Since I am indeed hooked on the iPad experience I thought an update was warranted...You'll get one anyway.
I use the iPad around the house -- preferring it to being sentenced to the one computer desk.I use it in bed, on a lounge chair, at the kitchen table or work bench...if I was careless, I could bathe with it.
That mobility means that I can lay out my torso in a lot of difference ergonomic options -- move around -- even locate the tablet at different locations on my body or at varying distances from my eyes.
It's computer grazing as distinct from browsing.
I've got myself some books on the iPad --starting with the standard approach level stuff: iPad for Dummies -- and each day I skill up.
I am still delighted with what it offers in way of reading text . I'm now also using another excellent free ebook reading app -- Stanza -- which also offers an eclectic range of free titles drawn from several libraries. Stanza is not as intuitive as iBook -- Apples' own ebook reader -- but once you master the interface it has all the attributes you need to plow through any volume.
The sheer ease and convenience these eBook readers offer you make me wonder about the future of print and hard copy. When I was a young'un my preferred quest was to own my own extensive library and over the years I carted around from one rental accommodation to the next an ever growing number (and weight!) of books (and records). Ah biblioholia! I'd always be out and about with at least one paperback in my pocket or bag -- and read , read, read on trains, trams and buses, at cafes and at any spare moment.
Now I have a world of books -- many more than I could have physically collected -- at my fingertips on the iPad screen anywhere anytime. And for free or cheaper than the shops.
I ceased to haunt bookshops long ago when I became library savvy and my hard copy collection would now number maybe a few dozen cherished texts which I re-read time and time again.
On top of this, sites I use a lot like Scribd not only offer a massive pdf collection of contributed books and other literature items in pdf -- self publishers will soon be able to sell their works through Scribd store and Stanza also has a category dedicated to self published works and small publishers: SmashWords:
Smashwords is a free service that helps you publish, promote, distribute and sell your masterpiece as a multi-format ebook, ready for immediate sale online at a price you determine. Because we publish your book in multiple ebook formats, your book is readable on any e-reading device, including the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, the Sony Reader, the Barnes & Noble nook, your personal computer, Android devices, and others. As a Smashwords author, you gain access to free, do-it-yourself sales and marketing tools to help you promote your book. You receive 85 percent of the net sales proceeds from your titles (70.5% for affiliate sales)....If you're the exclusive publisher of two or more different authors, and you want to list and control your authors' titles on Smashwords, then upgrade your account for free to Publisher status. This allows you to list and publish all your authors and their titles as multi-format, DRM-free ebooks. Each publisher is provided a custom-branded online bookstore, and the ability to list an unlimited number of ebook titles from an unlimited number of authors
So while the youth may be wetting themselves over the iPad's multimedia attributes --and it is a iPod /iTunes like device with superb HD video -- the humble line of text jumps out of the tablet in a new and very creative way.
Nonetheless, before iPading as your chosen (and only) eBookery option, it is worth while considering other ebook reader platforms.
- eBooks compared (Wikipedia)
- eBooks: Tipping or Vanishing Point?
