That new iPad thing is wicked shiny, all right...

...but what it's done is get me thinking about a Kindle. I like the whole idea of the iPad - it's just that none of those ideas apply much to me. (This is the kind of statement I almost always change my mind about later, but there it is, nonetheless.)

I don't need a computer away from home all that often and when I do, I have a perfectly fine (and nearly new) MacBook that does everything I want a computer to do and is not to heavy to haul. For everything else, there's the iPhone. I never even go into the next room without mine. And when I am in the next room - or on the next block - the iPhone is perfectly fine for answering the occasional email, checking a list, or looking something up on Wikipedia. I can even read a book on it (a Kindle book, in fact) without much inconvenience.

The iPad is not a substitute for a phone (it doesn't phone), and while it could potentially replace a laptop - and might replace mine when it needs replacing, some day - it's not a good excuse to throw a laptop away.

Which leaves books. The larger Kindle costs $10 less than the comparably sized iPad and comes with free wireless to boot. The smaller Kindle costs about half as much. Of course, if you're going to read from something you have to carry around in a bag, not a pocket, you might as well just read from a book.

The iPad will be a successful product, I expect. It fits neatly into the netbook niche, which as been one of the fastest growing market segments in the last few years. And it'll really shine in the educational market.

But as far as I'm concerned, I think I'll wait and see.

Or start saving up for a Kindle.