I seem to have a bit of a problem sometimes with Apple keynotes. Apart from the high end pro kit I have a bit of a “meh” response at first and then a blinding epiphany which leads at some point to understanding why I’ll be buying and then often making things that work/run on them. The original iPod was a case in point. At some Apple shindig after the announcement there were Apple staff with shiny new bricks of musical joy asking if I wanted to play. I couldn’t see the point but 5 different ones and 2 iPhones later I wonder why I was so short sighted.

It took less time this time round and it is clear to me that the IPad is just what is needed in the digital inclusion space. When the Wii launched it revolutionised not just gaming, but who plays and who buys. The Nintendo DS is similar too. It’s gesture based interface with physical cause and effect made it simpler to learn to play and eased the on ramp.

The real world is all about gestures. We turn a page. We swish a piece of paper out of the way to see what is below. We press a button and the kettle boils. In none of these do I have to learn an arcane combination of buttons to press on an overburdened controller, nor do I have to learn that if I do something on a peripheral connected to the thing that something will happen.

The iPhone feels very natural. I tap and things happen. I swipe and things move. If I want to get fancy and I want to stretch something I tug at the corners and pull them as if they’re a piece of elastic. It’s child’s play. Literally.

I knew I was seeing something interesting when my son started working out what to do with Dad’s iPhone aged just about one. When he got cross with a screen in a museum which didn’t swipe it became very clear that these interfaces feel right. Sure he’s young and learning about cause and effect and that it’s different for older people, but the adoption of the Wii and DS in audiences outside of the core gamer market would point and say that gesture based interfaces are easier and more fun.

So onto inclusion. It’s complex. If you spend any time listening to Martha Lane Fox who is doing great work in this space you’ll get how complex it is, but how vital it is too. One of the largest excluded groups are pensioners who struggle to get online for many reasons social, economic and technical. If we just focus on the last one for a moment you’ll see where I’m going.

The first main problem they have technically is that computers look complex. They have lots of things you plug into other things. Every thing has an arcane name, very few of these names really relate to their function. Each of these things causes something to happen but not in an obvious touch the thing and something happens to it way. It’s always at one removed. When you add in connecting the overarching thing to the internet then it becomes an activity of worry and confusion. My own septugenarian parents are now digitally included, but it’s been quite a journey and still is. Often I have to talk them through menus and dialogue boxes over the phone and I’m glad they have a local computer shop who play a great part in helping them to be not just included but really engaged online. Compare and contrast to how quickly they get the Nintendo DS and you’ll see that even all-in-one computes like the iMac and eMac that they have are really not all-in-one or easy. They’re just a bit easier. Sure they could have a laptop which would be all in one, but even that isn’t as intuitive as a well designed tablet OS and UI.

Then you look at the iPhone and iPad. It really is all-in-one. Sure it lacks USB ports, but actually lots of people don’t need them to much. It comes with a mechanism of internet access built in and the 3G one is essentially a “charge it up and play” inclusion device. It’s fairly cheap too. Not much more than a netbook which would be much more of a drain on mentoring resources to get people up and running. Sure you can tell me that you’re not equipping people with workplace digital skills with these things, but that’s not the issue in a lot of the inclusion agenda. It’s getting people access to services that will make a difference to their lives. Services that socially engage them, that bring them savings, that bring them government and local services.

It has another advantage over an all in one computer for this generation, or a set top box like BBC Canvas. You can sit anywhere and use it and bring it as close to you and almost as far away as you need (although you may need glasses). You don’t have to sit at a desk when you have a comfortable and possibly orthopedic chair. If you’re bedridden you could possibly use it. There’s no trying to squint at a TV which you’d have to do with a Canvas like box. I’m lucky enough to have a reasonable sized TV at home connected to a MacMini, it’s still an awful experience of browsing. This isn’t what you want people’s first experiences of the internet to be, they’ll stay excluded and the box will sit in the corner of their room hemorrhaging value. Their first experience should be fun and immediate and intuitive and personal. There is in my mind nothing more personal than holding the device and touching the device that brings you services, it will seem more like magic and less like a struggle.

Many people will criticise the iPad for being a walled garden, but it has the open internet so for developers that’s not so much of an issue. In my opinion, and this is the only time you’re likely to hear me say this, a walled garden may be an advantage in the inclusion space. The apps that people can download have gone through some form of approval process. It’s a combination of hardware and software from the same provider so there is more chance of it working with less configuration issues which will impede smooth access. Also iPhone apps tend to be a lot simpler with less menus than apps on desktop machines, this will reduce the workload of either family or institutional mentors and helpdesks.

The other thing about it is that it does the things simply that lots of the excluded would love to do. Internet browsing, pictures of grandchildren, delivery of services, delivery of content. All too often inclusion programmes seem to go straight for the endgame. Getting people skilled up to organise their interaction with government online. That’s important, but maybe we should get people doing the stuff which will bring emotional, social and connectedness value first. They’ll then get engaged and will enjoy it and will have learnt core skills for when you want them to do the harder stuff like filling out forms and engaging with government.

Sure it’s not a complete panacea and it won’t be for everyone, but I’d love to see a trial. The government could even eventually become a mobile network operator or virtual mobile network operator to ensure secure access (I’d worry about man in the middle attacks on municipal WiFi on people who were vulnerable and not skilled enough to notice it). It would also be a good way of making sure that the device just works from the moment it comes out of the box and is handed to the individual. If you have problems with 3G signals in certain areas these could quite easily be fixed with femtocells.

In my opinion the iPad could have so much more of an impact in this space than the one all of the media outlets seem to be looking at. The hype about it saving the media industry and the newspaper industry feels a bit like straw clutching by an industry that’s doing too much hand wringing and looking for a magic bullet to appear from someone else. As my colleague at The Guardian Matt Wall pointed out this morning.

First day in the Brave New World. So far the iPad hasn’t saved the newspaper industry. Guess we’ll have to do it ourselves.

It may not be a Jesus phone, a Moses tablet or something that lives up to hype and hyperbole, but if it does something for the digital inclusion agenda it might live up to Steve Jobs saying it’s the most important thing he’s ever done.