Thanks to TUAW, we have reports of the first college to give iPads to incoming students.

Where as the whole thing sounds more gimmicky to me than anything else, the program does go to point out what we’re trying to do and test here at Paul’s iPad. If these devices let us surf the web, write papers, send email, and consume media (as well as the token college needs for Facebook, etc.), why does a student need a laptop anymore?

Let alone the whole 10 hours of battery life thing for those long study sessions.

My kids are a few years away from college but sending them with an iPad makes a lot of sense to me.

You?

Apple launched a series of iPad video guided tours at Apple.com today.  Topics covered include Safari, Mail, Photos, Videos, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, iBooks, Keynote, Pages and Numbers.  No embed options at the site – you’ll need to visit to view the goodness.

The video that catches my eye is the one on Keynote.  This looks like the App I’ve been waiting for forever.  It will make so much of my travels easier.

These iPad Videos are very well done and, although great commercials, also show how much of this process has already been thought through.

April 3 can’t come soon enough!

Update:  Videos also at YouTube.com.  Here’s an embedded playlist (direct link):

Even if you don’t care about the iPad, you need to know about Instapaper.  This personal content management system makes the crazy world of online content approachable and accessible.  Been a fan/user since day 1 and I always assumed there would be implications of this app on the 30 day experiment.

This will be the first app I download on April 3rd.

Marco Arment announced a preview of the Instapaper iPad app and, well, gorgeous, perfect.  Couldn’t have imagined better.

A big part of my job is making sense of all of the information that comes through.  The Internet Marketing space is huge and Instapaper has always been part of my daily work flow.  To this point, my only complaint was consumption on a tiny screen.  That problem goes away.

What will be the first app you download?

As reported everywhere (here’s the token link), Apple has started shipping the iPads.  Delivery date is still April 3rd (and they are coming from China), but the mass exodus of iPads has become.

Chances of getting one early?  I’d say pretty slim.  This is a major contract for UPS and they tend to get the major contacts done right.

But, if you get one early, please do report here – we’d love to give you the press you deserve.

This story is all over the place, but I‘ll link to the TUAW article.  In short, in the top uses for people polled on their potential use of the iPad – “business on the go” ranks high.

While this is as obvious as the “people will stand in line for this” statement, I do think it should help some of the doom and gloom types potentially refocus why people are so excited about this product.  Whereas Hulu anywhere would be fun, the ability to take nothing but this magical tablet on the road for 10 hours of battery life is considerably more practical – and worth the cash out.

Part of the 30 day experiment here will be the “working on the go” part.  I’ll visit hotspots (free and paid) and see what happens when you work away from home.  But the complete plan isn’t a look at iPads on the road – it’s a look at the iPad as a primary business device.

And, as I get closer to this, I think she’s gonna do well.

What do you think?

Amazon has, at the very least, a placeholder for the iPad.  From it you can select size and style.  There is also a place to sign up to be alerted by email “when the item becomes available.”

Will Amazon be selling the iPad or are they just a little overzealous at this point?  We’ve seen them make mistakes of this kind before so, at the very least, this placeholder automatically means nothing.

What do you think?  Is Amazon going to be selling the iPad any time soon?

The Ultimate Apple Weblog (TUAW) has a fascinating piece about people trying to quickly put the coming Tablet Apps business at an 8 billion dollar industry.

Do I agree with this numbers?  Do I think they’re even going to come close to this?

Guys, this is the very reason I’m doing this Blog.  The “business world” needs something between the smart phone and the desktop (or laptop) badly and this little “magical tablet” is positioned to pull it off better than anything I’ve ever seen.

We know Apple knows how to sell apps.  We know what’s possible.

Yes, I think it can be an 8 billion dollar industry (or more).

Do you?

So, Amazon has made a preemptive move by launching, early, details about the iPad Kindle App.

We obviously all knew it was coming – but it’s great to see the details in play.  When I buy mine on April 3, I’d love to read a couple of my Kindle books on the flight home …

This, of course, opens up all kinds of questions.

Will Apple approve the app?

What will Kindle versus iBooks pricing be?

Should Kindle stop shipping hardware and just become a platform?

Should I dare bring up the what Microsoft learned from Zune angle here?

I’ve always been a crazy fan of Wired Magazine. To be honest, never enjoyed their Web stuff because the magazine always felt so much better, read so much better, etc.

But, Wired is doing some really fascinating stuff in their iPad release. Below is a video that is very much worth your look. It’s an embed – if you can’t read, click on over to Wired directly.

Would you subscribed to Wired on the iPad? Other magazines?

This one is fascinating.  Apple is sending some developers iPads to make sure their apps are ready for the big day.  There are a bunch of rules associated with such but, they’re to be expected – if you think about it.

When I chatted with a few major developers about my 30 day experiment at MacWorld this year, they all had been building their apps on the simulator that came with the SDK.  Most had expressed frustration with not getting their hands on the thing, but understood the process.

I think some actually felt this was an issue of Apple just tweaking everything they possibly could up to the last minute.  Also, rumors of an “surprise’ at launch are hard to keep quiet once you start passing out the devices.

Of course, I have to start on day 1, so I’m glad the top developers have a machine in their hands.