When I first started thinking about the iPad (as it’s now known to be called, despite earlier speculation), I had no idea what people would do with one. But now that it’s been officially announced and more details have come out, I have a better idea.

The most significant feature is that it’s only $499. At that price, it’s not much more than a Kindle but it can also do color, browse the web, run apps, and play movies. Granted, the Kindle is a better platform for just pure reading of text with its higher DPI and passive e-ink. But if I were heading off to college and had the choice of a Kindle or an iPad to take with me, that’d be a no-brainer. In fact, an iPad can even replace a notebook in a lot of cases.

Another important feature is that it runs iPhone apps. Now, you might think that iPhone apps won’t look great just running twice the size and you’d be right. But it’s a start. Right from the start, iPads are going to have a huge library of apps to choose from. One of the things plaguing Apple computers is the lack of software but that situation has reversed for the iPhone when compared to its smart phone competitors. And while the iPad still won’t have as much software available for it as most Windows netbooks, it certainly has more than comparable e-book readers.

But as a developer, the most exciting feature is that it’s a device the size of a piece of paper that multiple people can interact with. Sure, two people can touch an iPhone at once, but it gets awfully crowded in there with two fingers. But the iPad? It’s like the Wii. It’s the first consumer device that multiple people can touch and play with like that. There are going to be games on there that you just can’t do on any other device. Can you imagine all the possibilities? I can’t. But I’m excited to find out…

I was chatting with a friend the other day about the popularity of the movie, Avatar, and she chalked it up to the fact the movie really appeals to guys. The conversation went something like this:

“When you get right down to it, most guys aren’t much different from 12-year old boys and boys like explosions.”

“Yeah, most women aren’t much different from 12-year old girls, either. But the main difference is that 12-year old girls are just way more mature than 12-year old boys.”