I'll admit it, when I first saw Steve Jobs proudly holding up the iPad, like many others out there I thought "it looks like a giant iPod Touch".

While I understand the demand for such an item, I didn't quite get all the hype. I mean for me personally it just seems like a natural progression for Apple. While the iPod Touch is a great little gadget, its number one problem is its size.

My opinion aside, the launch of the iPad does further represent Apple's intention to become an even bigger contender on the digital market - expanding their catalogue on both iTunes and the app store, with the introduction of iBooks.

The iPod Touch and the iPhone have been nothing but revolutionary for the digital industry, and this is helped mostly by Apple's open outlook with the app store acting as a marketplace which gives independent developers an accessible platform to distribute their products.

Ben Dodson, an independent app developer, spoke to me about his impressions of the iPad.

He said: "I was disappointed initially due to the huge amount of hype for the device, which then turned out to be no much more than a large iPod Touch - it's being referred to as "an iPhone on steroids", but I'd say it's an iPhone that's undergone heavy surgery as it is missing its camera and, if you have the wi-fi model, the GPS functionality.

"Initial disappointment grew from the news that while the 3G model will be available in April, the UK won't get any deals on data usage with mobile carriers until June/July. As an O2 iPhone customer I was hoping on some sort of internet tethering bolt on deal."

I asked him if the iPad opens up any new opportunities for his work as a developer?

"The device has a lot of potential by virtue of the increased screen resolution, and to some extent the enhanced multitouch access," he said. "However these benefits are mainly for game apps and won't add a great deal to existing utility apps.

"The lack of camera and therefore video functionality is the biggest blow for me (along with GPS on certain models), as I had plans for some augmented reality geo-location apps."

"I think the iPad would get more of a gold rush if existing iPhone apps didn't already work on it, as there would be a rush to make iPad versions of popular iPhone games. Until they add a camera I think there will be a lack of non-game apps that are iPad-specific, and any for just the iPad are most likely going to be existing iPhone apps but reformatted to display more data."

Does the iPad present any problems you can foresee?

"The main problems are a lack of camera and background processes. If I want to have a video conference I still need my laptop. If I want to answer an email whilst listening to Spotify, I can't.

"This is somewhat excusable on a mobile phone, but seems a strange omission for a larger product. I'm sure this will be sorted with iPhone OS 4.0, but for now it's a big problem. Lack of non-US tethering deals and iBooks being US-only are a problem also."

Any future predictions for Apples new product?

"Like the original iPhone, the iPad is a device that will sell well despite missing key functionalities. The majority of issues are things that will be sorted out through software (iBooks internationally, tethering deals, background processes) but the lack of either a forward or self facing camera is something only a hardware update will resolve. I think there is huge potential for this device, and I will certainly be getting one, but I think it'll be a software update and a hardware revision before it becomes mainstream and genuinely revolutionary."

It'll be interesting to see if and how the iPad affects proceedings in the various professional sectors such as health, communication, publishing and education.

Schoolteacher and Joypod co-presenter Michael Fox gave us his opinion as to how the iPad will help him in the workplace.

He said: "I didn't get to watch the keynote live, so was relying on Twitter to keep me up to date. As the whole twitterverse was going iPadLOL, I wanted to reserve judgement until I'd actually seen the thing.

"They had a report on the news a short while after showing it, and I have to say the first thing I thought was that it's something else entirely - not a netbook, not an overgrown iPhone, but something new. I'm not an Apple fanboy by any means, but I can appreciate that they're trying to do something different. And if that something different is making a piece of technology that wouldn't look out of place on Star Trek, then so be it!"

Do you think the iPad will provide any benefits in the workplace?

"Definitely. As a teacher being able to call up information on the interactive whiteboard is incredibly useful. A device such as an iPad would be as good to use, if not more. No keyboard means the children who still fear computers (and there are some) have a new way of working with technology that doesn't involve button pressing.

"If you're asked a question or one of the kids wants to know what something looked like, you can pull it up on the iPad and pass it round the room. We already have a batch of eeePCs that we use in class, so Apple's new machine simply seems a logical extension of that."

"I would certainly like to get one. Two in fact, so my wife can have one as well and not steal mine. Until we know the pricing here in the UK though, I'm still a bit worried. If Apple do the traditional £=$ thing I'll be waiting and I'll just grab one in the USA in the summer - assuming the exchange rate holds up, I could get a 16GB wi-fi version for about £300-350. If it's well priced here though, I'll be there on launch day."

Apple are planning to release the iPad this spring.