What makes the iPad Special?

In anticipation of the launch of the iPad it has been more than interesting watching the comments and predictions coming out of the blogosphere and tech press.

Seems the world can be once again be neatly divided into 3 camps:
Those who are Apple fans, no middle ground, the iPad will change the world!
Those who dismiss it as a toy, fated to be an insignificant speed bump on our road to technical enlightenment.
The majority, who have no idea what the iPad represents.
As usual, it is my burden to set all 3 camps straight.
Let there be no doubt, the iPad will be significant, it is going to legitimise a lot of technologies that have been hovering on the peripheries of prime time. Most significantly it will be a boon to the e-book market. There have been some nice products in the e-reader space, Kindle has been a legitimate product, mainly because of the wealth of content and ease of use established by parent company Amazon.
Kindle tries to be a true electronic book, reflective screen, white page with blackish text, it tries to look and feel like a book. In recreating the physical reading experience we all are comfortable with Kindle represents a safe move into the world of e-readers.
The iPad, in Apples inimitable style will be anything but safe. The iPad cries revolution, Apple is saying with the launch of the iPad that we don’t need to mimic our paper book reading experience, instead they are looking to take the best things from books, maintain those, and then open the door to new and hopefully wonderful new reading opportunities.
While books will be a big selling point to the iPad, I personally am far more interested to see exactly what the periodical publishers will bring to the table. An industry that has been pummelled past the point of recognition may in the iPad find salvation.
Magazines and newspapers are the perfect publishers for the multimedia format the iPad represents. The fact they will be able to customise the user experience, means they will have the ability to differentiate themselves meaning they can create an experience that will be unique and marketable.
I have never been a big subscriber to magazines and newspapers (other than fishing publications!) however I can easily imagine I will be happy to subscribe to the New York Times Sunday Edition, possibly to McLean’s or a similar Canadian news and opinion source, if, and this is a big if, the publishers deliver a superb rich media experience to my iPad.
We have historical precedence, as the iPhone has legitimized the smartphone