iPad includes hyberbole generator, first reviews show

The first iPads reviews are up, pushing reviewers to their very limits in the search for superlatives worthy of the sublime magnificence bestowed upon them.

How fortunate we are to live in an age when we can have a device that's "instantly compelling and elegant" and "better than expected", not to mention "designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists". So, not just a big iPod Touch then. It's something much more exciting, as demonstrated by none other than Stephen Fry as he unpacks his very own:

Searching the reviews one struggles to find a single negative thought, though Walt Mossberg (WSJ) reports slight annoyance with a browser that lacks tabs and an email program that doesn't allow local folders. This would be less of an issue if there were third-party applications to fill the gap, but Apple will no doubt add the missing functions when it decides we need them.

We can't tell you what we think of the iPad, as our early review model seems to have been lost in the post, so we'll leave you with BoingBoing's particularly effusive commentary, which doesn't limit itself to what the iPad can do but extends the paradigm by reviewing what it will be able to do:

"The most exciting thing about iPad is the apps that aren't here yet. The book-film-game hybrid someone will bust out in a year, redefining the experience of each, and suggesting some new nouns and verbs in the process." ®