I can feel it already – the compelling urge to put my credit card down for a new Apple iPad. My name is on the email list.

I share that urge with 75 million other people who are hooked on the Touch experience. Apple sent me an email invitation to put my name on the list and why not eh?

Touch users have already voted with their wallets 75 million times plus more than a billion times for downloads.

It’s easy, fun and fast. You can feel those two fingers on the screen, flipping phone numbers, sending messages and picking music.

It doesn’t matter to “Touch” users if the iPad is perfect – it’s bigger than an iTouch and has the same on-line all-the-time usefulness of the iPhone 3Gs – Wi-Fi and 3G.

There are six models compared with 5 in the Touch/iPhone series. They start with a basic Wi-Fi 16 GB iPad for $499. That will be the entry level choice for many people.  There aren’t enough Wi-Fi hot spots so 3G is really the way to go. The essential 3G feature costs $130 plus $15 to $30 a month for 3G access.

The home run king is the $829 model with 64 GB, Wi-Fi and 3G. It will hold more movies, songs and books plus be online almost everywhere.  I still remember the trip to Toronto writing stories and posting them from my iPhone 3Gs in the car – while someone else drove of course.

Depending on their budget and experience with iTouch/iPhone people can pick from the combination they want or can convince themselves they need.

According to a several online surveys, people are choosing the entry level $499 or $829. If you are going to use the iPad for movies and music, you’ll want the best and most expensive model.

Why not. It will have the perfect Apple caché of being snobby and useful all at once. The correct accessory for surfing at Starbucks or Baba’s Lounge.

This is a big part of the Apple market positioning: people who use Apple products are the elite. Nothing will reinforce that message more this year than walking around with an iPad, although it will be more ostentatious than whipping out an iPhone 3Gs.

When the iPhone arrived, it was the wrong time in my 3 year cell phone contract so the mood passed. Besides I had no direct experience with touching a screen to use a computer.

Three months after the iTouch shipped, I bought one on whim. The strangeness with touching a screen to play on the computer evaporated in minutes. Everything became touch and visual.  Soon I deleted all the music from my library that didn’t have CD covers. Picking music based on words didn’t feel like the “Touch” experience.

I jumped to buy iPhone 3Gs the week they arrived in the store. I didn’t even plan to get one but it seemed like the right thing to do.