Who wants an iPad? Almost everyone!
My wife and I are currently cruising the Baltic aboard the Disney Magic. Of course, two things we couldn't leave at home were our iPhones and iPads. One thing we found immediately was that many of the crew members and passengers on the Magic had never seen an iPad, and they were fascinated with the device.
As an example, Burak, the manager of one of the three restaurants on the ship, had me demo the iPad to his wife. She is on the ship for a few weeks as a guest of the cruise line, and he needed her to "approve" his planned purchase of an iPad. After a short demo of Photos, a few games, and iWork, Burak's wife gave his purchase the thumbs-up. I can now count the restaurant manager as a good friend.
I've spent a lot of time on the cruise doing demos for crew members and passengers. There are a few other passengers with iPads, but they aren't as willing to answer questions or demo apps like this loyal Apple user.
For crew members who want to keep in touch with family and friends back home, stay entertained during their precious off hours, and keep their personal items to a minimum, an iPad seems to be attractive as the perfect intersection of small and functional.
There's only one thing that a couple of crew members are disappointment with, and that's the lack of a front-facing camera. Many crew members like to do Skype video chats with their families far away, so they weren't too happy with the fact that a video camera isn't part of the whole iPad package. Note to developers: write drivers to allow use of inexpensive USB webcams with the iPad through the Camera Connection Kit, and you'll make a lot of people very happy.
Most of our shipmates have heard of the iPad, but for many of them it was their first chance to see one in person. We have been doing daily backups of our digital cameras to the iPad, so a good demo has been to show people photos from the current or previous day. Once they see photos on an iPad, they ask what else the device can do, at which point I demo a variety of apps.
What really hooks 'em is when they ask how much the iPad costs. I've been letting people guess the price, and the usual response is $1,000 or more. They're all pleasantly surprised when I tell them they can get the base 16GB Wi-Fi model for $499.
Needless to say, I know I'm acting as an unpaid salesperson for Apple on this cruise. If anyone from Apple marketing is reading this post, you can send my commission check just as soon as I get back.
(Note to readers and Apple: I'm just kidding about the sales commissions. TUAW bloggers don't accept compensation from outside vendors, in order to preserve our integrity. The site policies are here. )