I am writing what will hopefully be the first of many blog posts on my shiny new iPad, purchased on launch day from the Apple Store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Though I pretty much knew that this was the perfect sort of device for me (I’ve been writing most of my blog posts on the iPhone for the past year, for Pete’s sake… of course I’d be an iPad sort of person!), I didn’t think that I’d be getting one on launch day. In fact, my wife and I had just headed down to the Mag Mile in Chicago for a relaxing day of vacation prior to school starting back up. We were planning on taking a look at the Northwestern University medical school downtown (she was accepted there, along with the University of Chicago, Yale, and a bunch of other med schools) and getting some lunch, then maybe swinging by the Apple Store in the afternoon to goof around with one of the iPad demo models.

Walking past the Apple Store, we were surprised to find no line at all (there had been a huge one in the morning but it had dissipated by 1 pm when we got there). We strolled in and found ample iPads available, so I figured that we’d pick one up the first day after all (something we rarely do–I’ve never stood in line at an Apple Store for any product launch).

How is the iPad as a content creation device?

I’ve had this thing less than 24 hours, so I’m sure that I’ll be able to answer this question much better in a few weeks, but my initial impressions are overwhelmingly positive. I’m writing this blog post using Pages, the Apple-created word processor app that I also happen to use on the desktop, and I’ve found it to be a really solid app and a likely glimpse into the future of computing. After a few minutes, I didn’t even think about the fact that I was typing on a virtual keyboard. Perhaps that comes from all that iPhone typing, but I see this being my main computer outside of the house and my “fun” device at home, used for reading books, surfing, playing games, and the like.

Since I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to make my iPhone function as a micro laptop, this larger device feels like a welcome relief. It’s fast, sleek, and sophisticated, making me feel like I’m in some futuristic movie. I’m tapping away at the virtual keyboard, listening to Paul Simon, and drinking coffee. Even though I’ve been using it for the past 45 minutes nonstop for a variety of tasks, I’ve still got 98% on the battery charge left, and I doubt that there will be many circumstances in which I will drain the battery entirely.

Ok–time to go enjoy my last day of vacation. It’s sunny and warm and not a good time to be stuck inside blogging. Of course, I could bring this iPad with me and keep blogging in the sunshine, but there’s plenty of time for that the rest of the spring and summer. My hope is that this thing will kick-start my desire to write again. We’ll see.