iPad Debuts at the Oscars

Wired reports: If anyone doubted that Apple doesn’t care about the geek market for the iPad, and is shooting direct for the mainstream, last night’s Oscar ceremony confirms it. No, Apple didn’t win a statuette for the iPad (although Steve Jobs was in the house for Pixar). The most important event came in the commercial break, when Apple showed its first iPad ad.

This ad makes it look damn exciting, and also makes it pretty clear how Apple is positioning the iPad: as a true laptop, made to be used when sitting on a couch or, as you see in the commercial, with your feet disrespectfully strewn across a table. Like the iPhone ads, which are all based on seeing the iPhone in the palm of a hand, we predict that all iPad ads will have this top down, point-of-view angle.

We don’t really see anything new. Mostly the quick-cut sequence shows off the easy touch-control and the eye-candy of the photo and e-book applications, and we get a glimpse at the “liner-notes” for the Star Trek movie. Interestingly, there is a clip of Pages in action, showing the neat live-reflowing text, along with some typing and editing of emails.

The message is clear: this is a computer for people who don’t want a computer, who just want to do the things you need a computer to do. As I Tweeted the day the iPad was announced, I predict the tech press will hate it, and Apple will sell a gazillion.