iPad Things the iPad Does Not Do

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Hmm. Everyone agrees that printing is a waste, yet so many PDFs are still formatted for letter / A4 sized paper, as if everybody is going to print it. Why does this convention still rule?

blame it on the publishers. most PDF files are simply electronic format of print books and magazine or journal articles though. they are already set in size format for their print media. yes, the publisher could re-flow but then they would have to spend the time and money proofing the whole document again for formatting issues. making sure any graphics are correct, tables don't format strangely, the TOC is correct. why go through the expense? plus if someone has a print and electronic copy it is more convenient for them if they both share the same format for reference purposes.

I do have a very few books that exist in electronic format only that the publisher used a non standard size for, but they are the exception.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by scottjl

blame it on the publishers. most PDF files are simply electronic format of print books and magazine or journal articles though. they are already set in size format for their print media. yes, the publisher could re-flow but then they would have to spend the time and money proofing the whole document again for formatting issues. making sure any graphics are correct, tables don't format strangely, the TOC is correct. why go through the expense? plus if someone has a print and electronic copy it is more convenient for them if they both share the same format for reference purposes.

I do have a very few books that exist in electronic format only that the publisher used a non standard size for, but they are the exception.

Yeah, there's a lot of inertia to overcome. But publishers aren't going to be able to attract digital/mobile consumers in large numbers unless they treat them as if they are just as important as print consumers and tailor a product for them.

We shouldn't have to double the cost of the reading device and make it less portable just to consume mass media. Maybe for very specialized things like art, engineering etc. such cost is justified.

Of course this idea is all part of a larger initiative to genetically engineer downsized humans so they require fewer resources to sustain. A hobbit-sized human will require smaller houses, smaller cars, less food, etc.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by scottjl

you can use your iPhone as a boarding pass with delta depending on which airport you are departing from. works great out of o'hare in Chicago or atlanta. don't worry Maggie, if your phone fails when you get to the airport you can just have them print a regular ticket.

Yup, Scott. I worry because I often run late for flights. Of course, that is not a tech problem, lol.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Hmm. Everyone agrees that printing is a waste, yet so many PDFs are still formatted for letter / A4 sized paper, as if everybody is going to print it. Why does this convention still rule?

Wouldn't it be smarter to format the PDF page size a wee bit smaller (e.g. 6"x8", more book sized) so it will work better on a iPad sized screen? This would obviate the need for a larger screen and all that entails (power consumption, bulk, faster processor). This would also be friendlier for facing page viewing on laptop and many smaller desktop displays, which tend to be too short to display letter/a4 size at 100%.

Well for many scholarly journal articles (including one's I've written) smaller size is hard as we need room for big tables and figures to fit all on one page. It's sometimes a challenge even in A4--and especially in the journals that do have smaller formats, to make good tables with all the relevant information from multivariate statistical models etc.

But in any case, I'm stuck needing a bigger screen tablet if I'm going to stop printing, as even if journals shrunk size in the future, I still spend as much or more time reading past research rather than new research and they won't go back and resize all those old articles. Most are just PDFs that are scanned images anyway, especially for old articles pre dating the adoption of the PC which don't have electronic versions of the original text.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

USB sticks, yuck... I've only found one practical use for it the past few years, and that's to put some boot-OS on it. Or to install a new BIOS-firmware.

USB sticks are awesome for moving files back and forth between the home and office.

Cloud storage isn't an option for a lot of my research data as the IRB rules don't allow for data with unique personal identifiers etc. And I just trust it more.

I also use a USB portable harddrive when needed, but mainly use thumb drives as they're more convenient and more reliable (have broken a few portable hard drives from dropping them while they were hooked up to the laptop etc.

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

USB sticks, yuck... I've only found one practical use for it the past few years, and that's to put some boot-OS on it. Or to install a new BIOS-firmware

I sure hope you meant that as a joke. USB thumb drives are one of the best inventions ever. I use mine daily, I mean every day without fail. I have several GB worth of Portable Apps, music, movies, pictures, ebooks, etc. I just could not imagine going back to having everything on the HDD of each computer, keeping apps and content portable is a must!

[Trubu]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I just could not imagine going back to having everything on the HDD of each computer, keeping apps and content portable is a must!

Cloud storage FTW!

Thumb drives are another thing that I don't use nearly as much as I used to. Unless it's relatively large files, it's easier to just send people a link to the file.

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

USB sticks are awesome for moving files back and forth between the home and office.

Cloud storage isn't an option for a lot of my research data as the IRB rules don't allow for data with unique personal identifiers etc. And I just trust it more.

