iPad, iSaw, iBlogged

It's called the Reality Distortion Field. It's scientifically documented that, when worked up into a lather, herded into a posh convention centre and subsequently bathed in the presence of High Priest Steve Jobs himself, no matter what he says, it sounds like nothing short of the Second Coming. The irony of pulling out a tablet and holding it aloft to the assembled masses ain't lost on anyone.

After all the iPad name jokes have died down (OK, one more - iPad is perfect for those heavy data flow days), and the ecstatic joy and scepticism have all died down, the harsh facts are that the iPad just doesn't have the oomph that the iPhone and shiny aluminium MacBook Pro do. Even the MacBook Air, an exercise in beautiful impracticality, gave a good kick to the gut. But this? Honestly, the OS alone looked like they threw it together the night before.

Fact is, though, that the iPad's very existence, seated at the top of a pile of other slate-style tablets and e-readers who've had middling success at best, signals that maybe this new category of device could get some traction after all. Where the iPhone obliterates cheap mobiles and the laptop negates the need for a hefty tower, the tablet isn't meant to replace an existing gadget: it's meant to replace your newspaper, your books, and your notepad. In short, everything else.

They all have problems, of course. This is maybe the third generation of tablets, at best, and there is no current benchmark. E-ink readers can't do video or color, the iPad can't multitask and can be straining to read, and there are plenty of knockoffs on the way that probably won't do anything especially well.

None of that really matters, though. Every time we see a spaceship on telly and get a look at how the crew read, write, watch a video or talk to each other, they're using one of these tablet things. Forget jetpacks. The future is here (or on Amazon.co.uk, anyway).