Using Attensity Analyze for VOC, part of Attensity's semantic analysis application suite, a total of 55,000 discussion-oriented messages, or "tweets," were pulled from Twitter and then analyzed. Twenty thousand tweets were pulled in the two hours prior to the Jan. 27 event; another 20,000 two hours post-announcement; and an additional 15,000 four days later.

Before the announcement, at least 50% of tweets expressed positive sentiment towards the iPad. That number jumped to 71% in the two hours following the announcement, with extremely negative sentiment disappearing to a statistically negligible one percent.

Four days later, positive sentiment still weighed supreme, at 69% -- good news for Apple. The five issues most commonly discussed in those positive tweets were the iPad's applications, screen quality and keyboard; its comparison to the iPhone; and its potential as an Amazon Kindleâ„¢ "killer."

For those people who disliked or even hated the iPad, the reasons most often expressed are related to its lack of support for Adobe Flash technology; lack of a camera; inability for the user to replace the battery himself; or that the person already has an iPhone or Kindle and thus views the iPad as redundant.

The analysis is described in more detail, with multiple pie charts, on Attensity's web site.