Since the announcement of the iPad 2, I have been wondering about the smart covers. How well they work in real life use, how the magnets affect everyday usage and storage and if it was even worth it. With the reviews now coming in, it seems most people are not really covering the smart covers (yes it's just an accessory) in-depth but just calling it a good looking screen cleaner with the ability to hold up the ipad. The only person who actually talks about using it in real life situations is Walt Mossberg who says:

Unfortunately, I found the cover’s magnetic latch came open in my briefcase, turning the screen on and wasting the battery.

That is the kind of information that matters for such an accessory design. Using magnets is not something that will stay in place in a bag with things moving around a lot and I can see the above being a common trend with most people who carry a bag packed with lots of things everyday. Will they attract other metal in the bag (I am surprised no one has tried using it to pick up pins or something) so that when pulled out you need to first extract that pin that you couldn't find at the bottom of your bag? These are things I am curious about.

I have mentioned before that I fear putting magnets near magnetic hard drives is not a good idea, albeit the magnets would need to be relatively strong to cause major damage. Remember though that these iPads will be in bags with laptops, credit cards and other things that might get affected by magnets. It seems David Pogue's son has the same fears as me:

“But Dad,” my 6-year-old son pointed out, “you’re supposed to keep magnets away from electronics!”... “I know,” I replied sagely. “But this is Apple.”

Yes it is Apple and with the launch tomorrow, we will see just how successful the smart covers will really be with everyday consumers. My guess is they will sell out along with the device but hopefully won't spurn the same problems as antennagate.