I did an actual head count of 225 by 8:30, including a Poor Saps (who hoped to get an iPad without a reservation) Line of more than 100. Apple told me more than 700 Pads had been reserved at U Village, and by the time doors opened there were about half that waiting. The line didn’t quit once doors opened, and at 10 a.m. there were still more than 300 folks waiting.

When you got to the door an Applette took your name and checked your reservation, then handed you off to your personal Apple dude, who helpfully guided you to the accessories shelves, where I got a cover with flap that doubles as an upright iPad stand. Very nice, especially for typing. Then he took my cc number and we chatted a bit — no hurry which was great — and I was on my own. I hung around a bit shooting video and soaking up the vibe, then headed on my bike for Herkimer in the U District and a wi-fi connection.

Funny scene. Of course the minute I get the Pad box out I’ve got a crowd around me. “Ladies and gentlemen,” one guy announces, “there’s an iPad in the house!!!” So I have to hurry thru the reg procedure (done via iTunes) and then pass the thing around. “I could just run off with this thing,” one guy joked. “Yeah and you’d have 10 guys on your tail!” another said.

There was so much commotion the head waitress called out from behind the counter, “I’m sorry sir, you’re going to have to leave.” Everyone was getting into the spirit.

Then to my astonishment up walks Jeff Reifman, the guy who broke the Microsoft tax dodge story and continues great journalism on his blog in pursuit of the Redmond tax cheat. “Now I know why you didn’t answer my emails!” he jokes. Of course he wants to play with the thing too (Jeff’s a Mac ace who’s getting his Pad delivered later today). So we chat awhile, he shows me his newspaper app for Facebook which really rocks, and we agree to get together soon.

Then my iPhone rings and it’s my wife Cecile asking where I am. When I tell her she says “Can you PLEASE come home now? I want to see it!!!”

So my dreaded “spousal elective” scenario starts forming whereby Cecile loves the Pad so much she “appropriates” it. This is what happened with the iPhone. She liked it so much I had to get another one for myself.

Not to be scammed once again, my plan is simply to let her use it all she wants and then get the 3G for myself. At the end of the month when they become available. After standing in line another 2 hours. Aaaaaaarrrggghhhh!! I love it!!

UPDATE: After I arrived home I saw the UPS truck delivering iPads in the hood. “It’s fun,” the driver said, “I can hear people literally running to the door when I ring.”

He said UPS delivered crateloads of iPads to the U Village store earlier that morning. “The one you got was probably hot off the plane,” he said. I hope not. Even for a company as precise as Apple, that’s cutting things a bit close.

Bigger than it looks in photos. That’s actually good. I was worried it would be too small.

Grip surface is matte with fairly good purchase, better than naked iPhone anyway. One clever touch: The Apple logo on back is grippy. Makes a nice anchor for your hand holding onto the iPad. Whoever thought of this deserves a bonus!

Keypad is not quite touch-typeable right out of the box anyway. Maybe I’ll adapt once I’m more familiar with it but the touch keys added to the flatness of the screen make it a bit tricky. I’m moving along fairly well hunting pecking but would prefer touch type of course.

Comes 90 Percent charged out of box, that’s good.

Performance is fast so far but it’s early in the game and I haven’t tried YouTube yet.

The main keyboard lacks a colon. I’d rather have the colon than, say, the exclamation point, yes I would!!! Wait I take it back!

I’ve been writing about this device for years, particularly after net books began catching on. Finally something for folks like me who want the net book functionality but not the cheap junk that netbooks are. [Note in above link how Jobs used to say Apple couldn't build a netbook that wasn't "a piece of junk for under $500." The iPad's starting price: $499.]

I particularly think the iPad is well suited for mobile blogging. I’ve long wanted something I could slip in and out of my backpack and was light enough not to matter. So far this is the real deal! (There’s that exclamation point again!)

I was worried I’d be disappointed by something right away but no gotchas yet. More later!

Slim and weighs next to nothing

As a blogger and cyclist, we’ve been waiting a long time for this. Our MacBook is just a little too big and bulky to be comfortable in our Chrome Ivan, even if there is a separate waterproof compartment for it, and even if that’s what we’ve been doing the past few years. Our iPhone on the other hand is too small to type anything but tweets on.

The iPad has what looks to be a roomy touch keyboard built in. We’ll see how we like it. But the clincher is a dock with a full-size keyboard.

Combined with all the other stuff going on, including all those apps, this is what we’ve been dreaming of…and more.