Why the iPad Is So Revolutionary

CUPERTINO, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Most of the iPad reactions I've read have been negative, but I have been completely satisfied with what Apple(AAPL) announced.

iPad is exactly the product I've been wishing for ever since I wrapped my mind around the iPhone and its constraints. Although the rumor mill was churning with all kinds of crazy possibilities for the Apple tablet, I mostly rolled my eyes, because I felt strongly that all Apple needed to do to revolutionize computing was simply to make an iPhone with a large screen.

Anyone who feels underwhelmed by that doesn't understand how much of the iPhone's operating system's potential is still untapped.

I spent a year and a half attempting to reduce a massive, complex social networking Web site into a handheld, touch-screen form factor. My initial goal was just to make a mobile companion for the Facebook mothership, but once I got comfortable with the platform I became convinced it was possible to create a version of Facebook that was actually better than the Web site!

Of all the platforms I've developed on in my career, from the desktop to the Web, iPhone's OS gave me the greatest sense of empowerment, and had the highest ceiling for raising the art of user-interface design. Except there was one thing keeping me from reaching that ceiling: The screen was too small.

At some point I came to the conclusion that Facebook on the iPhone OS could not truly exceed the Web site until I could adapt it to a screen size closer to a laptop. It needed to support more than one column of information at a time. I couldn't fit enough tools on the screen to support any kind of advanced creative work. Photos were too small to show off to my farsighted parents. The Web required too much panning and zooming to enjoy reading.

Beyond Facebook, most of the apps I used most on my iPhone -- such as Google(GOOG) Reader, Instapaper and all image, video, and text-editing tools -- also suffered from these limitations.

The bottom line is that many apps which were cute toys on iPhone can become full-featured power tools on the iPad, making you forget about their desktop/laptop predecessors. We just have to invent them.