Apple iPad Proves Most Hilarious Gadget of the Century

What does it mean that the Apple iPad seems to have resulted in an unusual amount of humor, much of it fueled by social media, just in the five days since it launched? Is this a sign of iPad apocalypse? Or just another signpost in the continued evolution of media from something driven by top-down messaging (the kind that Apple has has always excelled in), to something in which all voices, including some very funny ones, weigh in?

Whatever the case, we certainly didn't see this amount of lampooning when the iPod launched, or for that matter, when the Kindle did either. Here then, for your viewing and reading pleasure, this week in iPad humor:

From The Onion: Frantic Steve Jobs Stays Up All Night Designing Apple Tablet. This story proved so popular that the phrase "Frantic Steve Jobs" was a trending topic on Twitter right before the launch.

From TechCrunch, a chart comparing the features of the Apple iPad to a rock. In most categories, the rock does fairly well. [Picture by Phil Santoro of DivisionCore via Techcrunch]

Here's what you might call "green" iPad humor, a parody MadTV commercial that got widely recycled this past week, touting a new Apple feminine hygiene product, called, of course, the iPad.

The College Humor gang talks about the IPad as a revolution -- in comic possibility. As one writer says: "It's almost like the iPad has a big 'kick me' sign on its back. Quite simply this little retard TV is going to change the way, we make fun of Apple" (UPDATE: College Humor has now blocked the YouTube clip below, here's a link to it on collegehumor.com.):

And finally, Pee Wee Herman plays with his new gift from Steve Jobs, courtesy of Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die":