I posted yesterday about my first week with my new iPad 3G. There is one feature I like a lot that I didn’t talk about yesterday because I believe it deserves it’s own post.

Of all the features the iPad has that make it compelling this one feature is revolutionary and is a game changer. It’s the iPad’s “instant-on” function.

“Instant-on” computing has been the Holy Grail of computing for awhile. The slow, cumbersome boot up process has been a hated part of the computing experience since the very first day. My computer stays “on” for days, sometimes weeks at a time, because I don’t want to go through the boot up process. Having a computing device as functional as the iPad that turns on and off like a light switch is revolutionary.

In all the iPad hype I think this feature has been under appreciated. The ability to turn your computer on and off instantly brings an entirely new level of experience to computing.

As I said, I leave my computer on just so I don’t have to boot it up when I want to use it. My wife is the same way. We use sleep all the time. Booting up is a huge inconvenience for our always on, instant access world.

Not only is it convenient, I have to believe it’s Eco-friendly. If just half of all the computer users in the world are like my wife and I, that is a lot of wasted energy from being in constant sleep mode and rarely being turned off.

I’m already noticing the difference and the convenience. My brain is slowly being trained to expect to have “instant-on” computing. I suspect, I won’t be the only one.

This is a big deal for the computing experience even if few are talking about it. More will talk about it soon, because now almost a million people are experiencing the beauty of instant on and there is no going back!