Woodsey said:
Seven hundred my friend. Seven hundred.
I'm curious: since macs use the same kind of memory modules as most PCs, why didn't you just purchase 4 additional GB from ANY computer store/digital store for $50-$80, and install them yerself? Doing this on my first-gen MacBook Pro was indeed a hassle, but the new macs feature a slide-out tray that makes the whole operation take less than a minute. Literally, since I've done it time and time again. Slide out the tray, put (yep, put, not push) them in place, slide in.
Back on topic: I am in no way an iPad fan. I must have been one of the more aggressive naysayers. And when my friend dropped one of the first imported iPads in Sweden on my lap a few days after the US launch, I found most of my suspicions confirmed: it is merely a big iPhone/Droid/[insert yer choice of modern smartphone here].
[Marketing-wise, it is a brilliant but depressing move: the iPad really isn't for techies and nerds. It is for the common people, who have four basic digital needs: surf, read, listen to music, and watch videos (with the possible addition of social communication and chatting), and that is where it will succeed. And succeed it has. Brilliant, Apple, and fogging depressing. Divide the computer world, will ya?]
However, the ONE thing that did surprise me, was the touchtyping. I could literally type faster on the iPad than on my keyboard. And I am probably, say... quite a bit above *nerd* average in typing speed, without being phenomenal, thanks to having written on computers for 20 years, as for 10 years as a (speed)writer/journalist.
This is not a hyperbole: my iPad writing speed was up 20% from any keyboard I would type on, propelling me past most of my hardcore techie friends, who often type uncommonly fast, even for nerds.
So, an iPad naysayer I am still. But I am strongly considering keeping this iPad, just for the added speed advantages of producing articles at an (for me) amazing rate, something that would greatly benefit my journalistic career.
But perhaps I am just a deviation. I actually like typing on on-screen keyboards on smartphones, having written a few tightly deadlined 1000+ word articles directly on smartphones, even enjoying myself in the process (though I wish I could come anywhere near this fella: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNcTE5WJGdw&feature=player_embedded).
But if any of the truly amazing speed-typers would experience the same speed increase with the iPad, we might see one of the first hardcore, professional tech use of this device.