Kobo E Reader App on Apple's iPad (Courtesy Wired.com)

Long has the tech echo-chamber spoken about how many years it’s taken for the smartphone competition to even begin to stand up to the iPhone– and for good reason– the iPhone revolutionized mobile computing. I’ll better that by saying that the iPhone completely turned mobile computing on its proverbial head.

The iPhone interface was intuitive and yet full of flare; the hardware was impressive yet power efficient enough to get things done, and the application base grew and grew and grew exponentially, spawning puny copies of the Apple app store all over the mobile computing world.

Enter the iPad.

Slim and trim. Apple's iPad doesn't waste a nanometer (courtesy Apple.com)

Apple’s iPad marketing video begins with industrial designer Jonathan Ive speculating that the average user will look at the thin and sleek tablet device, and then, upon seeing what it’s capable of, conclude that the iPad must be magical due to a lack of understanding of how the iPad could accomplish so many things.

The problem with all that is, well– we already know how it works. We’ve known since you released the iPhone in 2007, the device with all of the same hardware functionality of the iPad, and more features (text communication, the ability to make phone calls) in something close to a quarter of the size.

It’s not that the iPad doesn’t bring anything new to the computing world, quite the contrary, it’s just that it’s nothing revolutionary. It’s an intuitive step in the direction of making a small device with great content consumption potential, into one with a screen that’s easier on the eyes, and has the option to connect to a keyboard for easier data entry. It’s turning a handheld digital pad into a handheld digital clipboard, it’s the blockbuster Hollywood sequel: same character (iPhone OS) but bigger, stronger, faster, longer.

And that’s why there’s no magic here. There’s nothing new to the trick. Technology’s wow factor comes with smaller, not larger. And more importantly, the fact that the OS and interface of the device is so much like that of the iPhone means that companies like Google, HTC, and Motorola, which have just released their own application laden, multi-touch, Android-based smartphones like the Droid, Droid Eris and Nexus 1, are conceivably right on the heels of the iPad with their own similar devices.

The Android OS which the three previously mentioned devices run on is open source, which means that one doesn’t have to ‘jailbreak,’ hack, or crack anything in the operating system to add new functionality to the devices. In fact, Google’s Nexus 1 phone was released in the US without multi-touch built into the user interface, yet it only took a matter of weeks to implement the intuitive swipe-and-pinch gestures into the device.

If  HP were to create an update to their existing Windows 7 Tablet computer or Taiwanese-based HTC were to push a 10.1 inch tablet device to market by Q3 of 2010, there’s little chance that such copy cats would not be able to emulate much of the functionality of the iPad, and worse yet for Apple, appeal to all those who saw the iPad this afternoon, and thought that despite the attractive form factor, the device was missing something.

You see, the iPad might be considered by some to be seriously lacking the following components, all of which companies such as HTC of HP could easily implement in an Android or even Windows-based tablet devices.

• AVideo Camera for Skype video calls or video chats
• A USB port for external hardware communication or expansion
• An SDHC car slot for memory expansion
• An HDMI-out to share the HD content of the device with others via TV
• Multitasking to truly claim superior status as a Netbook or ultraportable computer replacement
• Flash support for the current web applications that rely heavily on Adobe’s multimedia web platform
• 3.5mm minijack mic, for high quality Voice Over IP calls
• A Bluetooth Antenna, so a user could wirelessly connect a headset or other device to the iPad

The good news for Apple is that even though the new kid from Cupertino isn’t groundbreaking in terms of the interface, the iPad is more than just a pretty slab of glass and aluminium. It’s new Book application supports ePub, the specification that Google has used to scan literally millions of books– classics that have lasted throughout the ages. Being supported by five of the six largest publishers (Hatchette, Harper, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon& Schuster), Apple’s iBook store also ensures that iPad users will be able to get their hands on the newest bestsellers as well.

Add to that the New York Times integration, the devices gaming potential, and the 3G service provided by partner AT&T, and the iPad clearly represents Apple’s ability to create and maintain successful relationships around its products that provide users copius amounts of content for consumption and powerful connectivity options.

The iPad amid all its myriad features (courtesy Apple.com)

HP’s got a tablet and can claim a history with touch-screen technology, while HTC’s become very adept at making capacitive touch screens– but do either of these companies have access to the latest NY Times best seller in the hottest electric format? It’s at those crossroads, that Apple’s found the Symbiotek.

***For more on the iPad, check out Symbiotek Episode 27 here.