Personally, I think that for secure data, USB-sticks are worst inventions ever. How many times would these be lost and all your data lies there in the open, waiting for someone to pick up and post it online.

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I sure hope you meant that as a joke. USB thumb drives are one of the best inventions ever. I use mine daily, I mean every day without fail. I have several GB worth of Portable Apps, music, movies, pictures, ebooks, etc. I just could not imagine going back to having everything on the HDD of each computer, keeping apps and content portable is a must!

Nope, not a joke. I've received several USB-sticks as a gift, but never used them besides updating bios, putting some os on them. Never practical.

All my data are stored on a NAS, so I can get to them on every computer in the house. Even the ipad could get music, video or literature from the nas if needed, although I never do (no comics as there's no comicapp yet which supports webdav)

As for office data. I don't move them around. Unless you mean some dvd-iso of that latest a coworker has lying around. Well... it's faster for me to just remotely give the order to my NAS to download it myself than transfer it through USB-stick.

If it's some docs or not too large files (<2GB), I could just drop them into my dropbox. When I'm at home or wherever, I can get to the files.

[scottjl]

usb sticks are uesful at times, but my personal use is being replaced more with cloud storage. many companies prohibit usb stick usage for security reasons.

[nima1977]

Thanks Nikkie for her informative post.
is apple suitable for intense studying indoors? I mean doesn't its LED hurt eyes after 2-3 hrs of studying?

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Yeah, there's a lot of inertia to overcome. But publishers aren't going to be able to attract digital/mobile consumers in large numbers unless they treat them as if they are just as important as print consumers and tailor a product for them.

We shouldn't have to double the cost of the reading device and make it less portable just to consume mass media. Maybe for very specialized things like art, engineering etc. such cost is justified.

Of course this idea is all part of a larger initiative to genetically engineer downsized humans so they require fewer resources to sustain. A hobbit-sized human will require smaller houses, smaller cars, less food, etc.

Unless we are speaking of hobbits, the larger sizes are there for a reason - they are found to be optimum for average sized humans, with average eyesight.

A US trade paperback is a little over 10", and most hardcovers are closer to 11".

An 11" tablets can still be smaller than a Kindle DX, so the effect on portability is negligible, but it would allow for optimum reading of both books and journals.

The only reason for the current crop of sub 10" screens is manufacturing costs, which will presumably drop as production numbers increase.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

Personally, I think that for secure data, USB-sticks are worst inventions ever. How many times would these be lost and all your data lies there in the open, waiting for someone to pick up and post it online.

I've used them for years and never lost one. I just keep them in my briefcase.

And while I do agree, it doesn't change that I have rules against putting stuff on cloud storage and not on USB drives with some of my data.

The other issue is having 100% access. I need my data and files all the time as I'm work constantly. With cloud storage I can't get to it if my internet is down, or the power is out (and thus internet is out since the cable modem and router are down) etc.

Originally Posted by Sonist

Unless we are speaking of hobbits, the larger sizes are there for a reason - they are found to be optimum for average sized humans, with average eyesight.

A US trade paperback is a little over 10", and most hardcovers are closer to 11".

An 11" tablets can still be smaller than a Kindle DX, so the effect on portability is negligible, but it would allow for optimum reading of both books and journals.

The only reason for the current crop of sub 10" screens is manufacturing costs, which will presumably drop as production numbers increase.

Agreed. The larger size is just better for reading and working with documents. Who wants to write up stuff in some 6 or 7" format? Just too small, not enough room for big tables, figures etc.

Also not great for newspapers, magazines, comics etc. For novels that are 100% text it's no big deal as text is text--just less words per page on smaller screens.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by scottjl

usb sticks are uesful at times, but my personal use is being replaced more with cloud storage. many companies prohibit usb stick usage for security reasons.

A somewhat confused company that won't put data on USB sticks, but is happy to have it transferred wirelessly to external companies it has no control over. (Plus give everybody's machines access to their wireless to do the transfer.)
The corporate solution is encrypted USB sticks, I've got one with me at the moment. Several times I've been in meetings with people from various organisations or parts of organisation that share no trust or infrastructure, USB sticks are essential then. Not really relevant to an iPad discussion though

[scottjl]

i never said those companies allowed cloud access either. encrypted or not, some companies do not allow usb access at all.

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by Trubu

Cloud storage FTW!

Cloud storage has two fatal flaws: The security of the content cannot be assured, and access requires a network connection. This would be a step backwards for me...