iOS on the iPad

iOS on the iPad

No other operating system has made the virtual world so physical. In iOS, not only is the touch interface (for the most part) intuitive, but lists of items have physics: Scrolling lists get momentum, and items at the end of a list are anchored with electronic rubber bands. Your higher brain knows that these fake physical properties make no sense, but your kinesthetic mind works in the real world, where objects in motion tend to stay in motion. We're hard-wired to know that and react to it.

The iPhone also has kinetics, but at iPad size, the effect becomes much more powerful. This is a user interface that apes a part of the real world, and manages to do it successfully.