The iPad is here… uh no it isn’t…

Lots of press coverage across the tubes and old media about the launch of the iPad.

Of course the launch is US only and it’s looking like the earliest we will get the iPad in the UK is the 24th April, but so far no confirmation whatsoever from any official source.

What I am hoping that when the iPad is launched in the UK, the 3G version is released at the same time as the WiFi version, so I don’t have to make that difficult choice that many in America are making right now, that of buy now or wait until the 3G version is available.

Part of me is sad that I didn’t go out to the states and buy an iPad, and part of me knows how sad that would be!

The more I see and hear about the iPad, the more I wonder if it will be the game changing device that the iPhone has been, or whether it will be another Newton or iPod HiFi (remember that). The key I believe will be how the device sells not initially to the geek audience, but down the line to non-geeks in places like John Lewis and Apple Stores on the High Street or in local shopping centres.

Having said that if the geeks don’t like it, this can rub off on the general public, look at how there was a negative reaction to the Blackberry Storm following Stephen Fry’s adverse reaction. Now according to Time, Stephen Fry quite likes the iPad (though that’s a bit of an understatement) and I respect his opinion and if he likes it, I am sure that many others will like it too.

I have discussed the iPad before, talked about it on a podcast and mentioned Tony Vincent’s thoughts on the device. In my article I did mention the following:

There are also rumours that Microsoft may be working on a version of Office for the iPad.

However according to an article on Macrumors today, Microsoft are saying…

We never say never, but we have no current plans” to develop a version of Office for the Apple iPad, Elop said.

I do understand why Microsoft may not want to make Office for the iPad, what with Courier on the horizon, however from a users’ perspective and especially users who interact with others who use Office on Windows (or Mac) to be able to move native Office files around would be very handy and useful. Yes iWork can convert and I do this a lot, but sometimes it can make sense to avoid conversion and stick to a native format.

So no I don’t have an iPad, but I do expect to get one when they eventually arrive in the UK.

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