This isn't just a symptom of the iPad. I've always been confused when news sites build an iPhone app for people to read the same news they can read in the browser or a news aggregator. It seems the time, cost, and energy could be spent improving the site experience, making accommodations for the differences in finger and mouse inputs.

Is it just for the ability to boast that they have an iPhone or iPad app? Perhaps it's just another avenue to increase readership?

Regardless, it's their choice to build the apps and users choice to pay for and use them, so c'est la vie.