This is my take on the iPad, and I assure you my take has nothing to do with what other people are writing. Seriously, just give me a few more sentences...

There is a company, a fairly new company, which uses Apple products in a way most of you would never believe. The company is Savant AV, and they make control systems hardware/software that runs on OS X. I'm not talking about X10 – which is the stuff of amateurs – I'm talking about the likes of Crestron, and more importantly, AMX (not to be confused with American Express), which is the world leader in automation systems. For instance, AMX hardware/software controls the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai. The new stadium in Dallas? Yup, AMX. Up until recently, AMX even controlled meeting rooms, etc., at Apple. Enter Savant, an upstart company out of Osterville, MA, and now Apple sees the world a little differently. Ever wonder why Apple has not killed the Mac mini yet? That's probably because there is a physical Mac mini in every Savant OSD system sold, including the systems that run the lights, projectors, blinds, etc., in Apple's dozens of meeting rooms in Cupertino and other facilities around the country. You can see for yourself in the two pictures below (Savant Rosie OSD on the top, Mac mini on the bottom).

Savant depends on OS X, so much so that one of their servers has a cannibalized MacBook laptop screen on the front (soon to be replaced with an iPad, for sure). Savant AV systems are controlled by touch panels around the house/office. A Savant system streams a Mac interface to the touch panel where a user interacts with it (however, it does not look like an OS X desktop, it is a "panel" of buttons, sliders, etc.). For a visual, think of the device Pepper Pots uses to interact with Tony Stark in Iron Man when Tony is asking Pepper how big her hands are. That's what a Savant or AMX system does (yes, this technology actually exists). I've included a picture from the scene in the movie for you to look at.

The iPad is an amazingly powerful, and cheap (CHEAP, should I spell that out in 20 different languages for you?!) touch panel. The cheapest AMX touch panel, which is only 4.3" wide, is well over $1000 retail. A 10" AMX touch panel? Over $7000! And these touch panels are dumb devices, too, i.e., they only display what the controller tells them to display. The iPad? $500, and smokes anything AMX or Crestron could ever come up, not to mention it is an actual platform all by itself. In essence, the iPad is the beginning of something very revolutionary. It's not just marketing speak when Apple says that. They are telling the truth.

The iPad, taken in conjunction with a Savant system, gives Savant total domination of an industry most people have never heard about, and it's huge! It gets bigger every day, and soon it truly will be in your living room. And this is something Apple understands fully. However, there is no way Steve Jobs can get up on stage and say, "Hey, look, we just created a touch panel for home automation. Isn't it cool!" He can't say that because all of the analysts/armchair critics/etc., will sit there and say, "What? Steve has gone mad. We have no idea what he's talking about."

The iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad is a platform, an extremely powerful platform, and Apple is just getting warmed up. Yet, they are years ahead of the competition, because the competition doesn't even know what's going on. Microsoft? You have to be kidding, right? Google? They seem to be a little too focused with advertisements and competing against Microsoft. AMX and Crestron? Their platforms are old, cranky, and ridiculously expensive. I know, I have developed for AMX, their platform is less than ideal, and yet they are the world leader in automation systems. But that is changing, and changing fast. By using Apple technology, Savant has taken an industry by storm in just a little over three years. Everyone in the industry knows who Savant is now, and they are watching their every move. Apple and Savant know what the future looks like, and its got their multi-touch fingerprints all over it.

The iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad are gateway drugs, so to say, to Apple's dominance of how we interact with the physical world around us. And as Steve Jobs said, 75 million people already know how to use the iPad. (Of course we all know this is an exaggeration because there are repeat customers buying iPhones/iPods/etc., but the point is still valid.) All of these people who say they will never use an iPad won't have a choice when they go to a doctor's office and instead of being given a clipboard and a pen to fill out their intake form, they are handed an iPad. With Savant and the iPad, doctors and nurses will not only have a device which allows them to see X-Rays and other information about a patient, but also allows them to control the patient's environment – dim the lights, put down the shades, change the temperature of the room, etc.

Furthermore, the touch screen on the iPad is remarkably sensitive. Do you really think they did that just for gaming? I doubt it. It's more likely so a user can have precise feedback and control of a physical object or system. The A4 chip speaks to larger plans for this device, as well.

You don't have to believe me if you don't want. No harm in that at all. I am just trying to give an alternate perspective on this platform. Basically, if you are debating this device's eBook reading capabilities vs. the Kindle, you are barking up the wrong tree. Expect to see Savant systems, with iPad touch panels, coming to a school/hospital/corporate office/housing development/planned community/high-rise near you, soon.