Will the iPAD be a sweet apple or sour grapes?

I'm talking about your latest offering, the iPad, here.

"Is there room for a third-category device in the middle - something that is between a laptop and a smart phone?" This is the question you asked, knowing full well that whatever you invent next, Apple fans like myself would jump all over it. In fact, you caught our attention when you positioned the iPad as "a truly magical and revolutionary new product" to start 2010.

It was love at first sight. The presentation video left me drooling and I was close to rushing to the bank for money straight away! My friends on Facebook have been screaming: "I want! I want! I want!" But wait, the iPad will not be available in Thailand until March, so that gives me lots of time to decide whether or not I want to put it on my wish list. Since we can't have it right now, I can imagine a debate between a sweet "Apple" and "Sour Grapes" on whether or not I should buy the iPad.

So, what are we going to do with our iPhone?

You silly thing, we use the iPhone to make calls, and when we want to tweet or post something on Facebook, we will use the iPad.

Okay, so this iPad is just an oversized phone without a call function?

Kind of… but it is an iPad, not a phone. Don't get the two mixed up.

Okay, so are you saying the iPad is better than the iPhone?

Of course, why else would Jobs call it a revolution?

Okay, I admit that he is cute… an executive in jeans with great presentation skills and ideas. But I personally think the iPad is more like a retarded iPhone. For God's sake, it can't even multitask.

Never mind. If I want to multitask, I can switch to my iPhone.

So you think you will be on-the-go with this iPad thing like the iPhone? How are you going to carry it around if it can't fit in your pocket?

Well, I'll probably have to buy a case for it.

And carry an extra bag around even though the iPad does exactly what your iPhone does, except that it's a bit better to play games or read a book on? A male friend of mine just said that not in a thousand years would he carry a bag, even if it is for this iPad thing. "I'd much rather be hanging on to my 'straight' look, than carrying a bag around for an iPad," he told me.

Do I have any other option but to carry it around in a case? A better, smaller model might come up, but I'll have to make sure I've used this one long enough to cover the cost.

That's exactly my point! Look at all our friends on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook slamming the iPad. No, I'm not talking about the sanitary-pad jokes, but more about the complaints that Apple doesn't offer too many options when offering new-generation products. Didn't you learn a lesson when you bought your iPhone, and less than a month later another arrived with a video camera?

Oh, I don't think they meant to make me feel bad. The camera was added in response to consumer demand. As for the iPad, you see I don't need a camera or anything because I can use my iPhone to take pictures. If you keep thinking this way, you'll never end up buying any new-generation devices ever!

Plus the iPad doesn't support the Flash video format. I think that's such a waste of a big screen!

Well, that's not new. My iPhone doesn't support Flash either. Haven't you noticed that I can't play the Facebook game, Farmville, on my iPhone, while a friend of mine says she can harvest all her Farmville crops through her Nokia N900?

Oh, and don't tell me that the iPad will be your new e-reader when you already have a Kindle!

You don't get it, do you? The iPad has everything that one would need in an e-book, and anything else is a bonus. Plus, reading the New York Times on iPad is just like reading the actual broadsheet.

If I were you, I would just enjoy my iPod, iPhone and Kindle. This one isn't special enough for you to rush out and purchase it.

Hey! It is very special and I will find out how even more special it is when I own one. As for you, you can go back to using your iMobile, and when we meet, I'll be more than willing to lend you my iPhone because I probably won't need it with my iPad on my lap.

Okay, so what happens when you want to catch something on TV?

Oh, then we can watch it on your Bt3,000-something iMobile! Doesn't that sound great?