What is Flipboard? It turns your Facebook and Twitter account into something that looks like a magazine. It also lets you build a custom magazine, either by choosing from Flipboard’s pre-built curated “boards” or by importing Twitter lists. This is a very powerful and engaging way to read Twitter. You can also turn a single person’s Twitter account, or a single brand’s Twitter account, into a Flipboard. For instance, you can follow Techcrunch on Twitter with it and it will turn Techcrunch into a beautiful magazine-like interface that’s easier to read than any other reader.

via First look at “revolutionary” social news iPad app: Flipboard — Scobleizer.

From what little I’ve seen of Flipboard, and the number of rave reviews it’s getting on Twitter by people I follow, it’s certainly increased my desire to get an {en:iPad}.

It’s surprising what a difference it can make to view the same data through different clients. For example, viewing Twitter and Facebook content through {en:Boxee} on the living room TV is very different to viewing the same posts on the desktop PC using {en:Brizzly} or twitter.com. Boxee displays only the links posted that contains video, and then displays that video in full screen (on the big screen). When sat on the sofa this is a vastly improved experience compared to sitting at a desk, no matter how big the monitor is. I’m used to watching video on the sofa, and working at the desk.

Flipboard appears to take Tweets and Facebook statuses and rather than optimise them for the living room, it optimizes them as if each link contained within a post were a magazine article.

It goes to show there is more to Twitter than just “what I had for breakfast”. I wonder what other variations can be applied to Twitter and Facebook beyond the standard ‘stream’ view?