Michael Hiltzik: Steve Jobs rides a wave....

...of media adoration yet again.

Is it my imagination, or did Apple just make the weakest case for a major new product in years?

As my column for Thursday observes, one could detect the disappointment of the crowd at Wednesday's iPad launch while the event was still going on. Hours after it ended, whatever enthusiasm existed in the tech/consumer press seemed to be rooted as much in the writers' disinclination to admit they had been taken in by the pre-launch hype as by any genuine affection for the new device.

Here's what one can say in the iPad's favor: When it reaches stores in two months, it will plainly be the best eBook reader on the market. Is there a case to be made for the Kindle or any other reader based on E Ink's grayscale display? I can't tink of one, unless those readers are available at a much lower price point than the roughly $500 asked for both the iPad and Kindle. (Sony's Reader line tops out at about $300.)

As for the rest of the iPad's capabilities, at this moment they seem appealing but not compelling. Jobs made much of being able to buy movie tickets from Fandango by touchscreen, but what's it worth to be able to do that rather than by mouse on my netbook (price: $380)? And since the most capacious first-generation iPad will have only 64 gigabytes, that means that when I travel with an iPad, I'll still have to bring along my iPod. And to get any serious work done, I'll also have to bring along my, um, computer. And my cellphone. I thought the great idea of Apple technology was to simplfy my life.

By the way, just because Jobs calls the iPad revolutionary, that doesn't mean Apple has revolutionized its commercial approach. What many iPad owners will consider the minimum accessorizing will be priced, shall we say, aggressively and a la carte: Reports have it that the separate keyboard displayed at Wednesday's demo will cost $70, the dock allowing the iPad to stand up so you can read while you type will be $30, and the case $40.

The column starts below.

Only Steve Jobs could make anticlimax seem so fascinating.

After the Apple chairman CEO unveiled his company?s most fervently anticipated new product at an invitation-only press media event Wednesday, most of the anticipation was left in the bottle.

Despite months of hype heralding an entirely novel kind of electronic device, the reality was underwhelming. The iPad resembles a scaled-up iPhone ? without the phone. It?s an iPod too big to fit in your pocket yet too small in capacity to hold your entire music collection, with a Web browser featuring excellent graphics but tied to a data network (AT&T?s) so slow and spotty that its announcement drew groans from people in the audience. Like the iPhone, it?s a closed system, meaning that you can?t use it to run an application that hasn?t been approved by Apple.

Read the whole column.

-- Michael Hiltzik