Last Saturday, a man in brown from UPS came to my door with an Apple iPad. On Sunday, Twitter brought adoring sighs from people who had also bought one. On Monday, the internet delivered a backlash.

Things move faster these days. We have already been through several news cycles on the pros and cons of what Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder, calls “a magical and revolutionary product” and the device is not even for sale outside the US yet.

Many companies – from newspapers to book publishers and broadcasting networks – are keen on the iPad because they think it offers a chance to sell a professional product in a controlled setting. They hope for an alternative to giving away content on the internet, hoping forlornly for advertisements (or something) to save them.