Top E-Book is iPad?

[KindleMan]

I've been reading ebooks on devices starting with a Palm 505, then Sony, Kindle and nook readers and an iPad. The iPad is the winner hands down. It is heavier than other devices, but that's why pillows were invented, I prop the iPad on one at night in bed! Also, most people don't read holding the reader in "free air", they usually have it resting on a table, their lap etc. Reading outside isn't a problem unless you hold the iPad so the Sun is directly reflected on the front glass. I just tilt it a bit.

What makes iBook nice is the dictionary, book marks etc. I've tested it while reading books like "Impact" on words like chondritic (a stony meteorite containing small mineral granules) and it was quick and easy. A couple of taps and there's the answer. No moving a cursor around waiting for each eink page change.

Also, load a few PDF books or magazines into the Goodreader app and it'll knock your socks off!

The biggest issue with the iPad and serious readers is the number of books available from Apple. They are way behind Amazon, B & N and Sony. I'm assuming they'll catch up, but "61 Hours" by Lee Child is available from the previously mentioned sources but isn't available from Apple as of last night.

Lobo

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by KindleMan

The biggest issue with the iPad and serious readers is the number of books available from Apple. They are way behind Amazon, B & N and Sony. I'm assuming they'll catch up, but "61 Hours" by Lee Child is available from the previously mentioned sources but isn't available from Apple as of last night

Right now Apple doesn't have a deal with Random House which I'm sure makes up the majority of books the others have and iBooks doesn't. Of course iPad users can use the Kindle App, Kobo, etc. to get those books if they want to.



Two questions for iPad owners. How crisp is the text when reading on the iPad (can anyone post some screen caps)? Is there a way to organize your books (tags, collections,folders) so you're not looking at a big long list?

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Right now Apple doesn't have a deal with Random House which I'm sure makes up the majority of books the others have and iBooks doesn't. Of course iPad users can use the Kindle App, Kobo, etc. to get those books if they want to.



Two questions for iPad owners. How crisp is the text when reading on the iPad (can anyone post some screen caps)? Is there a way to organize your books (tags, collections,folders) so you're not looking at a big long list?

Organizing depends on which apps you use. They vary from list views with small book cover images on the side to a bookshelf on which you can see all your book covers. Some let you categorize. iBooks does. Kindle doesn't. All features are subject to change, of course.

Text is crisp enough for me to not notice any difference, but I'm not fussy about text in general.

I find book selection is fine, because of the various apps. I don't buy iBooks, because I won't pay for books tethered to one company's devices.

[AnemicOak]

Thanks for the info Maggie.


Would anyone mind taking some screen caps from a couple reader apps and posting them?

[kjk]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Thanks for the info Maggie.


Would anyone mind taking some screen caps from a couple reader apps and posting them?

I posted Zelda's 3 Men in a Boat here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...t=48377&page=6

and Jeffrey Carver's Sunborn here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82529

Bourdain's Nasty Bits on the Kindle App:
http://img13.imageshack.us/i/photox.png/

Grimm's Fairy Tales on Kobo Reader (showing their navigation/info as well)
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9856/grimm.png

Alice on Stanza (1x and 2x)
http://img204.imageshack.us/i/photo1v.png/
http://img33.imageshack.us/i/photo2r.png/

[AnemicOak]

Thanks kjk

Looks great to me. I'm seriously tempted. Pretty sure I'll be getting a device like this, just can't decide if it'll be an iPad or if I should wait and see what's coming out with Android on it.

[boswd]

Hmm twice the price as my nook, can't really hold it and turn pages while standing up on my subway ride into work LCD and not e-ink. Useless outdoors. I'll stick with the nook

but the iPad sure is fun though, I love the graphics and such. I just may pick one up. I'll wait for the HP Slate to come out to compare and contrast.

but for reading? My nook will be the way to go.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I don't say, 1m is a bad result. But in context, this means about 2% of global spent for PCs. I'd gladly take those 2% and certainly Steve Jobs will have fun as well.

Why compare to the PC market. Tablets will never reach that size. They'll always be a smaller market than PCs which most everyone needs in today's society.

Tablets are just for the group of people who need something between their phone and PC/laptop for doing work, reading, consuming multimedia content etc.

Tablets are really meant to supplement a computer, not replace it IMO. I 100% want a tablet badly. But I'll always have a PC or two along with it.

In any case, selling 1 million in a month is a great start. iPad doesn't fit my needs, and I'm not an Apple fan. But I'm still pleased buy it as it shows there is at least some reasonably sized market for tablets and we'll thus see a deluge of them over the next couple of years and I'll finally be able to find one that fits my needs.

