

-         Hard to type withand sitting flat on a desk prolonged use gives you a sore neck.

-         Screen is exposed making the unit fragile, ie no lid.

-         The lack of a clean workflow to move documents from a ‘full' computing environment to the iPad to work on them and back again.

-         The lack of a"file system" as we know it.

-         No inbuilt USB.You have to attach another gadget to it to get USB support

So, not a replacement for a laptop or a desktop, but maybe for a Netbook. It appeals to the non-techno minded users rather than business or power users, and is nevertheless a great consumption device.