With hours to go until the iPad hits stores, the big question on my mind is: Will women buy it?

The iPad initially elicited giggles and mockery from women (see the NYT’s story and Fast Company’s story). The catchy but brand damaging term “iTampon” trended on twitter soon after the Apple announcement.

This is no trivial issue for Apple. According to She-conomy, 85 percent of all brand purchases are made by women. In a survey conducted by Retrevo.com, only 7 percent of female respondents said they would buy an iPad.  Unfortunately for Apple, that data sounds consistent with the many female technophiles I’ve heard from. For several reasons, when asked about the much-hyped gadget, many women are keeping a tight grip on their purse strings and just saying “no.” Here’s why:

Functionality

Most female technophiles agree that when it comes to gadgets, women look for tools that will improve their lives by increasing their productivity or saving them time. “I don’t think the iPad does that,” writes Nelly Yusupova, of DigitalWoman via Twitter. “iPad is a beautiful piece of engineering but really it is just a bright, shiny, new gadget to look at and say ohhhh!”

Other women lament the gadgets lack of functionality for their working lives as well.