naw, it wasn't about using the iPad for workflow. i think ever photog them self would know that this thing isn't capable of being used for extensive editing. more of a presentation device as i mentioned in my original post.

as you have already seen yourself, there has been a lot of other chatter on the photo boards about photographers using this thing.

I would disagree.

Other than satisfying a need for possessing Apple's latest shinny object what current need of yours [the editorial 'you'] does the iPad meet, what deficiency does it fill?

If one doesn't know what problem or problems a particular device solves just by looking at the specs then I submit that purchasing one is a purely emotional exercise, which isn't illegal – usually.

There currently are any number of netbooks and tablets of similar size, weight, and screen resolution that also have significantly greater performance, storage, and connectivity options - and for a similar price as well.

Maybe it's just me but I always look as a new product within an existing field and ask, "what problem does this new product solve"?

The only real "problem" so far mentioned here that the iPad uniquely "solves" is to bring Apple coolness to a not-quite-a-netbook device.

This device was designed and conceived by Apple to have one purpose and that purpose is to encourage owners to spend more money on downloads from the iTunes store.

Hey, fair enough, but overly labored contortions being made in order to justify wanting or buying one are, well...

Just buy the damn thing and say, "screw it, I don't care how useless it is, it so freaking cool and owning one makes me happy [for a while]".

There has - much of which seems based on nothing more than optimism and enthusiasm. Like this article:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/tablet.shtml
Eyefi themselves have no idea if the iPad will support transfer; similarly talk of tethering is presumptuous.

I'd like a device that could do those things and more. Based on specs I've not seen anything to suggest the iPad is that device.

it's from apple, so just about every technological aspect of it will probably be crippled. haha! that's how apple rolls.

If I shot weddings professionally, I would seriously consider getting myself one of these. I think the ability to hand it around at the reception, show casing some of the shots from the ceremony and formal portraits would be a big wow factor for the client.

Hmm. You may have a point.

But the photos would of course have to be unedited. I suppose if I was really, really, really, good I wouldn't mind showing my clients a bunch of unedited out-of-camera JPEGs or RAW files - wait - does the iPad even support RAW files - from every DSLR manufacturer?

But then how to get the images into the iPad to show them? The iPad does have an SD slot but I wonder how many pro wedding photogs - who are good enough to show their unedited work - are shooting with cameras that use SD.

You could I suppose use the USB/camera adapter. As long as you are using a camera with 6mp or less the transfer times shouldn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes. Then there is WIFI – if your camera has a WIFI transmitter of course – that shouldn't take much longer than 20 or 30 minutes.

And there probably won't be any issues with 20 or 30 slightly tipsy people passing the iPad around. Not much chance of them dropping it or spilling liquid on it.

I have a friend who is in fact a pro wedding photographer and I asked him what he thought of the iPad. He said that he didn't see much use for it [completely anecdotal I know] as, for example, his last bride had a pretty serious moustache and there was no way in hell he would pass around unedited images of her to the people who had just paid him a rather large sum of money to make their daughter look good.

Again, the iPad is for downloading Taylor Swift MP3s and episodes of Sex in the City and playing Tiger Woods Golf while sitting in Starbucks between classes.

i concur, i wouldn't want to be passing this thing around at a wedding. how many people might accidentally "drop" this thing? that would be a complete nightmare and there goes $500 down the drain.

i dont understand why stevie didn't incorporate the usb and sd slots into there. how lame of him to make you buy MORE accessories when they should have just been standard.

This is one of the first times I've heard a valid argument for a photographer to have an iPad. I tried writing about it on my blog but just ran out of things to say.

For me, shooting RAW is important. I'm not thinking that the iPad would be able to read those files. While it could never replace a workhorse computer, it would make a really nice eye-candy display piece.

And if I was the customer and the photographer was busy displaying photos rather than taking more I'd be pretty annoyed. There is plenty of time to display photos but the actual even only happens once.

a photographer would most likely showcase his/her work at a convention or something similar, not at the actual event he was working at....at least i hope not.

Depends on what events. The only times I pay for professional photos were when I went to track days driving my car. The photographer would shoot on Day 1 and morning of Day 2. Then we'd look at the pics afternoon of Day 2 and get the prints/files.

I don't display images at the reception myself, but was at a wedding with a colleague who does. During the dinner period-when no one is having their photo taken with mouthfuls of food-he was setting up the images he wanted to display and then set up a monitor for people to view at their leisure throughout the rest of the reception. It took just a few minutes and he didn't have to man it the remainder of the night--pretty easy.

And many photographers will cover an event with an assistant so they can still be taking care of their duties while someone else mans the slideshow of images.

Could it be used to show off pictures? Sure.
Is it cool? Only to people who haven't seen an iphone or ipod touch and /or those who buy / love apple products simply because they are apple products. I'm brand-agnostic but the ipad is old tech in a larger form factor, and last time I checked that was moving backwards.