This morning I was watching a video about an application for the digital version of Wired magazine for tablet computers. This app is the result of a partnership between Wired and Adobe to make a compelling counterpart to traditional print magazines.

One of the things I truly enjoy about Wired is the strong, distinct designs employed for the various sections and articles in the magazine and it looks like the tablet version does an excellent job of preserving these qualities in the digital realm. And yet I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed by what was demoed in the video. Everything is wrapped in a slick presentation but I’m not seeing anything and there is some interactivity but it just ends up feeling like a website living in a print layout.

Steve Jobs described the iPad as a magical device but we’ve yet to see anything really magical achieved with it (yes, I realize it’s not available for sale just yet). Running with the magical theme one thing a tablet version of magazine could do that a print version could not is a moving photo/video cover ala the newspapers in Harry Potter. Esquire recently had an augmented reality issue, something like this could be the norm for digital magazines.

My examples aren’t really anything new either — they’ve both been thought up and/or executed already. The iPad and it’s tablet brethren represent a new take on computing and the computer, I’d like to see the apps developed for them offer a fresh perspective and experience as well.