By Aaron Ogg

I got a new toy a couple of weeks ago — a first-generation iPad (aka The One Without the Camera).

I still have quite the Apple high. I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off, but then I find a new app, or game for my son, and I’m re-hooked.

This is all relatively new territory for me. I’d always considered myself functionally tech-savvy, but never a true techie. I was fine with learning what I needed to know, but never wanted to be one of those people pulling out their gadgets at the grocery store or even the dinner table.

Now I find myself trolling the App Store regularly, reading Mashable daily and scouting for new, visually appealing ways that other media companies are delivering content. I still refuse to play on my iPad while dining, but I think that has more to do with my (unfounded) fear of damaging the screen with spaghetti sauce than etiquette.

How quickly our attitudes can be changed. Or is it upgraded?

The 2011 holiday shopping season has been dubbed the Year of the Tablet. There are now more than 30 tablets on the market, including the iPad, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

A recent Forbes article revealed lofty sales expectations. The results of one survey indicated that 14 percent of North American consumers canvassed plan to buy a tablet in the next three months. Apple dominates the forecast, with 65 percent of probable tablet purchasers sizing up the iPad 2 and 22 percent looking toward the Kindle Fire.

The article goes on to discuss the implications of the devices’ rise in popularity for marketers. It sagely states:

“So, the good news is that in early 2012, we are likely to have more potential customers we can reach with marketing communications on their tablets. The bad news? We are likely to have more potential customers we can reach with marketing communications on our tablets. More devices mean more operating platforms, which means more expense to develop and deliver marketing programs. Just as marketers have been grappling with mobile platforms, 2012 looks to be the start of multiple tablet platforms as well.”

The opportunist in me wants to call this a happy problem, but not one for the inflexible.

It pleases me to say that Group Tour Media is constantly exploring new ways to effectively deliver content that is appealing to our readers and advertisers. We recently launched an app and have made notable changes to our websites in an effort to improve their appearance and user-friendliness. More improvements are sure to come. We’ll let you know.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll let us know what works for you and what doesn’t. However you choose to read us, we want the experience to be as informative, enjoyable and, yes, convenient as possible.