Dawn of the iPad: Apple's touch-screen hit is primed to change how media is delivered and consumed; less flashy devices nibble at a smaller share of the market.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: [Q3] TECH REPORT

It's 9:45 a.m. on a Thursday, and the Apple Store at Denver's Cherry Creek Mall is already buzzing. A diverse group is checking out all of the gadgets on display--most of all the myriad iPads.

Launched in early April, the latest and greatest toy from Apple sold more than a million units in its first month, easily outpacing the iPod and iPhone's respective launches in 2001 and 2007. It's particularly impressive considering the iPad's higher price tag ($499 to $829, depending on the amount of memory and 3G capabilities), but it also shows the rise of Apple in the new portable paradigm for consumer electronics.

I'm here partly because of the product's uber-popularity. Apple didn't respond to several requests for an interview, and when I called the Cherry Creek store, an employee referred me back to Apple HQ--a public-relations Moebius strip.

I approach an iPad display at the front of the store, and my fingertip touches the screen on one of the demo units. It takes me a minute to get the hang of the navigation. I check out a few of the apps, the e-mail interface, and watch a cartoon on You Tube.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A few minutes later, an employee is giving me a demo, showing off the neoprene case ($39.95), the iBooks, and the brightness and font-size control. He downloads the free 4,000-page "Complete Works of William Shakespeare" in a minute flat, searches for Juliet, and uses a pop-up dictionary to look up "methinks." Then he plays the opening scene from "The Dark Knight," the screen's crisp resolution showing off the clown masks nicely.

I want one. Alas, there are none in stock--I'm promised an e-mail when the store has fresh inventory.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

After the mall, I stop by Super Target and am underwhelmed by an in-store display for the Sony Reader ($199 to $299): no e-mail, no video, no working demo unit, no customer service. (I was actually hoping to find an Amazon Kindle 2 here, but no such luck.)

A few blocks south at Barnes & Noble, I check out the store's proprietary electronic reader, Nook, launched last fall. The navigation is anything but intuitive, but the e-ink display is easier on the eyes than the iPad's LED touchscreen. And the $259 price tag is easier on the pocketbook.

It's nifty, but I'm not tempted. I just can't keep the visions of mad clowns on the iPad from dancing through my head.

IT'S ALL ABOUT APPS

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