After nearly two years of fresh speculation, and potentially 27 years of development, Apple announced today the launch of its “newest creation,” the iPad tablet computer.

Although other announcements were expected along the way, there was only item on today’s agenda, and that was the iPad. Apple CEO and master presenter Steve Jobs went straight to the big reveal, explaining how the iPad could finally carve out a viable third niche of mobile device, smack-dab between the smartphone and the laptop.

According to Jobs, in order for a tablet to be successful, it would have to be better than both smartphones and laptops at browsing the Web, doing email, enjoying and sharing photos, watching videos, enjoying music, playing games, and reading ebooks. He obviously believes Apple has finally succeeded at putting the pieces together, describing the iPad as “magical and revolutionary.”

Initial reaction to the iPad name and specs seems pretty mixed, but how could the real thing live up to the enormous hype that it’s received, especially over the past several weeks? Answer: It can’t. Already some interested observers are taking a wait-and-see approach to the iPad.

But as with previous Apple creations, the iPod and the iPhone, the potential is huge for Apple to again dominate another corner of the computer market. And while the iPad itself may not be as thrilling as some had hoped (e.g., 9.7 inch screen as opposed to 10-11 inch that was predicted), the potential for new multimedia reading experiences—with magazines, newspapers, and books—is a harbinger of something “revolutionary” for the publishing world.

My prediction: It’s not the device itself that’s magical. It’s the innovation that the device now allows—the new interactive games/applications and multimedia ebooks/e-publications (magazines and newspapers) that are going to be developed—which will make the iPad a “revolutionary,” must-have device.

Here are the specs:
• .5 inches thin
• weighs 1.5 pounds
• 9.7 inch IPS display
• full capacitive multitouch screen
• powered by a 1GHz Apple A4 chip
• 10 hours of battery life
• runs all iPhone apps unmodified out of the box
• available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models
• wifi and wifi with 3G models
• cost: starting at $499 (compared to $259 for the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook)
• begins shipping in 60 days

www.apple.com/iPad