Dear Friends,

iPadamonium took over our offices on Wednesday as we had a whole bunch of live feeds going to hear about the latest creation from Apple. I even was sent a link for a true live video feed that seemed to be jury-rigged by a couple of guys in the audience. There was a lot of ooo’s and ahhh’s as we learned about the features and began to realize the potential of this new device.

I have to say that we pretty much universally dislike the name but I am sure Apple’s marketing team have better resources to make that call and I am sure it will grow on us. The iPad is an exciting new piece of technology that will fit nicely into my road warrior arsenal. The custom Apple A4 processor was designed by Apple to be fast and powerful but to consume lower power. This makes for the 10-hour battery in the iPad and the small 10 watt charger. I am already using my iPhone to read books while on flights, so having an iPad with access to books, magazines, newspapers as well as music, movies and video is awesome.

While some have described the iPad as just a larger iPod touch – it is so much more. While one of the huge advantages of this device is the hundreds of thousands of apps on the Apple App store, this is a new platform that we are fortunate to witness at its birth. The SDK that was released will spur the same clever developers that have created software apps for the iPhone to turn their creative juices to the iPad with its bigger screen, more powerful processor and extraordinary graphics.

The announcement of iWork applications that can be synced is also a significant development. That will really expand the use of the iPad. I envision iPads in board rooms and meetings at businesses that are now dominated by laptops and people barely paying attention at the meeting. The iPad will be like a versatile piece of paper on the conference room table. Easy to look at agendas, easy to take notes and the result will be better more productive meetings.

The AT&T data plans announced were also quite revolutionary both for the affordable pricing and because they are not dependent upon a contract. The iPad is unlocked, so I assume that other carriers will soon join the party, too.

Somewhat overlooked in the announcement was the continued commitment by Apple to the environment. The iPad contains arsenic-free glass, is BFR and PVC free. It has a mercury-free LCD display and the enclosure is made of recyclable aluminum and glass. Don’t forget Apple’s power management, too, this device uses less electricity, too.

There were certainly features we would have liked to see that did not make it into the first iPad but remember the iPod was about $499 in its 5GB version that did not have many of the features we now take for granted in our iPods. I think that cameras, multitasking and more access to media will all come in time. As I have said many times, Apple does not need market share when they can create new markets and if analysts estimates of sales of 12 million iPads in the first two years are any indication, we have a new market being born right before our eyes. Just as there is an iPod and iPhone ecosystem there will be an iPad ecosystem with new cases, stands, applications and peripherals. I am already working with our partners to make sleeves and cases and would be very interested in your ideas for other gear for the new iPad.