And herein lies Apple's genius - the iPad is essentially an innovation platform that allows it to do whatever you want it to do.

To that extent it is fundamentally different from the range of e-readers already in existence, such as the Amazon Kindle. These devices are defined for a single, specific role and thus are limited to just that use. The iPad is a digital toolbox and display system. Although, I am perhaps being over ambitious in seeing it as a replacement for my laptop as well as a reader for both traditional and electronic media. 

At present I find my smartphone works as a laptop replacement, at least on short trips - handling email, calendar, address book and very simple web access. On the basis of what I can do on my phone, I see the iPad as functioning like a large-format smartphone, but with better capabilities for doing things like writing these comments.

Electronic delivery
Since my local village store closed down a year ago, I have become accustomed to doing without a daily newspaper and to getting my daily news fix electronically. These days, I only buy a newspaper when I travel and have time to read it in depth. For the rest of time, the internet supplies my needs. That said, I do miss the printed version. In this respect, I see the iPad as a real alternative that will allow me to take out paid subscriptions for my favourite publications and have them delivered via WiFi or cellular communications directly to my device.

This raises the key question for those in the printing and publishing industries - is the iPad a serious competitor, or is it a complementary technology for printing and publishing? I see the iPad competing with paper-based information in some areas, but in most cases it will be a complementary product. It will be a way of getting immediacy of information to users that are then likely to follow this up with paper-based information.

For publishers the iPad is a real opportunity to widen the net for published information, although in some cases this will be at the expense of printed information. One area that I see being impacted is educational publishing, where ultimately, devices like the iPad will replace textbooks. This will require a fundamental change in the way that educational publishers work with schools, colleges and universities as new kinds of digital information contracts will need to be negotiated.
And it's not all bad news for the printing industry. I see the iPad opening up new areas for print in multichannel communications. Developments like quick response (QR) codes, once the iPad has a camera built in, will allow printed QR codes to be used in newspapers magazines or catalogues. These will automatically generate online connectivity in the device to relevant information to extend the reach of the printed material.

What I feel is most significant when questioning the impact the iPad will have, is its format in terms of size and weight alongside operational characteristics like an exceptional quality colour display and long battery time. It is not a replacement for the desktop computer and is not likely at this time to be perceived as a creative device for content creators using applications like Adobe InDesign or Photoshop, or for web design.

I do see the iPad as the device that will become the standard for a media receiver, just as the iPod captured the imagination of the downloaded music market. I appreciate that the other computer manufacturers will also bring out tablet-style devices but I don't believe they will have the impact of the iPad. This is because of Apple's brilliant understanding of marketing new concept products, and its total control of content and application distribution through its iTunes Store online shopping and delivery channel.

Andrew Tribute is a journalist and consultant in digital pre-press and pre-media marketing technology. Visit: www.attributes.co.uk