With so many rumors flying, no one knew what to expect. Would Steve start with something innocuous, the new iPhone OS (which didn’t happen) or a new iPhone (which also didn’t happen) and then at the last moment …. oh … just one more thing. No. He launched straight away into setting up and introducing the new iPad.

There will be those that will rip it apart for what it doesn’t do. No phone. No Camera. No Verizon. No multitasking. But as a consultant, I need to talk about what it does do. And the possibilities it brings. Oh. And the joy!

Hello iPad: Let’s start with the obvious. It looks like a large iPhone. But it’s not. You can’t make a call from it even with the Wi-Fi and 3G package (unless you have Wi-Fi & use Skype … but that’s just theoretical … I digress). Looking at the icons on the front screen, it looks very much like an “exploded” or “expanded view of the iPhone desktop. Only four icons across, and four in the dock. If more will fit in the dock, will remain to be seen when the first Wi-Fi versions of the iPad ship in 60 days. Though 60 days from today Wednesday January 27, 2010 is Sunday, March 28, 2010. So maybe the 29th? Guess we’ll have to wait for the official date from Apple. Who knows what version of the OS it will finally ship with … iPhone/iPad OS 4.0?

Apple Inside: Apple has taken a bold step in it’s evolution with the iPad. It runs a new 1 Ghz Apple A4 processor. Apple’s chip also includes onboard video processing. No Intel inside. No Qualcomm inside. No NVIDIA inside either. Apple bought P.A. Semi back in 2008. It’s the first time they have used their own silicon in an Apple device.

eBooks: We wanted them. We got them! Plus a new iPad application called iBooks. Like iTunes you can buy eBooks directly from Apple via iBooks. The interface is simple, slick, and well designed. There have been other iPhone books apps that have looked similar, but Apple is not one to shy away from “quoting” another programmers work & calling it their own.

Apple announced partnerships with five major publishing houses, including Penguin, Macmillan, and Simon & Shuster. With more to come. All books on the iPad will be in ePub format, which is the most used open book format in the world. So in theory, any ePub book can be read on the iPad. iBooks is going to be yet another cash cow for Apple … and the publishers. Look out Kindle and Nook.

Mail: Mail on iPad has been redesigned. It’s use of popup contextual menus is well designed. The virtual touch keyboard for composing new eMail looks almost like a real keyboard. It seems that big too. Turning the iPad in landscape gives you a screen with your Inbox and folders on the left. select a piece of mail and flip iPad to portrait, and the inbox goes away and you eMail fills the screen. Sadly I can’t tell you much more than what I’ve gleaned from photos and the iPad Video on the Apple website.

iPod: Dream alert! Imagine if you will, an iPad landscape car dock. Now imagine if you will the ability to use iPad with my car stereo. I could use iPod.app for the first time in iPod history, to see album images on the screen large enough, that I could use as my music interface for my car. In landscape, I would imagine, iPad’s version of iPod.app uses cover stream. No more searching on a single line of text on my “iPod compatible” car stereo for songs buried deep within a playlist somewhere. I may have to build this thing myself if I have to!

It will also be nice to see what iPad developers do with the new screen real estate … all 9.7 diagonal inches. Plus the new iPhone SDK that will give them access to all the new menuing and other iPad specific features. It will be another summer of exciting new iPhone and iPad apps! As of now all current iPhone apps will run on the iPad AS IS. No updating needed. Plus you can run the current iPhone apps in “double” pixel” mode, which makes then fill the entire screen. Pretty thoughtful on Apple’s part!

I could go on about each redesign of each app, but Apple.com has done it best. Whether it’s Safari, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Maps … they all have been redesigned … and they look and function great.

Now I can’t wait to get my hands on one to test for myself. Apple did a great job of making the entry level 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad only $499.00. I’m like a kid waiting for early Christmas! Oh gee …. is it 60 days yet???!!!

This is the yearly gathering of Mac fan-boys & girls taking a long deep hit from the fruit flavored technology bong that fuels their euphoric sensory overload of all things Apple. Plainly put, if you are a Mac user. This is the place to be!

I’ve been to a few MacWorlds throughout the years. I was there for the Steve Jobs keynote introduction of the ‘Lifesaver’ iMacs. It was one of those times when great things were happening in the Mac universe, and somehow by being there, you felt part of something big. Something magical. There was electricity in the air. You could feel it. So I do understand the goo-goo eyed fan-boy concept. I must admit. I’ve been a fan-boy ever since 1987 and buying my first Mac Plus.

But this year may be the beginning of the end of MacWorld. Or a least the beginning of the end of Apple’s participation in the San Francisco MacWorld. Steve Jobs dropped the bomb a few weeks ago, that Apple will be pulling out of MacWorld and he would not be giving the final keynote.

Now, you have to understand, a Steve Jobs MacWorld keynote speech, is the ‘stuff’ of myth, dreams and legend. Many an attendee has been mesmerized by the Steve Jobs ‘reality distortion field’. There is no other experience quite like it. Sadly, for the final Apple attended MacWorld and keynote, Steve will not take the stage. Phil Shiller, the senior vice president of Apple’s worldwide product marketing, will valiantly attempt to fill Steve’s iconic black T.

So many people are trying to read too much into Apple’s and Steve Jobs’ choices. In the long run it probably will be a good thing for Apple to not have to meet MacWorld deadlines to get out product. Plus, when something big is announced, it’s on Apple’s website and every news site or blog within minutes. So yeah. Why does Apple need events like MacWorld?

I don’t know if Apple might need them in a financial sence, but Apple has built more than a company. Yes, there are those who would argue that point, but they built a community of crazies. Those of us who were asked to ‘Think Different’ and embrace all that it entailed. For all the virtual meeting places there are in the virtual world called the Internet. I think there is still something to say about meeting face to face, and being hands on. There’s something to that thrill and excitement of seeing other in the flesh, and experiencing something together.

Only IDG can determine if MacWorld will contine past next year. Right now there is just a sence of unceetainty. That’s a hell of a way to leave things. But we all need to look forward. Yes. There will be a day that Steve will no longer wish to, or be able to run Apple. He too is just flesh and blood. We are still feeling the diminished effects of a weakened ‘reality distortion.’

Good luck Steve. Good luck Apple.