The tech world and even the popular culture world are abuzz with the imminent arrival of the iPad. We’re starting to see iPad apps popping up on iTunes, and the tech blogs are rich with screenshots and descriptions of these apps (see Mashable and Engadget to see what I mean).

I’ve been a fan of the iPhone for some time, and it’s hard not to see Apple’s newest product as just an enlarged version of it. The interface and the way one interacts with it are nearly identical on both products. The large majority of the apps I’ve seen thus far for the iPad look like nothing more than enlarged versions of existing iPhone apps, perhaps with a few added bells and whistles. A lot of games are easier to play on the larger interface, but nothing to really stir the soul.

I do see a lot of potential in the iPad as an e-reader though, and I’m a little disappointed to see this capability lost in the midst of all the iPad app buzz. I love the natural touch page-turning capability as well as the ability to read in vertical or landscape mode. I think it could be a great improvement over the Kindle and other existing e-readers whose interfaces I never really liked. Turning and reading pages by manipulating buttons is just inherently not intuitive. The e-ink technology they use is nice, however, and I wonder how the iPad will fare in terms of eyestrain (iStrain?) with its backlit LED display.

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