I woke up at 8am this morning and stood in line for almost an hour to pick up my reserved iPad. There were probably 100-150 people in line when I got there. I then spent the better part of the day downloading apps and putting the iPad through its paces. Here are my initial impressions with using the actual device:

1. Yes, it’s fast

Coming from an iPhone 3G, everything feels about 25% faster. Web pages load as fast as on my laptop, maps feel better than a laptop experience, and in general everything feels very responsive.

2. Browsing the web, reading text and watching videos are Class-1 experiences

I’ve changed my mind about content. The iPad is a better way to consume the web, text and videos.

Web browsing feels as good if not better than browsing on a laptop. It feels more like flipping through a magazine, which suits most general surfing.

I tried out 3 major free news apps (NPR, Reuters, and AP News). All look great, and are definitely superior to browsing their respective websites. The Marvel Comics app is also very well done. I sure wish we had iPads when I was a kid!

I also watched streaming video on the YouTube, Netflix and ABC Player apps. Both worked great. Hi-def video looks fantastic. Definitely like having your own personal TV.

3. Text typing is fine (for limited amounts of text)

A big concern of mine was how good the virtual keyboard would stack up. In a word, it’s functional. As good if not a little better than the iPhone keyboard for limited text entry. You certainly don’t want to be typing on it for longer than a couple minutes. One positive surprise was how well the landscape keyboard feels like a standard (physical) Apple keyboard. It’s almost the same size and shape. Typing with the Apple case in landscape mode works fairly well. However, it will not work at all if you have long fingernails.

4. It’s just the right size, but heavier than expected

The device itself feels like just the right size to be holding in the hand, and browsing with. However, it does feel heavier than I anticipated. My hand felt tired after holding it in one hand for more than 5 minutes. Works much better sitting down and holding it in your lap.

Overall, the iPad delivers as expected. It is a great content consumption device out of the box. Time will tell if it is able to build upon that base into other areas.

With only a day before launch, the iPad press machine has hit a fever pitch. Virtually all the major news organizations have produced glowing reviews. And yet, the closed and limited nature of the device has its share of detractors. David Pogue put it best: Techies are skeptical, and everyone else loves it.

I think the techies are totally missing the point, and the boat.

Take a good thorough look at the iPad page on the Apple website. Read the descriptions carefully:

“iPad – A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.”

“…you can do things with these apps that you can’t do on any other device.”

“…iPad isn’t just the best device of its kind. It’s a whole new kind of device.”

What don’t you see? There’s lots of hyperbole, but the one obvious word that is completely missing is “computer”. It’s clear that the Apple PR team took great pains not to mention this word even once in all the marketing literature. At yet, clearly a lot of people are comparing the iPad to their traditional notebook and personal computers. What’s going on?

It would have been quite natural for Steve Jobs to refer to the coming of the iPad as the next computer revolution. This is how most techies naturally look at it anyway. But this would have been a great marketing mistake. In the original personal computer revolution, hackers were the early adopters. They were the only ones willing to forgive poor ergonomics, limited input devices, and laborious instructions in order to use those new computers. Catering to them was necessary for a new product in order to build enough momentum to cross the chasm and get to the mainstream.

Today, hackers have been displaced by technophiles as the early adopters. These are people with gobs of disposable income who like to buy bright shiny gadgets. They aren’t interested in writing the next open source web server or cool video game. They just want to watch HD movies, stream music to their $2,000 stereo systems, and veg out on Facebook. Oh, and read a couple of academic articles to justify the expense. Technophiles aren’t terribly interested in buying a new personal computer. They are looking to buy a better iPod.

Apple seems to intrinsicly get this new demographic, as evidenced when they dropped the word “Computer” from their name. They are going lock stock and barrel for this group. It seems that the rest of the technology world has yet to wake up.

The hackers are no longer the gatekeepers or the trendsetters in technology. The technophiles are. The irony is that the hard-core hackers will end up being the late adopters. More and more developers will write apps for the Apple App Store simply because that’s where the audience is. For those who insist that they cannot on principle develop for a closed platform, there’s always the JooJoo.