iPad iPad & Comics

[shrktank]

I have been using theMarvel app and find it wonderful to read comics. I am just wondering if there is any place to get newer comics to use. It seems most comics available within the app are pretty old, but still enjoyable

[Fotoman]

FYI... the free Cloudreader, which reads archived comics, just got an update where they fixed the annoying off-center pagination in portrait orientation. And contrary to the examples shown in the overheated discussion in another forum linked above in this thread, its page rendering is crisp and clear.

Can't complain for 0¢

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by shrktank

I have been using theMarvel app and find it wonderful to read comics. I am just wondering if there is any place to get newer comics to use. It seems most comics available within the app are pretty old, but still enjoyable

Sadly the legal options are limited, marvel seem to be unwilling to compete with cbr/cbz files just to avoid competing with paper editions.

[Trubu]

Originally Posted by Crowl

Sadly the legal options are limited, marvel seem to be unwilling to compete with cbr/cbz files just to avoid competing with paper editions.

I really, really wish these media companies would wake up and look at what happened to the music industry instead of clinging for dear life to their outmoded business models.

I'm at a point now where I don't want any more paper cluttering up my life, so if it's not available digitally, it's not getting bought except in very rare circumstances. Listen, media companies: I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. Why do you insist on making it so difficult?

[valkyriesound]

Originally Posted by Trubu

I really, really wish these media companies would wake up and look at what happened to the music industry instead of clinging for dear life to their outmoded business models.

I'm at a point now where I don't want any more paper cluttering up my life, so if it's not available digitally, it's not getting bought except in very rare circumstances. Listen, media companies: I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. Why do you insist on making it so difficult?

Can I just say...

AMEN!!!!!

I started my career in the music business... The comic industry is so small and unprofitable they will easily destroy themselves by avoiding digital... I'm cleaning up my physical comic book collection so I can go digital. I want to pay for content.. but they are not making it possible! I don't want physical books getting moldy and killing my allergies.. taking up space.. hard to find what you want... GIVE ME DIGITAL!

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by valkyriesound

... GIVE ME DIGITAL!

That's great, but the need for a transferable, open format like PDF or EPUB is paramount.

If you have to repurchase everything every time you buy a new device, digital is not worth much.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by scottjl

eInk vs. LCD debates are completely stupid. Neither one is better, neither one is worse. They both have their advantages and disadvantages but there is no scientific or medical proof that either one is better or worse for the eyes.

It is not believed that the computer screen, or television screen, damages eyes. There is, however, a condition, "Computer Vision Syndrome", which is associated with the symptoms of eye strain (dry eyes, headache, fatigue, and sometimes some blurring of vision).

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-bad-is-f...he-net-online_

Of course just for reading eInk displays are better ...

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by joblack

It is not believed that the computer screen, or television screen, damages eyes. There is, however, a condition, "Computer Vision Syndrome", which is associated with the symptoms of eye strain (dry eyes, headache, fatigue, and sometimes some blurring of vision).

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-bad-is-f...he-net-online_

Of course just for reading eInk displays are better ...

"Computer Vision Syndrome", better known as "I don't know shit about adjusting brightness and contrast to the room lighting stupidity syndrome".

[scottjl]

some people just need to go back to reading the pictures on the side of their caves by torchlight..

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

"Computer Vision Syndrome", better known as "I don't know shit about adjusting brightness and contrast to the room lighting stupidity syndrome".

Hm, have you played with an iPad?

The brightness doesn't really go down enough for long-term reading in a darker room. For instance, even with the brightness all the way down, the Kindle app screen is still a bit too bright. Same with iBooks, which at least has built-in brightness option.

I don't think the screen is bad at all, although for many avid readers e-ink may be a better option.

Tablets, however, can provide a more pleasant experience though, by presenting book pages closely resembling printed pages, with good design and font rendition (I am not sure the iPad in particular fully succeeds in this).

[joblack]

Originally Posted by scottjl

some people just need to go back to reading the pictures on the side of their caves by torchlight..

Great 'argument' - write again if you have something important to say ...

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Trubu

I'm at a point now where I don't want any more paper cluttering up my life, so if it's not available digitally, it's not getting bought except in very rare circumstances. Listen, media companies: I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. Why do you insist on making it so difficult?

The thing is that they don't even need to be perfectly caught up with the paper edition, the digital comics unlimited system that marvel have is pretty decent already even if you are just renting the comics rather than actually owning them. For me all it would really need to do to fix it up would be:

- stop the artificial issue gaps in older storylines, those won't make me go out and buy the tpb and will just annoy me making me less likely to avoid the more convenient route of cbr/cbz that don't have the same problem.

- get all your back catalogue online, the piracy alternative manages this and even if you don't admit it, those are your actual competitors not paper editions.

- release digital versions closer to the release of the paper editions, you are not protecting paper sales by not doing this, you are simply making your product less appealing in general. A gap of about 3 months or so should be more than sufficient protection for paper sales and has the obvious benefit that it is close enough that if somebody decided they wanted to switch to paper editions for some books then they could more readily do so than if they were a year behind.

There is one other obvious change that needs to be made and that is for them to have the same subscription system available on more formats such as the ipad and in the future on any other tablets or colour ereaders that show up, making it as easy as possible for people to get your product just seems the logical option.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Sonist

I don't think the screen is bad at all, although for many avid readers e-ink may be a better option.

The display has a response time greater than 20 ms (source: c't magazine, 11/2010)- seems to be the cheapest hardware Apple could find. For games and action movies it's not usable and to be specific: all LCD displays aren't really capable for long term e-book reading.

[Crowl]

Given that this thread is about ipad and comics, wouldn't it be better to take this ebook argument to one of the many threads that are actually about ebooks?

As far as most comics are concerned you need colour, so the ipad beats e-ink on that crucial point.

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Hm, have you played with an iPad?

The brightness doesn't really go down enough for long-term reading in a darker room. For instance, even with the brightness all the way down, the Kindle app screen is still a bit too bright. Same with iBooks, which at least has built-in brightness option.

why yes. i own one. and i find the brightness goes down to a perfectly acceptable level. but you'd have to own one to know this, not play with it in a store for 1 hour.

tip, if you turn off the "auto-brightness" you'll have better control as it overrides the slider..