Apple disappointed the world today with its terribly named new product the iPad. With all the hype surrounding it and Apple promising that it will bring some revolutionary ways of interaction, I was expecting some Project Natal-like tech to be used in controlling this thing. But we were graced with an oversized iPod Touch and I don’t see crowds forming outside the Apple Stores nationwide for this thing. And no, I won’t tell any iPad tampon jokes since the web has exploded with them! However, I do want to touch upon an observation I made about the iPad. It’s taken me all day since its unveiling to put this to words cause it’s a bit of an abstract idea but I’ll do my best (hell, I even dictated my thoughts and recorded them to my iPhone in order to piece them all together!).

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater of the iPad. It’s just not something I’d go get and not something “magical and revolutionary” as Steve Jobs proclaimed. It does however shed some light on a potential gaming revolution that could be on the horizon. Now no gamer is gonna go snag one of these because it’s a gaming machine. But one cannot help but to think of the door that this device has opened for the industry. Imagine the next generation handheld gaming devices. What do you envision?

What if Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft jumped onto the iPad concept and took it to a whole new level when it comes to gaming. Imagine a Microsoft iPad-esque product that has a front Natal camera. Just set the device on your lap and use your hands as guns or a steerig wheel and see the results in front of you. Imagine using gestures to go between screens, similar to Minority Report or Gamer. Juice up a thing like this with the appropriate hardware and you can be looking at a whole new gaming experience. Imagine bringing the device home only to transfer what’s happening on it’s screen to your console/TV in real time!

Apple’s focus with the iPad isn’t gaming but it does help provide inspiration and innovation into what the next generation of handheld gaming devices could be like. Sort of how mini-PCs were ahead of their time yet provided the groundwork for netbooks, the Apple iPad could be laying the groundwork for the PSP 3 or the DSi 2.

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Continuing my tradition to watch all Star Trek series (in reverse chronological order) I just finished Deep Space 9 from start to finish. Aside from it being Babylon 5 in the Star Trek universe, tarnished with an overly-dramatic lead actor, and having every damn episode be some parallel to a historical event from Earth’s history, it wasn’t that bad of a show. I think all the actors fit the role perfectly except Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko. He would have made an awesome Sisko if he wasn’t so overly theatrical in his actions and dialogue. Every time he was on screen it was as if he was at a stage rehearsal. The way he emphasized words, the way he lifted his hand by his face and clasped three fingers together as if to emphasize a point (sort of like an upside down “mama mia” gesture)…it was all so fake. It was the most unnatural piece of acting I’ve ever seen. I have nothing against the guy, but his performance in the role was equivalent to the performance of a high school theater student.

Anyway, I think the following clip sums up the entire show. It is of Gul Dukat (who by the way was probably the best character and best performed character in the whole show. Marc Alaimo was absolutely phenomenal) doing a rant from the season 6 episode “Waltz.” Can you guess which famous historical character he is portraying?

At the very least I can say that I grew to love all characters in the show. The crew did a good job developing them (with the exception of Bashir. Midway through the series they go, “Oh, guess what, you’re genetically enhanced”) but Alexander Siddig did a good job staying true to the character all the way through. Special kudos to Armin Shimmerman for redefining the entire Ferengi race and society with his performance as Quark. Aside from that, it was a warm and fuzzy show that was loosely hashed together but set forth the future of the Trek universe with the whole Dominion/Cardassian war.