The iPad has been hailed as many things - savior of publishing, transformative device between iPhone and laptop, useless toy. Now that it has been released into the world and anticipation is now reality, it's time for some answers.

On the day of its release, we sat down with a handful of really smart people to see what they thought of the device. Their first impressions below.

There was a tremendous amount of hype for the iPad and that worked both for and against it, as discussed below.

Not every device is perfect and the iPad is missing a few key elements.

Perhaps the best way to judge any new device is by what the gaming experience is like. Charles Foreman of OmgPop.com breaks it down.

Featuring: Dan Frommer (the Business Insider), Charles Foreman (OmgPop), Seth Porges (Popular Mechanics), Nicholas Carlson (the Business Insider), John Biggs (Crunchgear), Ray Wert (Jalopnik), Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo), Elaine Moran (Gawker.TV)

Shot by Kirk Larsen

Edited by Matt Toder