text: The iPad is breaking out in a very mainstream fashion: An ad for the Apple device just aired during the Oscars. 
   
   The ad explains why Apple CEO Steve Jobs was spotted on the red carpet earlier. We've got a screenshot and we'll post video as soon as it comes in (update: video added below). 
   
   Apple iPad Commercial During the Oscars 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Steve Jobs on the Oscars Red Carpet 
   
   [img credit: TheFullM0nty 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   [img credit: Wayne Sutton ||||| iPad ad debuts during 2010 Oscars 
   
   
   
   
   
   BY MARK W. SMITH 
   
   FREE PRESS WEB EDITOR 
   
   Apple debuted its new iPad commercial during last night's 2010 Academy Awards telecast, sparking immediate buzz on Twitter and leading tech blogs. 
   
   The iPad ad isn't a departure from Apple's established creative style and doesn't show off any features we haven't already seen. 
   
   You have to wonder if the computer maker has some more tricks up its sleeve as the iPad's April 3 release nears. 
   
   Tech blog Mashable posted a picture from earlier in the evening showing Apple CEO Steve Jobs on the red carpet Sunday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. 
   
   Jobs is a board member at Walt Disney, which owns Pixar -- the studio that produced last night's animation Oscar-winner "Up." 
   
   What do you think of the commercial? Will you be getting an iPad? 
   
   Contact MARK W. SMITH: msmith@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @markdubya or follow a feed of blog updates at @browserblog.
target: – The Apple iPad made its television debut last night with a 30-second commercial on the Academy Awards telecast, which you can view above. The keen eyes at Mashable caught CEO Steve Jobs on the red carpet, and the spot "explains" why he was there. Alternatively, the Detroit Free Press reports, the Disney board member could merely have been supporting subsidiary Pixar's Up, a best picture nominee.