On Saturday April 3, 2010, the iPad was released in the U.S.

If the iPhone was known as the Jesus phone, then the iPad could have been nicknamed the Moses Tablet.

The first sales figures were impressive, at around 700,000 units.  The pre-release estimates expected 200,000-300,000.  These, by the way, were only the U.S. figures.

One can only guess how many will be sold when other countries finally release it in late-April.

The lines were quicker for this release than they were for the iPhone, since the model being released was wi-fi only and didn't need activation.  Pre-orders were given first dibs, then the rest of the stock sold at each Apple and Bestbuy store.

One blogger went to a Bestbuy store for his iPad, then wrote about its game-play experience.

One website even made suggestions for five of the best apps to download for the iPad. 

I'd have to agree with that site on the iWork suite, as it would add some fantastic functionality to the device, allowing for documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the go.

Anyway, by all reports, most people have exercised their inner geek and been impressed with the iPad, though content producers seem to still be scratching their heads on it.

Then again, it's a gadget aimed at content consumers, so it's geared more for that experience.

Oh well.  Only a few more weeks to my country's release of the iPad.  I can't wait.

It'll be interesting to see what it's like doing a blog post on an iPad instead of my normal computer.

Roll on end of April and the Australian launch...

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And just a reminder:   My novel, A Question of Theories is available on eBay