Warning: Do not attempt to answer this device!

Warning: Do not attempt to answer this device! By Maree Anderson (for Writers Gone Wild)

A man walks into his office. One of his colleagues stares at his bruised face and quite impressive black eye. "What the heck happened to you?" he asks. "Get into a fight?"

The man looks sheepish. "No. I tried to answer a call on my iPad."

Urban myth?

My DH insists it's true and that a number of iPad reviewers reported suffering "Ow! Forgot it's not my iPhone!" syndrome when their iPhones rang and they tried to "answer" their iPads instead.

Excuse me while I fall off my chair laughing.

But hey, you have to admit the iPad does at least look a bit like an iPhone in this picture (below), even if in reality it does weigh 1.5lb, is .5 inches thick and has a 9.7inch display. Which might be far lighter and thinner than other laptops and notebooks but it would still pack a wallop, I reckon!

Seriously though, for anyone who has only just arrived on this planet and hasn't heard the goss yet, here's the hot news from Apple about the launch of their iPad, their "most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelieveable price".

Here's the press release direct from the horse's mouth:

"Apple today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, playing games, reading e-books, and much more. Its high-resolution Multi-Touch display lets you interact with content — including 12 innovative new apps designed especially for iPad and almost all of the 140,000 apps available on the App Store. At just 0.5 inches thick and 1.5 pounds, iPad is thinner and lighter than any laptop or notebook. iPad will be available in March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499."

If you're interested in all the specs and aps, you can read more on Apple's website.

And hard on the heels of its much-awaited official launch, the criticisms have been flying thick and fast. I spat my coffee all over my screen when I read this from SB Sarah on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog:

"The iPad, now available in Light, Maxi, and Super (8Gb, 16Gb 64Gb)? As Tessa Dare said, are there NO women at Apple who could have given them the heads up (HA) that this is a BAD NAME?"

For more biting humor and pithy honesty, you can read SB Sarah's full blog post here as well as view Apple's video presentation.

On Twitter, the debate rages as to the iPad's functionality and whether you're better off sticking with your iPhone. Check out all the posts by searching "iPad" or "I-Pad" on Twitter's home page -- you don't need to be registered as a Twitter user to read the search results, BTW.

Doesn't appear that it's a popular enough topic to have attained the dizzying heights of "trending topics" yet. Oh, hang on, yes it has. Check out iTampon.... Oh noes! *winces*

DH, by the way, isn't particular impressed by all these sarcastic allusions to feminine hygiene products. He reckons it's the pot calling the kettle black. "What," he asks, "does everyone put at the end of every sentence? That's right. A period." *winces again*

As far as reading eBooks go, residing in New Zealand and therefore not having access to the latest dedicated eReaders, I'm quite happy sticking with my iPhone. But if someone decided to give me an iPad, I sure wouldn't turn it down. Hint, hint!

So what do you think of Apple's claims that the iPad is going to revolutionise the way we "experience the web, emails, photos and videos"?

And what about eBooks? Are you tempted to ditch your Kindle or Sony Reader or Nook in favor of the iPad?

I await the future of the iPad with bated breath! Not to mention a substantial decrease in price. And hopefully, availability in a Kiwi store very soon.

:-)

Maree