So after living in denial for longer than I expected, I finally caved and picked up an iPad (wifi only, 64gb — Rogers, my data provider, can eat [dirt] if they think I’m buying a second iDevice data plan). Anyhow, it’s really quite fantastic except for one notable and surprising thing: the App Store just completely sucks. It’s just awful — impossible to browse for anything, navigation is a joke, etc etc.

If you want to find apps, you basically have to rely on third party review sites. Here are three that I’m finding handy: App Shopper (great, everything), Touch Arcade (ok, just games), and 148 Apps (mediocre, everything).

We got the iPads on Thursday last week and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time trying new apps, games, etc etc. Here’s a quick list of stuff I love so far (all links go directly to iTunes, sorry).

Not Games

• Air Video ($2.99 but worth much, much more)
• Evernote (free)
• Dictionary.com/Thesaurus.com (free)
• Wikipanion (free)
• GoodReader ($0.99)
• Twitteriffic (free)
• Things ($19.99)
• Instapaper Pro ($4.99)
• Kindle (free)
• Stanza (new iPad version, free)
• Epicurious (free)
• Adobe Ideas (free)
• WordPress (free)

Games

• Dizzypad HD (free + not-free alternate game modes)
• Aurora Feint 3 (free: match-3-w/ rpg elements)
• Word Quest Plus ($4.99: wordsearch)
• Words With Friends HD ($2.99: Scrabble-alike w/ online play)
• Jumbline 2 ($2.99: word scramble game)
• NYT Crosswords (free)
• Amazon: Hidden Expedition ($4.99: hidden object)
• Bomb Master ($1.99: physics puzzler)
• Azkend HD ($4.99: match-3-ish sort of thing – free demo here)
• Orbital HD ($2.99: hard to describe)
• Backgammon NJ HD ($5.99, single-player only, very good)

Ok, that’s it for now. What iPad apps have you tried that you like and would recommend?

Updated to add Air Video.

So as pretty much everyone in the world knows, Apple announced the iPad yesterday. Unlike apparently everyone else, I actually don’t have a problem with the name. Legal pad, note pad, hockey pad, bachelor pad, launch pad…etc. etc. etc. Come on.

Anyhoo…while I’m crazily excited about the iPad (and I will be ordering one the second Apple lets me send them money), I don’t think it will be a Kindle killer for me. It could be for a lot of people, but the way I use my Kindle doesn’t really lend itself to immediate replacement by the iPad. It’s too big, for one, and too heavy. And the Kindle’s buttons are ideal — I often read my Kindle lying on my side (on the sofa or in bed) and the buttons are great. The iPad’s swipe-to-turn-the-page thing is just not going to work for that. As others have said, the LCD screen is a double-edged sword…while I desperately wish e-ink were more contrasty, I’m not sure I could spend more time staring at an LCD screen than I already do. I’m on my laptop or iMac 10-14 hours a day as it is — I use books and my Kindle as a way to rest my eyes, and the iPad won’t work for that either.

I also like that the Kindle is a single-purpose device. Like John, I’m able to read longer and more complex works on my Kindle than on my laptop, with a much better ability to focus. Reading on my laptop, I fall into the trap of responding to IM pings or just flipping over to check a quick email or jot down a note or quickly glance at my Twitterstream, at which point I get lost in the other distractions. The Kindle, on the other hand, is just for reading, a step away from the hurly burly of the internets and all the shenanigans therein. The iPad seems like it will split the difference — other apps will be available, but without background applications there won’t be IM pings and whatnot. I’m not sure what that will turn out to be like in practice.

We will see. I am going to get an iPad, and I am going to try reading some books on it. I’m very much hoping that Apple continues to allow Amazon to have their Kindle app on the iPhone and iPad because at that point they’ll have to compete on the price of content, and less expensive ebooks are something I’m Very Interested In. Once I’ve had a chance to do an actual comparison of both as an eReader device, I’ll post a review.

Honestly, this is all jetpacks and flying cars, anyhow. I like living in the future.