The iPad kicks ass for one simple reason

Speed. Time-to-content. That’s it.

The most elegant feature of the iPad is that it gets you to the stuff you want more quickly than any other device. Time reduction between a dark screen and destination is the game changing attribute that makes me want one. I want efficiency.

A laptop or netbook may have more features or a faster processor. But you can’t open it, resume from sleep, enter your password, and launch a desired app, browser, or site in under 10 seconds. You can do this with an iPhone. With its new processor and 802.11n the iPad is even faster.

I don’t think people realize what instant-on will do for computing. Immediate access will enable situations where you could whip out an iPad impromptu in an elevator and give a presentation or report, read news, or whatever, before reaching your selected floor. It shaves seconds or minutes off of tasks.

The iPad combines that speed with a non-mobile 1024×768 10-inch screen. You get immediate access to relevant information, with the richness of a laptop/desktop interface in a form factor conducive to mobility. And multi-touch.

Multi-touch adds to the speed. One can more quickly navigate and perform tasks with it than via a mouse or standard touchscreen. One can rotate, zoom, and crop images more quickly. One can edit and move data in a document more quickly.

It’s all about speed. It’s the speed to information and more efficient interface that make the iPad kick ass.