So my wife and kids gave me an iPad for my birthday. A very thoughtful gift, given I wasn’t asking for one but I had been debating on an iPhone for a bit, given a number of of the apps we use at eventIQ are iPhone compatible. I find my Blackberry very useful, but where are the Blackberry versions of all the iPhone apps? (I know silly question but I digress…)

I was a bit skeptical at first, but after using it for a month, it works great! I have used it to demo inviteright.com, and the instant on feature really helps. I am finding I don’t have to take the briefcase or brochure case or the notepad or the laptop, it’s all in the iPad.

The key features for me

• instant on – I was at a meeting, someone had a question and I was showing electionbuddy.com, in about the same time it took to write this sentence
• The size (form factor) – it is thinner and the same width and height as the notebook that I used to carry
• The 3GS wireless, (though everyone I have spoken with save 1 has had issues with connecting to Rogers), now that it works, it gives me great accessibility. For example, I was expecting to present in a meeting room, and the meeting was relocated to a restaurant/bar, and I was able to give a demonstration!

The big detractor- the VGA presentation cable isn’t as simple as the other connection capabilities, and it’s really important for my LCD projector. While I found an app that works ok, it seems to be one of those missing things to be able to use Safari and project a web page onto an LCD TV or LCD projector.

But overall, good job, Apple. It’s nice to see the vision of the knowledge navigator get pretty close.  Do you have any cool thoughts or iPad apps you want to share?