This is a guest post from Scott Thompson, a digital specialist from London based media agency Starcom MediaVest, who has managed to get an iPad ahead of the UK release. Here are his thoughts on the device...

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an iPad last week, and after a few days playing with it, I thought it was worth quickly writing up my first impressions.

I have another post in the works about the wider implications of what's currently happening with Apple, Adobe and the mobile internet— this post is just about the actual device, and how I think it's going to be used. (Given that Apple have only just announced the price for iPad in the UK, I thought it was worth getting this out sooner rather than later, as people might now be thinking about putting in their pre-orders.)

The short version—

• It's a good, secondary, luxury device.
• It isn't going to be a substitution or replacement your smartphone.
• It isn't going to replace your current computer. But it might replace your next one.
• Don't think of where you'll use it instead of a laptop. Think about where you are when you read a magazine or book— that's probably where you'll be when you use an iPad.
• It isn't going to bring about an instant revolution in personal computing— but in 5 years or so, I think we will be looking back at the iPad in the same sort of way that we look back at the first iPods; how much they've grown, and— for those of us with one— wondering what we'd do without them.

First off, it's a good looking device, and it looks like a giant iPhone. (That's the first thing that everyone says when they see it, which isn't really surprising because it does.) The screen is quite shiny— more so than I had expected. It's also very quick to pick up fingerprints, so OCD types will be doing a lot of wiping.

You can buy a case for it, which is actually more useful than it looks at first glance; the iPad itself is quite slippery, so as well as protecting it from scratches and dust, the case provides a more grippable surface to hold. Unfortunately, it also seems to be very good at picking up scuffs and mark

The iPad itself is also surprisingly heavy— which means that first impressions are of a solid device, despite the thinness. Given that essentially, it's a big battery and a piece of glass, the weight shouldn't be a big surprise but still, the size and weight mean that I think it is not quite right to think of it as a truly "mobile" device. It won't fit in a pocket, and after using it while holding it with one hand for a while (which you really need to do, so you've got a hand free to control it— unless you're watching video) you really do feel that weight. Think of it like reading a reasonably sized hardback novel; you can do it standing up, but it's far from ideal. You want to be in a seat, with the weight of the book being taken by resting it on your lap or a table— not your wrists.