There are two set responses that I receive regarding my iPad, and I’m sorry to all you equality buffs but it’s a gender difference. Women will usually tut and then ask “What do you need it for?”; Men on the other hand simply groan at hearing that question they’ve been hearing all their lives whenever they pass Dixons whilst trying hard to keep their hands in their pockets less they should fly out and act all grabby towards it.

It’s a reflection on the old adage ‘Women need a reason to have sex, men just need a place’. I’m trying hard not to horribly generalise the male/female split here as it’s perfectly obvious that there are many geeked out females in the world that go into a similar gadget-frenzy as I or many of my male colleagues and friends do. Saying that, it’s also true that some of the guys I know have little or no interest in such technology. These are also usually the ones that think beige and doilies are interesting concepts but I digress. Suffice to say it’s blokes that I converse with regarding such marvels of our time whilst trying my best not to bore the arse off my wife whilst I give her a demonstration as to how I can change channels on our television with something other than the remote.

I’ve had my iPad now for a little over a month, courtesy of a good friend in New York, and sadly within that time whilst it has garnered much appreciation and drawn several longing glances on the rail network, the two biggest questions on people’s lips, male and female alike, are

“Is it any good / Do you like it?” & “Isn’t it just a big iPod?”

both of which make me want to hurl myself in front of the 2224 London Midland service to Birmingham New Street, calling at “of course it bloody well is” and “yes, I have progressive myopia”. Seriously people, do you actually expect me to say “well I’m just not sure why I spunked half a grand on a bit of tech but now that you mention it I might as well give it away because it’s dull as buggery”? Or perhaps “yes, you’re right, my iPod just wasn’t large enough for my tastes, I think I’ll buy something that costs five times as much and that I can’t actually fit in my fucking pocket”. Forgive my overuse of sarcasm but I really would hope that when faced with an object that you’ve probably never laid eyes on before but have heard near-mythic proportions of hype over you would want to strike up a conversation more interesting than “oooooHHHH!!”.

Yes I love my iPad; it’s like when you first held an iPhone and watched pictures rotate themselves as you turned it in your hands or things leaping up at you as you manipulated the touchscreen but (sigh, yes) on a much larger scale. The childish joy is still present – you could play with it for hours without really doing anything on it, just stare at your photo library that you already know so intimately but when presented on something unique becomes fresh and new to your eyes. Even something as mundane as the calendar application has been rethought enough so that you could spend a fair amount of time simply looking though your upcoming dentist appointments with a big grin on your face.

I might go into detail on one or two apps that have particularly piqued my interest next time, such as ComicZeal which lets me view my digital comic books in full electronic glory and Logmein Ignition with which I can remotely connect to servers at work (nerrrrrrrd).

I don’t actually own a computer these days – my wife and I have a netbook that we use as our home machine and I have my work Mac, so I guess I have one small excuse for buying this smartphone/laptop hybrid. When it comes down to it though, I do not need an iPad & neither do you. But that shouldn’t stop you from wanting one.