I'm a bad person, I admit it. I'm going to visit Mom this Easter weekend. But there's a part of me that wants to stay in town, pick up my iPad (which I pre-ordered) at the local Apple Store, and play with it.

Evidently, I'm not the only want wishing to spend Easter with an iPad. Although predictions of early sales are all over the place, I suspect the number of units shipped will exceed expectations.

One techie says the obvious interest in the iPad shows the growth of the tablet market.
Mark Holleran, president of Xplore Technologies (http://www.xploretech.com), which makes tablet PCs, sees the launch of Apple’s iPad as an indication that the tablet PC industry is poised for wider acceptance and accelerated growth.

“With Apple and other consumer PC companies embracing the tablet format, I think the potential demand for a full-size mobile computer, with more interactive capabilities than a keyboard can deliver, will continue to expand in the years to come," he says.

Actually, I think the iPad shows more of an acceptance of Apple and the device itself than the tablet PC market. In fact, I think the iPad will kill off more than a few tablet PCs, as well as netbooks.

As for me, maybe I could go down to see Mom after I've picked up, charged and stocked my iPad with apps. And bought the iPad version of Pages.

Or maybe I could come back early Sunday.

Like I said, I'm a bad person.

-- Dennis Sellers