As I got my iPad so late, because I am outside the US, I am not going to bother reviewing it. Everyone else has done that. I just want to write about how I think the iPad is and isn't changing the world.
Reading
I have never been a big reader. I enjoyed reading a few books over the years but no more than one or two books a year. The iPad has changed me though. I wanted to give iBooks a fair test so I bought a book I thought I would enjoy - Jeremy Clarkson's 'For Crying Out Loud' - and I have been reading every day now. I have even bought several more books which I plan on reading. For some reason reading on the iPad keeps me more entertained than reading from paper. There are definitely some things Apple could do to make iBooks better (
Kevin Rose's video has some excellent ideas) but overall it is a great book reading device. I honestly think this device will encourage people to read, regardless of the other forms of content available on it (music, video, games etc.).
Print Media
The iPad has been put forth as the saviour of print media. Unfortunately I don't think that's true. Yet. Actually it isn't the iPad's fault that I think this but it is the fault of the publishers. They had the opportunity to make amazing apps, and to completely change how people interact with their content. Several publishers have done a good job (I like Time Magazine - although it has it's problems - and The Guardian Eyewitness) but the majority have failed miserably. Take the New York Times app for example. It looks great, I'll give them that, but why isn't video integrated into stories? And why can't I comment on stories? The NYT isn't the only app which needs to improve, there are many others. Publishers need to make there content more interactive and more social. If they do that, iPad will be their saviour.
Apps
I love the apps developers have made for the iPad. There is a lot less crapware and on the larger screen apps are much more useful. iPad app prices also seem to be a lot higher than iPhone apps but, as a developer myself, I am actually happy about this. I don't think developers were getting paid fairly on the iPhone as the majority of top apps were only able to charge the minimum price for fear of falling down the ranking. The prices of iPad apps are much fairer.
Netbook/Laptop replacement
This is the million dollar question really: Will the iPad replace the laptop? Yes. Sort of. A lot of commentators have simply said no to this but I totally disagree. I am a geek. I am a power user. I use my computer a lot more than the average person and I do a lot more on it. But since I got my iPad I rarely touch my MacBook. The only time I go on it is to write code, or to write long articles/emails like this one, and I know that if I had a bluetooth keyboard or the keyboard dock, I could then use the iPad for the latter.
What does the average computer user really do? Browse the web, write a document, play games, listen to music, watch some video....and that's pretty much it. It is much easier and more fun to browse the web on iPad than it is on a laptop. With the keyboard dock writing a document is just as easy, and there are more games available on the iPad than on the computer (I don't actually know if this is fact, but they're certainly easier to browse). Music and video can also be enjoyed on the iPad and purchased through the iTunes store. There really isn't anything that the average user does on a computer, that the iPad can't match or do better. So I really think that the iPad is a replacement, for most people, for the laptop and even the desktop.
Overall I think the iPad is slowly revolutionising computing. It is revolutionising more than computing. It is changing how we read, how we consume media, how we work, and how we play. Within the next 5 years I think more people will be carrying iPad's than MacBooks. Within the next 10 years I am sure that the iPad will have replaced the Mac for 99% of users. So yes, I think the iPad is changing the world.
