First, my semi-drunken prediction scorecard:

The Name:  I was wrong.  Totally.  My first sentence was "This will not be named iPad."  Oh well.  More on that later.

The OS: I was mostly right.  Basically a blown-up iPhone with some UI tweaks.  

Multitasking:  Still limited to Apple Apps, but I'm betting that will change.

The User Interface:  Not at all revolutionary, unless you think about it.

Content:  Nailed that one.

3G: Optional, like I said.  I was surprised by the $30 unlimited data package, though.

Hardware and Price:  I was pretty spot-on, except the SD slot thing.  But there is an SD accessory, so half a point.  And deduct half a point for the OLED.   But it's not regular LCD, so it's a wash.

My score this time: 4 out of 7.  Yay D+!  Now, what does all this mean?

I do not like the iPad name.  I just think it sounds weird.  But, so did "iPod" a few years ago.  Maybe that's why Apple chose the name.  There's something in the back of your brain that may relate iPad to iPod and do some subliminal stuff in your grey matter to make you like it.  Or not, I don't know.  But it fits the brand image, and looks good on the back of the device.  I still like "Newton Pro" or "Newton 2", but I get why Steve Jobs wouldn't want this beauty to be associated with the less-than-stellar PDA that came out of Apple in his absence.  I'll just get it engraved on the back.

As far as multitasking goes, here's the way I see it...  There are a lot of new hooks in the iPhone 3.2 software development kit.  (BTW, the iPad runs iPhone 3.2.)  Some of the more important ones are:

• Shared storage, which allows you to save a document into a folder that all apps can see.  This is huge, since now Apps can share data.
• Improved text, called "Core Text":  Hopefully this will eliminate the "really big text" problem when scaling iPhone apps to full screen.  I'd rather see more words than bigger letters as the window grows.  Core Text fixes this.
• Desktop files: You can mount the iPad as a folder on your desktop and drag and sync all those iWork documents, or any other file.  And remember those shared storage folders?  They can be desktop folders, essentially syncing a folder of iPad documents to your desktop and back again.  Then all those files can be used in any app that supports shared storage.
• Bluetooth and dock keyboard support
• Identifying Apps: Apps can be set to open a file type, just like the desktop.  If you get a Numbers spreadsheet e-mailed to you, it will open in Numbers when you tap it.  For any app/filetype.
• PDF creation: Any app can now simply add PDF creation as part of the SDK.  I'm guessing Apple built it into iWork for iPad, then just put that code out there for the masses.  Now any program can "print" to a PDF file, then e-mail it.
• Scalable Apps. Some Apple apps on the iPad have 2 lives:  One portrait life that is all text with a little status bar, and landscape life, where the text-y part slides over and a sidebar with more info eases in.  Any app can have a different interface based on orientation.  A developer can also make a single app that looks one way on an iPhone and different on an iPad.  And it can have different layots in landscape or portrait on either device.  Imagine being able to buy, say, a Twitter client (did I mention I'm on Twitter?) one time, and load it on both devices.  You'll get a simpler version on the iPhone, a live timeline feed on the iPad in portrait, and a multi-column list feed in landscape.  3 for 1 deal!

What does all this mean?  First of all, iPhone 3.2 (which is the iPad OS, confusing, I know...) is what devs are writing for now.  But Apple has dutifully released a new iPhone OS at every WWDC since the iPhone was born.  I'm betting this year at WWDC in March, They'll unleash iPhone 4.0.  All of the above iPad mojo, and iPad and iPhone multitasking will become a part of the unified iPhone 4.0 OS.

The content is awesome, but not surprising.  Apple will lock down books and newspapers like they did music and video, and the world will follow.  There are a lot of people who say "I won't buy anything from Apple!  It's all DRM'd and locked and closed, and stuff."  True, but Apple sells more music than anybody.  Period.  They are also tops in online video sales, music video sales, podcast downloads, and they own 97% of the mobile App market.  Apparently most people don't care if their content is locked.  Magazines and books will flock to this device.  And I'd bet the Kindle hardware guy at Amazon is butting horns with the Kindle software guy, who wants to write an app for this thing.  Apple is becoming a content company.  The hardware is beautiful, intuitive and simple.  But it's also there to sell you stuff.  iPods sell music.  AppleTVs were supposed to sell video, but never really took off.  iPhones sell apps, and the iPad will sell all of the above.

