After using the iPad for over 24 hours, there are some immediate observations that surprised me — some wonderful, positive surprises and some major disappointments.

Before I detail these revelations, you must understand my intentions for the iPad. First, I already have an iPhone, which I absolutely love, especially as it allows me to check email, voicemail, texts, and receive phone calls, all on one device (i.e. a Smart Phone) that does 185,000 other things, too, and does many of these well. So the criticism that an iPad is just a big iPod Touch didn’t sound like much of a criticism to me. And I also have (I don’t own it technically) a MacBook Pro, which I absolutely love, too. What I love most about my MacBook is Apple’s iWork suite, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, all three of which I use in my teaching and research.

So, why get an iPad? Well, I’ve always wanted a tablet computer, and while I could easily have gotten one in the past, this is the first tablet (other than super-expensive ones through Axiotron) that allows me to run Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. My plan was to use this as my primary teaching device. That plan may have been abandoned. At least for now. Read on.

The bad surprises:

1. Keynote sucks. By far, the biggest disappointment to me has been Keynote. Since my plan is to teach from this thing, Keynote has to work well. If you watch the Apple videos of Keynote in action you might be under the same impression that I was — the impression that Keynote on the iPad is even better than on Mac OS X. That impression is completely wrong. It is fantastic that you can run Keynote from a mobile device, sure, but I already can run it from my mobile laptop. This version of Keynote is crippled and much slower than the version on my MacBook. When I import a presentation that I made on my MacBook, I get a list of changes that were made — fonts that were substituted, 3d charts that are now in 2d, and many more. And what happened to all of the professional Keynote templates I’ve bought? Gone. Only Apple default templates. Of course, I can import a presentation for each template with slides of each type and then duplicate that presentation to create a new one, but that’s just a big pain. UPDATE: here is a more in-depth look at Keynote on the iPad, what it has and what it is missing. UPDATE #2: I have successfully taught class with the iPad. It is amazingly easy to use and set up. Just plug into the projector and hit play!
2. Transferring files to the iPad needs to be streamlined. Right now, to transfer a Keynote presentation (or any other file) to my iPad, I could email it to myself, save it on the device, and then import it into the right program, upload it to an online service, save it on the device, and then import, or I can go through iTunes, an equally large pain in the hole. In iTunes, plug in your iPad, go to the Apps tab, scroll down, find the specific program that allows file transfers, import your files, one-by-one, and then sync and wait. And wait some more. When you then open the app on your iPad, you still have to import the file. This is crazy.
3. The iPad ships without a Calculator or Clock app! What computer or hand-held device doesn’t come with a calculator and clock app? While you can find alternatives in the app store, until we get multitasking on the iPad, doen’t expect an alarm clock to wake you up on this thing unless you leave it running. Big let-down.
4. Photos on the iPad, while beautiful, is actually LESS capable in many ways than on the iPhone! On the iPad, we have lost the ability to delete images. That is unacceptable. You also cannot select multiple images to share like you can on the iPhone (thanks Sage for the tip!). And you have to wait for iTunes to scale down your images before syncing. Ugh. Another major let-down. UPDATE: This was an error on my part. You cannot delete photos from iPhoto albums on the iPhone or iPad. You can delete photos that you’ve saved and share multiple files at once.
5. No texts, voicemail, etc. I know this seems obvious, and I knew all of this going in, but the repercussion is that while it is tempting for the iPad to replace my iPhone as my primary means of keeping in touch, the iPad only lives up to a small part of that. It really is a big iPod Touch in that way, and not at all a big iPhone.
6. While some games are great, others have been a big disappointment. Most of the apps look gorgeous, but some are no more than just boring, old games wrapped in a pretty wrapper.
7. Running some iPhone apps, you really see the reduced resolution. This is understandable for graphics, but why couldn’t Apple scale the text up? Why should text be blocky? And, for that matter, why didn’t they use some algorithms to smooth the blockiness of the graphics. Assume that any text-based iPhone apps will look awful on this thing in 2x mode. In 1x mode, your screen is a sea of wasted space with a tiny app running in the center. (Some apps, especially ones that move fast, like Super Monkey Ball, look OK in 2x mode.)
8. While I love using my Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard with the iPad (see below), while it is connected, you cannot get an on-screen keyboard to appear. Even to just type in your name, you need to grab the keyboard. For example, I was happily using the keyboard yesterday in the living room. I took the iPad into another room and suddenly had no way to type. There should be a button on screen to pop a soft keyboard up, even when a hardware one is connected. UPDATE: Turning off the wireless keyboard is a breeze — just hold the power button in.
9. It’s a bit heavier than I expected. Sure, 1.5 lbs is 1.5 lbs, but it feels heavier in my hands than I had expected. It’s about as heavy as a large textbook, but it is as thin as a magazine, so the weight is unexpected at first. UPDATE: I am quickly getting used to the weight.  It’s really not that heavy.
10. Why dock in portrait only? The docks available from Apple all put this device in portrait mode, rather than landscape. This is surprising since most of us are used to looking at screens in landscape (especially our TVs and Computers), and Apple is so firm in their user-interface (UI) guidelines that there is no up or down for the iPad. That is until you dock it. Then you’re stuck. I’d prefer to dock it in landscape, thank you. Too bad Apple didn’t ask me. Or look at which way human eyes are oriented on our faces (as opposed to in emoticons :^D ).

