After the pre launch hype exploded into a million voices screaming in rage or intoxication one argument about the iPad seems to remain; why would I need one if I have a laptop?

Last week I didn’t have an answer to this question. I figured I might buy one for my mom as she has no use for the extra complexity of a full laptop, but I presumed I would hold off until tablets had evolved a couple of generations.

But yesterday I realized I will buy the iPad. Possibly even the first generation machine.

I have an avid interest in gaming and game design. But I rarely play games anymore, it’s just to time consuming to start up machines and and load save games. I don’t have two hours without interruption to play  games. I have many short periods interspersed throughout the day. Today I fill these periods with gaming, reading and twittering from my iPhone. Only one thing could make this more enjoyable, a larger screen.

The iPad is the perfect casual media machine. A tad expensive perhaps, but still worth it. I’m getting one.

All design matters. But design that is functional matters to me for a specific reason.

Function is an embodiment of an idea. And when the function is used the designer and user share that same idea. Not a diluted idea, reshaped by subjective language, but a perfect one. Captured in the form of the function.

If you think this sounds like mumbo jumbo consider mathematics, algorithms and functions that describe how something happens. Most people never realize just how exact the representations are until they program games for computers. All of a sudden all the dull math creates engaging experiences of movement colors and transformations.

A design can be just as exact. Consider how you use scissors, the designer of the original function had an idea about how cutting surfaces and how the movement of the hand could work together. The idea is perfectly translated in the function.

This is why design is so inspiring for me.

Regardless of what OS you like it really is the applications that make up most of your experience on a computer. Some applications become iconic to the platform they are built for becoming inseparable from the experience. And when they disappear, the platform trembles.

My recent move from Windows to Os X has made me realize that Apple’s insistence on aesthetic applications from developers really does make an impact for the end user.

Which is why it saddens me when my two favorite developers Atebits and Cultured Code, makers of Tweetie and Things respectively, both have disappeared from they’re online homes.

They are still there, small updates trickle out. But from the devs themselves there is not a sound to be heard. The last post on the Atebits blog was in November, Cultured Code hasn’t let out a peep since September.

They seem to have learned the same secretive style that Apple is so famous for. But for small application developers this can be a fatal tactic.

Delivering perfect polished updates to any product is every developers dream. But we all know from the large hulking creations of larger development companies that this strategy is flawed. Without releasing updates consistently to the end user you might be heading in the wrong direction without ever knowing it.

If the web in the last few years has taught us anything, it is that focus and communication is key to any feature. Twitter is more focused than Buzz, Google Apps  have a constant stream of features being tested compared to the take it or leave it strategy of MS Outlook.

So please Apple developers, don’t hide behind a wall like Apple does. Come out and talk to us, what are you  working on? How is it progressing?

When you’re releasing updates to each physical product every 18 months you might need to work in secret silence. But when you’re creating a better Twitter app, you can at least let your waiting fans know how it’s going.

Had a little downtime and decided to design a T-shirt based on one of my mantras in life:

Discrete? I have none

The most over hyped machine ever has been unveiled and a torrent of fanboyism and hatred has echoed over the blogosphere. So now should be a good time to talk about what the iPad really is.

It’s just a larger iPod touch!

Yes. Yes that’s exactly what it is. Well ok not exactly, it’s a lot faster. But basically just a large iPhone without the phone. Not sure why people are complaining about this though since I’ve heard tens or possibly hundreds say they wanted a larger iPhone when it was first launched.

Why isn’t it wide screen?
Because it’s a doubled iPod touch screen, this way apps will work with very little fuss and developers don’t have put too much effort into designing specific apps for the iPad and iPhone.

So, will it be awesome?
Probably yes, your iPhone is pretty awesome right? Imagine not having to squint at the screen to surf and you’re there already. Also we know Apple will release a software update for the device before launch. It probably won’t mean too much but we’re likely to see at least one more feature that we’ll like. Just because Apple likes to push positive.

So it will sell a billions units?
Apples track record says yes. But they have failed before. and all tablets so far have died a gruesome death. Mind you, smart phones weren’t exactly a super hot market before the iPhone launched. They certainly didn’t cause the amount of hype and development that Apple created in the marketplace.

That’s it. The iPad. We haven’t seen all it can do, but this is what it is. A larger iPhone, just like millions of users have been clamoring for.

Just because it doesn’t cure cancer and live up to the pre unveiling hype doesn’t mean it won’t be awesome. It’s to early to tell if the iPad will be a hit or a miss. But regardless it will push general computing further towards touch UI. Which is really the innovation Apple is bringing to the table. Not a new UI. But a new use for their most successful one.