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Originally Posted by Nakor
The iPad is intriguing at first sight, but when you really start to learn about its capabilities, you start to wonder why you didn't buy a netbook instead, lol. If it could throw in the ability to multitask I'd be a lot happier with its potential.
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A person who wants an iPad doesn't want a netbook, for reasons very similar to the reasons a person who wants an eBook reader does not want an iPad.
An eBook reader is a "text consumption device." (TCD) From the perspective of a person who wants a TCD, an iPad is a heavier, bulkier eBook reader, a netbook is a heavier, bulkier, even more poorly configured eBook reader.
The iPad is an "interactive content consumption appliance." (ICCA) From the perspective of a person who wants an ICCA, a netbook is a heavier, bulkier, poorly configured iPad.
If all I wanted to do was a TCD, the ONLY argument for the iPad is that I will probably be able to get any ebook from any source I want and read it despite proprietary systems & DRM. But I want to read things other than ebooks - email, websites, Instapaper articles I've culled from my iPhone and iMac, etc.
If I wanted to create documents, make data entries, and screw around with Windows or Linux as a kind of hobby, etc., I'd get a netbook or laptop.
Bottom line: you have to start with what *you* want to do, not with what the *device* is able to do, then choose accordingly. I mean, does a person who wants a netbook really really want it in the form factor of a tablet?
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I'm not sure something like that is ideal as an eBook reader anyway, as battery life also has to be considered, as well as the fact that the iPad is a little heftier than I'd like when trying to relax with a story.
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I'm in about half-agreement with that. At bottom, it's a physical thing - where do you read, how do you like to hold your reader, how much weight can you handle. My wife was reading Little Dorrit a couple of weeks ago, a nice fat Dickens, and complaining a little about the size & weight. So I put it on my Sony 303 for her, and it turned out she liked the fat book better because the 303 actually seemed heavier to her (she has carpal tunnel.)
When I get my iPad, I will be reading sitting back in my Lazyboy, or sitting at the diningroom table. The size & weight of the iPad will be of small concern in those venues. I will not be reading the iPad on the train, or hauling it around to read at lunch during the work week. So I'll be reading something on my 303or my iPhone at those times.
I think battery life is a non-issue, particularly if all you are really going to do is read ebooks. The charge on the iPad will easily last a day, so you just park it on its charger at night.