The good surprises:

1. This thing is FAST! And the screen is bright! The iPad is super-responsive to touch; so responsive and quick, it’s almost like it’s reading your mind.
2. The battery seems endless! You could easily use this thing all day long and not run the battery down. I’ve done it.
3. Using the iPad with Apple’s Bluetooth wireless keyboard is fantastic (except for the point above). In my 29 years of using computer keyboards (I first began computing in 1981), the Apple Wireless Keyboard is the best keyboard I have ever used. Pairing this with a large touch-display is incredible. And it gives you more control than you have with an onscreen keyboard. Familiar short-cut keys and function keys work in many apps. And the top row of keys control brightness (which is otherwise buried in the settings app), volume, and much more. In fact, clicking one of the brightness buttons when the iPad is asleep will wake it up without having to swipe across the screen. This is really nice. And your screen is uncluttered with on-screen keyboards all the time. But you can’t get one when you do want one, like when your keyboard is in the other room.
4. Since the screen is uncluttered by icons, windows, and toolbars, you can focus more on a single application.
5. Mail is gorgeous. I still prefer to read email on this device than on my iPhone or MacBook. And the unified inbox and multitasking coming in Fall will make this even better.
6. Surfing the web on this is incredible. It’s almost as fast as my MacBook, but the touch-interface and big screen makes the web come alive in a way it doesn’t on other devices I’ve used.
7. Dungeon Hunter is epic. Some apps have been happy surprises. Dungeon Hunter [link] deserves its own point here. Get this app. Some others are really cool, like Labyrinth 2 HD, which you can try the light version for free, but I’m going to be playing a lot of Dungeon Hunter. They nailed it.
8. Guardian Eyewitness is incredible. The Guardian created an app that tells the last 100 days in news using 100 incredible photos. Each photo has a short caption written by the photography team and a short pro tip to help you become a better photographer. Get this app. I can’t believe it is free. I love it.
9. There are some great racing games. So far I’ve tried out a few and suggest two: Real Racing and Need For Speed Shift. They’re great! Asphalt 5 [link], I would skip.
10. Apple apps are beautiful. There are so many fine details that Apple put into all of its apps that won’t go unnoticed. I hope that more app developers follow suit. And I hope that the iWork apps improve. And the Photos app regains the power it lost.

Related posts:

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2. iPad app pricing for iPhone app upgrades
3. iPad launch April 3 in US, pre-order March 12
4. Apple unveils iPad apps with guided-tour videos
5. iPhone OS 4.0: a quick tour