Will my child learn to read on an iPad?

I have a 16-month old who loves books.  He also loves playing games on my iPhone and typing keys on the family computer.  He knows a few letters and numbers but clearly he's nowhere near learning to read. 

But I have to wonder: In two or three years, when it is time for him to learn how to read, will he be learning on old fashioned books or will he be learning with interactive exercises on iPad-like devices?

It was announced yesterday that Scrollmotion had secured deals with all of the major textbook manufacturers to bring their wares to the iPad.  Apple itself also has deals with most of the big book publishers to carry their products on the iBookStore.  And don't forget that Amazon has an iPhone app and will likely get an iPad App as well.  In fact, I wouldn't count the Kindle out yet: Amazon just bought a company that will bring touch technology to the Kindle product.

Books on the iPad and other tablets won't just be words, they'll be multimedia adventures.  It is hard to imagine an old-fashioned book – ones which we use to put him to bed currently – holding a candle to the multimedia powerhouse that is the iPad.

In three years, iPads and other tablets will also be more affordable and more rugged than they are now.  There will likely be a somewhat "indestructible" model that I'll be able to give my four year old to play with and not have to worry about him breaking the glass or throwing it in the toilet.

And even if he does destroy it, the contents of the device will live in the cloud, and after a new one is purchased, all of his stories and workbooks will be there for him to use. 

What a lucky kid.  In fact, I seem to remember my parents saying the same thing about the time I was learning how to use a computer in middle school.

So it goes: I'll be able to say "When I was a kid, we didn't have your fancy tablets!  We had to use graphite styluses and we wrote on pads made of reconstituted, dry wood."

"And we liked it!"