5 reasons to be patient and wait...

I was up at the Apple store at the Fancy Mall yesterday trying to find a gaming console for Mr. Bikeman that will actually do what it says and work with our awesome new iMac (no joy). I took the opportunity to play with one of the million iPad display models luring me to buy Buy BUY with their siren song...

But I don't have $499 to drop on a base model, and I'm not that itchy to buy...yet. I think it would be a stinkin' fun toy to have. A 3G version is coming out soon (current model is wi-fi only), and it won't be cellular-serviced based, either. The monthly 3G subscription might be as low as $15 -- I could give up one trip to Starbucks a month for that (4 drinks, treats for the girls is easily $15).

First, it everything you would expect from Apple Design: sleek, shiny, substantial in the hand but not heavy. Navigation is, as expected, intuitive.

Second, and of great interest to me, the book-reader application is enjoyable use. Because of the generous screen-size, you can actually sort of imagine you are reading a real page from a book. You don't feel like it is a glorified Blackberry screen. (Apple has a bookstore App, and Amazon Kindle books are available to the iPad as well.)

Third, this could be a laptop replacement for many -- how many people do serious word processing on their laptops, anyway? It does have a touchpad keyboard if necessary.

Finally, it could be a great homeschool tool. Many homeschoolers are using iPod Touch to augment teaching very successfully. This would be that much easier.

Now for the reasons to wait...I'll give you some hints:

1. Price - historically stuff like this drops like a rock 6 - 8 months after initial release
2. More apps to come.
3. Impulse purchases are rarely wise - do I really need this?
4. There might be viable competition coming - but I'm a recent Mac convert, and very rabid about my new-found brand loyalty. I doubt this will be an issue in my case.
5. Faster wireless version is coming... (the 3G as mentioned above).

Check out this informative article from the Seattle Times:

Business & Technology | No iPad? It may be worthwhile to hold off | Seattle Times Newspaper