Meet the iPad and iOS 5

Multi-Touch Gestures

You’ll notice that when you opened the iPad’s box, no stylus fell out. Until recently, most tablet computers and handhelds required that you use a plastic pencil to do anything. The iPad, instead, is designed for your fingers. You interact with the software on the screen by touching, tapping, swiping, and performing other Multi-Touch gestures. Many controls are intuitive: Tap the Edit button in Contacts, for example, to edit a person’s information. Other motions may not be obvious at first, but quickly become natural.

Tap

The most obvious action is to point at an area of the screen, like a button or other control, and lightly tap with one finger. Sometimes, you’ll want to double-tap the screen, such as when you want to zoom ...