Qwiki for iPad, like their website, is like a visual Wikipedia. Which is to say it’s a super pretty way to learn stuff. How so? Instead of delivering information in text and hyperlinks, Qwiki provides a narrative to the topics you search for with an audio commentary and relevant visuals.
Using Qwiki on the iPad is especially neat because the app uses your location to show off the Qwiki entries near you. I just got the deets on New York City and a few landmarks near the East Village. It’s just more riveting to watch and listen to entries than read ’em. But! It ain’t perfect. The voice that narrates each Qwiki is robotic and if you watch enough Qwiki entries, you’ll notice that they’re terribly formulaic. And though every presentation is super purrty, it only gives you bite sized nuggets of information.
But it’s a start! After all, information databases aren’t built overnight and Qwiki looks like it has the style, format and structure down. Check out some of their snazzy animations! Now it’s about beefing up the content so it can be something useful rather than just fun. [iTunes]