ChickSpeak

Amidst all the glitz and bedazzled glamour that was last week’s Grammy Awards, one small item made its way to the stage, in the hands of comedian Steven Colbert, and stole the show from some of the entertainment world’s biggest stars. This small item was the iPad.

Aside from being just bargaining chips and toys of fodder for the rich and famous, the iPad is “the most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.” Or, so says Apple, anyway.

A handheld touch-screen tablet computer, the iPad is the latest in a string of drool-worthy products to be released from the Apple mega-conglomerate in the last decade. The original prototype for a tablet of this variety was introduced by Apple in 1993 and called the The Apple Newton MessagePad 100. Thankfully, the less wordy iPad has come a long way since then.

Weighing in at just 1.5 lbs, and measuring a little under 10 x 8 inches, the iPad holds all the features of a standard computer - the capacity for Internet usage, multimedia players, and office tools - along with built-in connections to the iTunes store, the App Store, MobileMe, YouTube, Safari, and iBookstore. It also flaunts a 10-hour battery life, 140-hour music playback, and over one month standby (essentially how long the iPad will stay on idly).

The introduction of the iPad has, of course, caused both comparisons to and predictions of competition for the Amazon Kindle, which, at the time of its 2007 release, was vaunted as the beginning of a revolution for both the future of computers and reading alike.

Though the Kindle is lighter, a bit smaller, and technically cheaper than the new iPad, Apple’s newest product is simply better equipped and out of the Kindle’s league. Whereas the Kindle is a new form of e-book reader, the iPad is a new, and admittedly, progressive and innovative form of computer, one that will surely cause a tidal wave of improvements in standard computers and laptops in the years to come. It has been reported that Amazon has a new Kindle in the works to compete with the iPad, but it’s doubtful that any company can truly compete with Steve Jobs’s brainchild.

Despite its brief preview at the Grammy Awards, the iPad is not available for us chicks until late March 2010. When it does hit shelves, the prices will range based on gigabyte capacity and 3G models, which will not be released until late April. iPads with Wi-Fi will range between $499 for 16 gigs and $699 for 64 gigs, while iPads with Wi-Fi and 3G range from $629 for 16 gigs and $829 for 64 gigs.

Click here for more info on the iPad, or check out MacRumors to keep up with the latest from Apple.

If you’re more on Amazon’s side, click here to see what they have in store for the Kindle.

Faithlynn Morris is an avid Apple follower, who recently purchased the company’s new 16 gig iPod nano. Sadly, operating this small device is as tech-savvy as she will be for a long time to come. She, does, however, enjoy tracking the steps until the inevitable super computer, one that will play music, do homework, and rock her to sleep.