Our feet are firmly on the ground, so you can keep thinking in the clouds.

I went out and got myself a swanky new iPad (16GB, WiFi) and would like to share some thoughts - full disclosure: I am an Apple fanboy.

The first thing to note is yes, it is a big iPod Touch. It runs iPhone OS 3.2 (edit: iPhone OS is now iOS) which has the regular flow and feel of the iPod Touch and iPhone operating systems. It's extremely easy to use (especially for an experienced iOS'er).

The iPad is very quick and responsive, with smooth graphics and animations and the screen is fantastic thanks to IPS technology (In Plane Switching, see here for more information). Reading and watching video from off-angle is easy and doesn't cause strain or a unsatisfactory experience. It works as advertised. I do have an anti-glare screen protector on my iPad, which degrades the edge detail of on-screen text/graphics, but nothing I can't live with, and the benefits of anti-glare for me are worth it.

Browsing get's a solid 8 out of 10. The Safari browser loads pages quickly, renders them accurately and is extremely fluid when zooming and panning around a web page. I can honestly say I prefer the tablet format for general web surfing than a laptop or desktop computer. It feels more natural to me, like looking through a magazine.

What did you say, it doesn't support Flash!!!??? That's right, you heard it here, the iPad does not support Adobe Flash, and that means you are missing out on 80% of the web, right? Not so fast grasshopper, there seems to be something going on, and they call it HTML5.

For me, Flash is Video on the Web. Before you flame me, I know Flash is MUCH more than just video. For me, it's mostly about Video on the Web. I like Web Video, and our company loves Web Video (so much in fact, we best our business on it!). Flash is immensely popular and provides an excellent video experience, with support for H.264 video and AAC audio.

What I found since my iPad surfest started here in Canada (May 28th, 2010) is that many (and I mean lots) of sites are directly supporting video on the iPad (and hence, the iPod Touch and iPhone) by using the HTML5 Video element when the site detects the visitor is using an iPad. The video experience on these iPad friendly sites is as good as it is on the Flash side (and better in some cases, as the iPad has hardware decode support for H.264 video). So really, video on the web is working on the iPad, today - maybe not all the crazy sites you visit, but a lot of mainstream sites support it today, and more coming out everyday.

iPad native apps are increasing in numbers quickly. As of today (2010-06-08), there are over 20,000 iPad apps available. Some of the apps I like and use are Kindle (no iBookstore in Canada yet), Sketchbook Pro, Virtuoso, Pinball HD, FeeddlerRSS, IMDb, GoodReader, IM+ Lite and Pocket Pond. I have more (I am addicted to iPad apps, there, I said it) but those are my current favs. There are so many to choose from, leave me a comment on apps you like and I can install them!

I have one major gripe with the iPad (more precisely, mobile Safari). The browser does not support the HTML feature "contentEditable". This feature allows a supported element (like a DIV element for example) to be edited directly within a browser. For example, a WYSIWYG web page editor that relies on this feature will NOT work on your iPad (sigh). This will be resolved however, and early indications are that iOS 4 supports this requirement (iPhone OS4 Beta 2 anyway). I hope so - that means our software works in iPad without major rework!

Overall, I am impressed with the iPad. The software will only get better from here, and by looking back at the advancements of the iOS platform, the next few years will be enlightening to say the least.