So, the iPad. You may have heard of it by now. I haven’t purchased one yet, but that’s only because it would be fiscally irresponsible for me to do so at this time. I went to a local Apple store recently and got to play with one, and I have to say it is uber shiny geek porn. It’s a fun a little toy for casual computing and I can’t wait to get mine.

And yet, there are some ‘idealists’ out there decrying this little toy as the harbinger of the end times. That somehow the app centric device is bereft of the ability to create or that its locked down development environment will somehow completely change the landscape of computing as we know it. Bollocks. There isn’t an iPhone OS release that isn’t jailbroken within days, and that is just in that tiny niche market. Countless programmers slave tirelessly over open source software for no financial reward, and I’m supposed to believe a gadget is going to stop them? As for the ability to create? I can write a novel on one, does that not count? I can paint, but I guess that doesn’t count either. Turns out you can’t you can remix music too, but that just isn’t creative enough is it? One blogger with a mad on said that the removal of the camera from the iPad somehow chopped off the most democratic form of creation. WTF. Maybe its the art snob in me that went to school for 4.5 years to get an art degree or maybe its the fact that I actually work at creating things, but I don’t count your shitty phone camera photos as art. Granted, I think its silly from a technical perspective that they have opted remove the camera, but the idea that its exclusion is somehow a targeted attack on creativity is simply ridiculous.

Of course no one is bringing to light the real danger of this device. Everyone wants to talk about its business model, or what gadgets weren’t included, but no one is brave enough to bring you the truth. Until now. The iPad will destroy your posture. There I said it. You’re going to be spending hours staring at your lap and that can’t be good for your neck.