We didn't get multitasking.

We didn't get a camera.

We didn't get gesture support, on-device or in the air.

We didn't get user profiles for each family member.

We didn't get facial recognition or fingerprint scanning.

We didn't get an OLED display, Verizon Wireless compatibility, solar charging or iPhone OS 4.0.

What we did get in the new Apple iPad, is a giant iPod touch with AT&T 3G connectivity, a 9.7-inch multitouch capacitive display and a 1GHz Apple processor. Is that enough?

One thing and one thing alone will drive iPad sales, and that is Apple's amazingly aggressive pricing. The 16GB iPad, which will undoubtedly be Apple's best-selling model, will be available in March for $499 -- half of the expected launch price.

The iPad doesn't replace any current device on the market. It can't run 'real' software like a laptop (or even a netbook, despite Steve Jobs' on-stage zinger) and it can't fit in a pocket like a smartphone. Despite the fantastic new iBooks app, the iPad can't cut it as an eBook reader either -- 10 hours of battery life is impressive, but it pales in comparison to the two-weeks of usage afforded by current digital readers.

Long story short, the iPad is a toy. It's a luxury item that can gobble up multimedia and look flashy in a briefcase or on a coffee table.

Discounting all of the lofty expectations set forth by the avalanche of rumors that lead up to today's iPad announcement however, we're looking at a $500 Apple product with the sex appeal of an Italian sports car. $500 for an Apple tablet? Young, gadget-hungry consumers will be crawling out of their seats come March.

Apple showed us very little today in terms of innovation. What the company did show us, however, is that it is attacking a new range of customers with aggressive pricing. The iPad won't sell as well as an iPod touch or even an iPhone, but it will sell.

Apple has an uncanny ability to wrap its products in a mystique no other company can touch. Sure, it has the products to back it up -- products that look amazing, have magnificent user interfaces and are built to the highest standards.

But are Apple's products revolutionary? In a way, yes.

Apple builds products that are often far more 'show' than 'go', but they have just enough 'go' to back up all that 'show'. Combine that with remarkable industrial designs, lightning fast software, a cult-like following that consistently turns the internet on its head, and the license to print money that is iTunes -- and you've got... well... a $50 billion empire that is now the largest mobile devices company in the world in terms of revenue.

The iPad might not recognize your face when you pick it up and it might not respond to hand gestures waving through the air in front of its display -- but it's a flashy, capable tablet computer with an Apple logo on the back. Cha-ching.

Contact Zach Epstein via email or follow @zacharye on Twitter