Originally Posted by KindleMan

The biggest issue with the iPad and serious readers is the number of books available from Apple. They are way behind Amazon, B & N and Sony. I'm assuming they'll catch up, but "61 Hours" by Lee Child is available from the previously mentioned sources but isn't available from Apple as of last night.

That's an issue with iBooks, not the iPad.

That's actually a strength of the iPad (and eventually other tablets) for serious readers.

There are multiple ebook apps/stores available all on one device with no need to strip DRM and convert formats etc.

There's already a Kindle and Kobo app, and a B & N app is on the way.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by astra

Key words.

The question is, why do people keep on comparing them to dedicated eInk ebook readers? Would not it be more logical to compare iPad to tablets or netbooks?

I think that it is appropriate to compare the iPad to both. But just focussing on ebooks:

If all one could do with an iPad is read ebooks, it would still be competitive with every ebook device out there, at least at the cheapest 500 dollar price point, because it affords the greatest access to both proprietary and free ebooks.

I read an article today in which it was claimed that ipads are selling at the rate of 200,000 per week. If only 20,000 of the buyers use it to read ebooks, that's over a million readers a year. It's clearly an ebook device & possibly the best selling one even if you only count the 20,000.

[grechzoo]

not sure if this has been mentioned, couldn;t be bothered to read the whole topic, but to me the major and MAIN reason i got a kindle over the ipad was simply because of the fact of e-ink.

coming from a family that aren;t exactly 20/20 viewers, staring at a bright screen for hours while reading your favourite book could not be more harmful for us.

in fact if i could do that i wouldn't have considered buying any device and just used a pc ebook reader instead..

basically i need that paper like, zero backlit display to read on otherwise my brain heats up and i just get a massive headache, and i can speak for the other five members of my family who experience the exact same thing.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by grechzoo

not sure if this has been mentioned, couldn;t be bothered to read the whole topic, but to me the major and MAIN reason i got a kindle over the ipad was simply because of the fact of e-ink.

coming from a family that aren;t exactly 20/20 viewers, staring at a bright screen for hours while reading your favourite book could not be more harmful for us.

in fact if i could do that i wouldn't have considered buying any device and just used a pc ebook reader instead..

basically i need that paper like, zero backlit display to read on otherwise my brain heats up and i just get a massive headache, and i can speak for the other five members of my family who experience the exact same thing.

LOL! I'm not sure if I can five other people in my family who are readers!

[grechzoo]

Not saying all of them have good taste in books. But yeah they do read a lot

[captcrouton]

Today I was at a picnic in a park and as I tried to video tape and tried to call from my cellphone, I realized just how much I appreciated e-ink.

For me, the reason I got into ebooks was because of traveling. And for that reason Mac's Ipad is too lunky. I can read on the metro with one hand on the rail and the other on my Kindle. And I know I couldn't do that with the Ipad. Though admittedly I haven't seen one in the wild. I did have someone ask me if my kindle was an Ipad. I couldn't help but say, "No, it's something better."

Ultimately the only way to see if it's the best ereader is to see how it affects the market of ebooks. I daresay the vast majority of Ipad owners are movie downloaders, but not book downloaders.

Actually, for my foster son, a Ipad would have been a more appropriate device than the netbook I bought him (except for the extra $100 price and the lack of usb and flash). He never does any actual work on it, just facebooks and watches movies.

And I think that's where Mac's Ipad shines. It's a consumer device, not a producer device. I can't imagine myself writing a simple document on a touch screen. Maybe a hunt and peck kind of guy who looks at the keyboard all the time to type anyway it'd be ok. But yeah, for buying e-products, playing cell phone type games, babysitting grandkids, I think it's great.

If I really wanted that stuff though, I would still get Mac's Iphone. It's portable and I could make phone calls and take pictures and whatnot.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by captcrouton

Today I was at a picnic in a park and as I tried to video tape and tried to call from my cellphone, I realized just how much I appreciated e-ink. ...

I know whereof you speak! I was taking pictures in my garden this morning and could barely see the image on the LED display!

[astra]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I read an article today in which it was claimed that ipads are selling at the rate of 200,000 per week. If only 20,000 of the buyers use it to read ebooks, that's over a million readers a year. It's clearly an ebook device & possibly the best selling one even if you only count the 20,000.

I think you are over optimistic.
Considering the usual crowd who buy Apple and reasons why they do it, it would be quite a surprise if 20 for 200.000 sold were used for ebook reading.

If I am wrong, then within a few weeks you will see it everywhere in use by people reading ebooks. 20.000 ebook readers a week will make a walking/travelling library from the USA public transport.