Now that the Ipad has been out for a week, I think I want one. As I’ve said in previous posts I’m really not a fan of Apple, but the Ipad really excites me as a perfect device to have around the house for the family to use. 

Right now we have a desktop and a laptop. All my family does on the computer is check email, surf the internet, and watch an occasional youtube video. Nothing special. Our desktop is getting old and will need to be replaced sometime this year and now I’m really thinking I will replace it with an Ipad. From what I’ve read, it will do everything the family needs, and it will relieve me of the headaches of maintaining a Windows desktop. 

There are two things that make me hesitate with the Ipad: 

• apps: I get by with my Ipod touch using free apps and a few paid games. My tastes are pretty simple. Will the Ipad induce me to pay for lots of apps for the family, especially the kids. I’m afraid my $500 purchase will end up costing me $1000 or more when I start buying apps. It’s reasonable to think there will be a flood of amazing apps as developers get the hang of the Ipad. Could be a money pit.
• Itunes: I wish the Ipad (and my Ipod touch) could download and update itself without having to plug it into a computer with Itunes. I’ve owned an Android phone for a year and never plugged it into my pc, not once. Every update I need, including the Android system updates are downloaded directly on my phone. This annoying problem means I still have to maintain a pc of some kind so that I can keep my Ipad updated. Seems kind of silly.

Although I don’t hesitate to be an early adopter, maybe it better to wait with the Ipad. I wonder if some kind of camera will appear in it down the road. It would be awesome to do a skype-type phone call from an Ipad. 

I’ll have to think about it more – I imagine there will be an Ipad in my house sometime in 2010, but I think this time I will not be among the first into the pool.