My phone rings.

“Hey, what are you doing?” says the voice on the other end of the line.

“Umm … washing dishes.”

“Wanna see an iPad?”

“What?! You have one?”

A thoughtful friend knew I was working on a column about electronic book readers and knew I would be interested to see Apple’s latest gadget, the iPad, which was just released Saturday.

Although I had already finished my column (see Thursday’s All Around Wise  in the Messenger), I jumped at the chance to check it out.

It was smaller than I imagined. In my column, I call it “ridiculously huge.” I take back “ridiculous,” but it won’t fit in your purse, ladies.

As an electronic reading device, it’s appealing because it “feels” more like a book. By swiping your finger across the screen, you can turn the page, unlike the Kindle which requires the user to push a button.

Your electronic books are also arranged on a virtual shelf, which allows you to see every cover instead of browsing a simple list of titles.

Its main downfall as an electronic reader is the screen. It’s LCD, like a regular computer screen, which tires the eyes more quickly than the E-ink technology used by Kindle and nook.  Those feel as if you’re reading on paper.

While the iPad is fun, I’m not sure I’d be willing to cough up $500 for it. At that price and considering its size, I’d like it to function a little more like a laptop. It’s got a great e-reader, but I also need 3G, a USB port and some semblance of a word processor.

Care to weigh in?