OK - in response to a previous post, all I can say is that the chatter was well-founded. The Cupertino marketing machine was in high-gear, and the buzz has officially been paid off!

In case you've been living under a rock, Apple introduced its new "iPad" on Wednesday (much to the chagrin of aficionados who had "slated" a different nomenclature for this once fictitious apparatus). You can see images – yes, real pics this time, not fan-boy fanfare - right here:

It seems like only a week ago that this slick piece of hardware was but a twinkle in the eyes of CNET bloggers. But the fantasy ended with much pomp and circumstance in San Francisco this week - and now, we wait... for at least 60 days.

So what did we learn from the much anticipated walk-through of the Tablet Rosa?

Well, basically, printed books are dead (queue theme from "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"). Done. Goner. And music, video, content - they're all integrated. Wait a second... my laptop can probably do all of this with a software upgrade, right? That's where the similarities end, because the footprint of the device is what makes it so damn elegant. It's thin, light, and feels like a book (I'm drawing this conclusion from photos that I was drooling over... I haven't actually handled the merchandise). I think people will really connect with the eReader capabilities, as the experience is so much more robust than what the Kindle offers.

So will it live up to the hype? Will it address a market need that's thinly-sliced and sandwiched between smartphone and laptop? Who knows. But if we've learned nothing, it's that Apple has a tacit - nay, uncanny - ability to create unique products from existing paradigms. Think MP3 player or desktop computer; both were around, but Apple made them better, packed them with more nascent value. And of course, marketed them like no one can. But don't get too excited just yet. This is Apple, the company that produced a confusing line of PCs in the 90s, fudged licensing with third-party clones and danced with bankruptcy after firing their founder (yes, the same guy that later came back and lifted them out of the quagmire). Remember SJ going hat-in-hand to Microsoft? Those were ugly days...

I've stopped drooling. But I might start again in a couple of months when I consider spending $499 (yeah, right - it'll be a grand when I get to the checkout) that I don't really need.

But then again, it's never about what we need, right?

Merry Christmas, Apple lovers. Santa's on his way.