That new iPad calls for some seriously deep ipockets

While it remains to be seen whether Apple's new iPad tablet will ultimately change the publishing business the way the iPod has changed the landscape of the music industry, the fact that it's essentially an outsize iTouch (which itself is basically an iPhone sans the phone), brings a more immediate and pressing question to light, where, exactly, do you stick it?

I mean, technically speaking it's portable (but then again, so's a bone-in ham). But where, are you going to stash that 71.4-square-inch, pound-and-a half gleaming slab of multimedia ambrosia when it's time to put down your e-version of "Catcher in the Rye" and catch your commuter flight straight home to Nerdvana?

Not to worry. It seems the folks at Scottevest, maker of those 22-pocket travel vests you've seen advertised in the Sky Mall catalogs, have been on the case, and shortly after Steve Jobs announced the tablet and its specifications were revealed, the Sun Valley, Idaho, company threw the above graphic up on its website.

But it didn't require any heavy lifting, says Scottevest's founder and Chief Executive Scott Jordan. It turns out the roomy "PubPocket" (No. 19 of the 22 pockets), originally envisioned as a cargo hold for newspapers, magazines and maps, will easily icommodate the iPad.

"We were keeping a close eye on the dimensions," Jordan told me earlier today. "And that pocket was designed to fit a legal pad which is 8 1/2 by 11 3/4 [inches]." (The iPad specifications have it clocking in at 9.56 by 7.47 inches). "And as soon as Jobs' announcement was over, we started getting phone calls and e-mails. Our new graphic was up about an hour later."

Though iPad won't actually meet iPocket until the device is actually released in late March*, Jordan, who says he's stowed his own netbook computer in one of those selfsame pockets, is confident Apple's newest gizmo will be a good fit -- as long as you order a size medium or larger jacket or vest. "A Kindle fits in there perfectly, and that's probably the closet kind of device to what we're talking about with the iPad."

And since you don't need to wait until March, you can order one now (vests run $100, jackets $175 to $250). Which might not be a bad idea since navigating the confines of the neighborhood Starbucks with a pound and a half of technology tucked over your tummy -- no matter how efficiently secreted -- is bound to make you walk a little funny.

I don't know what the inevitably awkward gait will look like, but I sure know what I'm going to call it.

That's right: the iPad shuffle.

[*Updated: In an earlier version of this post, I said the Apple iPad was scheduled for release "next month." The first models are reported to be due out in late March, 3G-networked models a month later.]

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Within an hour of Steve Jobs' unveiling of the new iPad tablet, Scottevest had this graphic on its website along with a tagline touting it as "the first & only clothing line with a pocket for the iPad." The company's CEO said the pocket, originally designed to stow things like magazines, newspapers and maps, can easily accommodate a device with the specs of the newly announced Apple gizmo. Credit: Courtesy of Scottevest.

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Comments

[Nick]

I'd like to note that it may still fit in a small size in some of the jackets, as I can fit a Kindle into the pocket in my small soft shell jacket!

[SUBHAYAN GHOSH]

AS A TECHNICAL STUDENT I WANT TO SAY THAT THIS MAY BE VERY USEFULL FOR US.IT'S A NEW CONCEPT FOR TEACHING & LEARNING WITH TECHNICAL DEVICE INSTEAD OF COMPUTER.BUT IN INDIA NEAR ABOUT 9 YEARS BEFORE WE DISCOVERED A TECHNOLOGY CALLED SIMPUTER ,I THINK IPAD & SIMPUTER IS NEARLY MADE FOR SAME PURPOSE.

[Jill]

The device will NOT be released "next month".

It's 60-90 days.

(I bet it will be delay a bit farther, also.)

[leigha thome]

i think it it is way to big and and i would rather have a iphone

[greg]

The title should be "That new iPad calls for some serious iDiots".
Why do people keep on buying every piece of expensive garbage apple cough up?

[lwps]

That's weird. I thought Apple never announced things before they were ready. You have to wait 3 months to order it? This stinks.

[Levinson and Axelrod]

I agree. There's plenty of uses for this. Didn't you ever wish your phone's screen was bigger so you could show off a cool YouTube vid?