The OS/UI question is what I really want to talk about.  People don't get it yet, but this is a game changer.  You may be saying "Aahh, it's just a big iPod touch.  Big deal."  Well, it is a big deal.  My niece was playing number games on my iPhone at 3 years old.  A septuagenarian acquaintance (that means 70+) uses one.  The iPhone is a device you can pick up and push the power button.  Then it says "slide to unlock", then you tap a button, and an app opens.  It's simple.  You don't have to worry about which things you tap and which things you double tap.  You don't have to close things, you just stop using them.  No saving things.  No menus sliding up or down or over, covering what you're working on.  You don't have to slide your hand around on a desk, and try to match that movement to a little arrow on the screen.  If you just hit the power button, it turns off.  That's the beauty of this software.  Everyone knows how to use it, and it doesn't even come with a manual.  Things are where you think they might be.  

Moving that to the iPad.  If you use this same idea on a more powerful and larger machine, you can sell it to kids in 3rd grade "Mom, it has e-books and math games!" or,

Imagine this scenario including your grandmother who has never touched a computer. 

"Gran, just leave it in this stand, and it'll show pictures.  If you want to read a book, tap this button.  If you want to read email from the kids, tap this one."

Done.  Much better than

"Set the screensaver to use this shared folder as a source for the slideshow, then if you want to read a book, open the Kindle App.  Remember to save it before you close it, or you may lose your place.  If you want to read e-mail from the kids, open your browser. Oh if it asks you to run an update, hit "Yes", then "trust site", go to gmail.com and login.  Remember, if a site asks you to install something, say no, but say yes to OS updates."

Which conversation would you rather have?  

If you're a power user, this won't be your only computer.  But it may be the computer that sits next to the sofa so you can look up stats as you watch the game, or tweet your thoughts about Oprah's dress on the next Golden Globes.

This is the next step in computing.  There's a long way to go, no doubt.  It's a simple device designed to test the waters of touch.  Not like Windows has done.  You can't take a mouse interface and throw a touch screen on it.  You have to rethink the whole shebang.  Where do you hold it?  How far do your thumbs reach?  How big or small does a control need to be to fit a fingertip?  What shape is that fingertip when pressed from different angles?  

I think this iPad was what spurred the iPhone into existence.  Technology wasn't good enough for this device three years ago, so they made a smaller one and threw a cell phone in it.  They released a 3" iPad with cell radio and called it the iPhone.  Now, you can make a 10" screen that is crisp and bright and responsive and doesn't suck juice like a '78 Plymouth with holes in the muffler.  Now, you can get 10 hours of battery.  Now, speed and memory are cheap.  It is the next step in the evolution of computing.

I know I'm an Apple fan.  I get it.  But looking back on the last 30 years of computing, Apple has never been the first.  They sit back and let others make mistakes, then they think, design, rethink, redesign, and come up with something that doesn't invent the device, but reinvents it to actually work well.  Think about it.  The Apple II brought the home computer home.  The Macintosh made graphical interfaces and the mouse mainstream.  The iMac brought all-in-ones back, and the iMac also was the first consumer device to drop floppy drives and replace all the exterior ports with USB.  Then came the iPod, which we can all agree that changed the MP3 player forever, and the iTunes store, which changed content delivery.  The next step was, of course, the iPhone, with which most manufacturers are still trying to catch up. 

And now, the iPad.  It drops everything everyone knows about tablets, and starts from scratch.  They dropped all the UI elements from mouse computing and thought about how you'd TOUCH it.  That's why it will work.  Now, imagine 5 years from now, when the iPad 6 has a 4Ghz processor, a hi def OLED display with pressure sensitivity, 500GB of NAND Flash memory, 30 hours of battery life, and a touch-based OS that has had half a decade to mature. I can't wait.

I've already signed up to pre-order one.  As soon as they are available, I'll have one.  I'll probably get the middle-of-the-road 32 GB version with WiFi.  I don't need 3G access all the time and don't want the extra monthly charges.  I also have WiFi just about everywhere.  Plus, I know in 2011, there will be a new iPad, with 4G/WiMAx, 128 GB and 20 hours of battery, 2 cameras and a vial of unicorn tears.  I'll just have to upgrade, then...