Borders survey adding fuel to the iPAD / iTablet fire

As if it isn't getting bad enough with the iPAD / iTablet rumors, now book retailer Borders has been adding to the rumor mill.

Numerous TUAW readers including Jennifer, who supplied the screenshot below, have received a marketing survey from Borders about using Digital Reading Devices (also known as e-readers or ebook readers). Hidden among the responses about Kindles and Sony Book Readers was the response "I plan to buy an Apple iPAD (large screen reading device) this year." Lest any of our readers think that this is just a doctored screenshot, we did receive multiple unique full-screen shots from several readers.

This can mean one of three things:

1. The company performing the survey for Borders knows something about an upcoming Apple tablet device

2. The survey company is clueless and loves operating off of rumors and innuendo

3. The iPAD was thrown in there just to see if anybody would fall for it

The survey also refers to the iPod touch as the "iTouch", so I'm pretty sure that #1 is probably out of the realm of possibility. Still, it's fascinating to see just how pervasive this rumored device actually is!

Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip