When Steve Jobs was first showing off the iPad I wanted a little more. I knew he was going to get to the end and show us something that would blow us away and make us want to start camping out for 60 days until it came out. But it never happened. I came away less than impressed based upon what I wanted it to be.

Having the chance now to step back and re-evaluate all of what the iPad is and isn’t, I see that the iPad was not meant for me. It wasn’t even meant for you. It’s meant for the person you know who is scared of computers. It’s made for my grandparents who have a Quad-Core computer with 6GB of RAM to send emails, and most of them are spam forwards. It’s made for the person who has a computer just so they can get on Facebook, send email, and browse the internet.

They don’t need shell access. They don’t need to edit videos. Heck, they don’t even need to manipulate the photos they get because Flickr does this for them.

This is also for the person that are scared of a full blown iMac. They don’t know OSX and heard that it is very different from the Windows PC they know. This helps bridge the gap. Although this was looked at as the middle pillar for Apple between the iPhone and the iMac, this could be the entry “computer” that people need in order to make the next step. Apple says, “Oh, you like how easy the iPad makes things? Do you know it is running the same operating system as the iPhone?” Or they might say, “You say you like what the iPad does, but you need to edit videos? The iMac is just as easy to get up and running.”

This is just the first generation iPad. When has any Apple product done everything you wanted it to on the first iteration? Yeah, I can’t think of one either. It’s easier to accept the iPad as what it is if you remember that the iPad is not for you. It’s for the person you know that uses a computer for email and web surfing.

You’ve got that fingerprinted shiny new iPhone 3G and you are all ready to do everything “Twice as Fast,” except that you are stuck trying to activate it.  So now your phone is doing nothing as you wait around.  Here are some things to do with it while you are waiting.

1. Use it as a see-saw for your fingers.
2. Polish the back to get the fingerprints off.
3. Check out the new app store on your original iPhone you gave to your wife.  Oh wait, it is bricked too.
4. Talk to someone in person.  I know, weird huh?
5. Tell your friends that despite what they have witness so far, it is an awesome phone and worth the wait.
6. Listen to music on your 3rd Generation (3G) iPod.
7. Write a blog post about how mad you are about your iPhone 3G not activating.
8. Polish the back to get the fingerprints off.
9. Ask someone with a Samsung Instinct for directions using their GPS.
10. Read reviews of how awesome it is on your computer.

I am all for the 3G iPhone.  I’m getting one right when they come out, but did you want something more like I did?  Is it because I was fed so many “official” specs and so many spyshots on various sites that I “knew” what was coming out?  The things that I knew because of all of the “official” info was 3G and GPS.  After that I thought anything else would be icing on the cake.  Don’t get me wrong the improved battery life and the new apps that were demoed, especially games, got me excited, but nothing like another feature that I didn’t expect.

Recording video on the camera would have been nice.  Cut and paste would have been a much needed and expected feature.  More storage would have helped with the increasing media needs, but the one feature that would have been worthy of the “one more thing” Jobism would be Video conferencing.  Just think over a newly minted 3G iPhone talking to your peeps like they were there in front of you, well if your friends were 3.5 inches tall.  This would have been a killer app for the iPhone.

Am I expecting too much?  Possibly so, but with so many information leaks about the features that it already had, the video conferencing would have truly made my day.  What other features were you expecting or wanting?

For many an Apple fan, tomorrow is a national holiday. Tomorrow is the beginning of the Apple World Wide Developer Conference, WWDC and Steve Jobs is the headlining speaker. What is so special about this conference you say? Well this one is special because the iPhone SDK will be shown and everyone is speculating a 3G version of the iPhone will be coming out. I’m going to make some predictions as well just so I can fit in with everyone else.

1. The 3G iPhone will be announced with GPS and other goodies.  It would almost be more surprising if it is not announced.
2. A smaller version of the iPhone will be announced.  I still think it will have a touch screen and many other goodies, but I don’t think it will have all of the goodies of the 3G iPhone.

I also think that other things will be announced, but I think the smaller iPhone version is what everyone will be excited about because it will compete head on with Nokia, Sony and Motorola.  I don’t have the iPhone yet, but I am looking forward to this new version.  I used to be a lot cooler before the iPhone came out.  When I didn’t get it, I lost major cool points.  Anyone else taking off time to follow the coverage?