iPad Anyone else NOT like reading on their iPad?

[John F]

Originally Posted by djgreedo

What you want is irrelevant. Artists will create what they feel expresses what they want to express and publishers (or the authors themselves) will publish what people want to buy. I think people will happily gobble up enhanced books.

You do realize that kenny was expressing what he wanted to buy?

There will still be traditional words-only books, but I think a new medium will evolve out of the new technologies, and that new medium may replace books for many people. It may even be the saviour of 'reading' for the general population (i.e. not the people who are already reading a lot but the people who currently read rarely if ever).

I would be surprised if we don't see several 'choose your own adventure' type books on the iPad in the next 12 months with multimedia enhancements, but overall roughly the same amount of text as a novella. I would actually be quite interested in that sort of a book if done well. I'd probably even buy a tablet computer to read them on.

I think novels and standard non-fiction books will largely remain text-only, but reference books could be greatly enhanced with multimedia.

I'm not sure I agree. The iPad is a cool device, all these slate/android/tablet things in the pipeline are cool devices that may enable more interactive book thingies, but...

The multimedia capabilities have been around for a long time, so why will interactive stuff catch on now?

[scottjl]

because you don't have to lug around a desktop/laptop/netbook to view the interactive stuff now. the alice app on the ipad is great because it's interactive, graphical, a book, and can go with me quickly, easily, available practically instantly.

now. how successful do you think the alice app would be if it were a windows app. even lugging your netbook around with you, booting up windows, starting the app, it's not as convenient. you might not have a touchscreen. and could you see yourself twisting and tilting your netbook around? or laptop? how would you even do it on a desktop? to make objects fall around the screen. i guess they could let you mouse around and pull the objects. but trust me, it's no where near the same experience as when you flip your ipad around.

we needed a good, fast, capable tablet device for media developers to give us apps like the alice app. now that we have one, we can start to see the content.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by mores

I'd love to have an iAd-style system to enhance eBook reading. Do wiki and dictionary lookups without leaving the book. Right now you get thrown out of the experience. If it was in a little "popup" it's be a lot better.

iBooks uses popovers for dictionary lookups-it would be cool if they could incorporate wikipedia lookups as well:

[scottjl]

i believe apple said the next version of ibooks would include google and wikipedia lookups.

[John F]

Originally Posted by scottjl

because you don't have to lug around a desktop/laptop/netbook to view the interactive stuff now. the alice app on the ipad is great because it's interactive, graphical, a book, and can go with me quickly, easily, available practically instantly.

now. how successful do you think the alice app would be if it were a windows app. even lugging your netbook around with you, booting up windows, starting the app, it's not as convenient. you might not have a touchscreen. and could you see yourself twisting and tilting your netbook around? or laptop? how would you even do it on a desktop? to make objects fall around the screen. i guess they could let you mouse around and pull the objects. but trust me, it's no where near the same experience as when you flip your ipad around.

we needed a good, fast, capable tablet device for media developers to give us apps like the alice app. now that we have one, we can start to see the content.

I hear what your saying, but I'm not sure I agree. 90% of what you say has been around for many years. If there was that much demand I would guess that it would have already been done to varying degrees. The iPad is really just a big iPhone, why weren't these multimedia apps released for the iPhone?

I'm just not sure that the iPad (and tablets in general) are the "perfect storm" for all these apps: ebooks, multimedia books, ...

[scottjl]

because who wants to squint at tiny text and pictures on the iphone as opposed to the large screen on the ipad? could Alice have been done? yes. would it have been as big of a success on the iphone? i doubt it.

don't knock "just a really big iphone". you'd be surprised at what a difference those extra inches make. isn't that why we're not all still using 9" CRTs from the 80's instead of our beautiful 24"+ LCD screens today?

while i don't directly compare the ipad to a readily available windows tablet take a look at the two devices right now. windows tablets tend to be laptops with fold-back screens. look at the size, the weight, the fact that you're running a full OS. imagine holding one in your hands. are you likely to twist and turn it around in your nimble fingers to interact with the book? are you likely to power it on from a cold start, wait for windows to boot, launch the alice book app, grab the stylus, and start interacting? now compare that to the ipad, instant on, light weight, thin, easily handled in a childs hands, no stylus needed on the touch screen. there really is no comparison, as far as an "interactive book media player" the ipad wins hands down. unless your 5yo reading the Toy Story 3 book doesn't mind a 5lb heat spewing windows tablet.

tablets in general are not the "perfect storm" for these apps. but ipad like media devices are.

[John F]

Originally Posted by scottjl

because who wants to squint at tiny text and pictures on the iphone as opposed to the large screen on the ipad? could Alice have been done? yes. would it have been as big of a success on the iphone? i doubt it.

don't knock "just a really big iphone". you'd be surprised at what a difference those extra inches make. isn't that why we're not all still using 9" CRTs from the 80's instead of our beautiful 24"+ LCD screens today?

while i don't directly compare the ipad to a readily available windows tablet take a look at the two devices right now. windows tablets tend to be laptops with fold-back screens. look at the size, the weight, the fact that you're running a full OS. imagine holding one in your hands. are you likely to twist and turn it around in your nimble fingers to interact with the book? are you likely to power it on from a cold start, wait for windows to boot, launch the alice book app, grab the stylus, and start interacting? now compare that to the ipad, instant on, light weight, thin, easily handled in a childs hands, no stylus needed on the touch screen. there really is no comparison, as far as an "interactive book media player" the ipad wins hands down. unless your 5yo reading the Toy Story 3 book doesn't mind a 5lb heat spewing windows tablet.

tablets in general are not the "perfect storm" for these apps. but ipad like media devices are.

I just think you're too limited in your thinking. If multimedia really takes off, I think it will be on something like a gaming console; Who wants to limit them self to a small 9.7 inch display with a cumbersome touchscreen when you can have a 102" projection with full body motion capture?

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by John F

I just think you're too limited in your thinking. If multimedia really takes off, I think it will be on something like a gaming console; Who wants to limit them self to a small 9.7 inch display with a cumbersome touchscreen when you can have a 102" projection with full body motion capture?

I'm in the back yard right now, I don't think it's "limited thinking" to be enjoying my iPad here..... And multimedia "took off" about 10 years ago......

[John F]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

I'm in the back yard right now, I don't think it's "limited thinking" to be enjoying my iPad here..... And multimedia "took off" about 10 years ago......

What "multimedia" are you using, right now, in your backyard?

[scottjl]

erm. who wants to carry that 102" screen around with them in their pocket? i'm quite happy with my 9". thanks.

[John F]

Originally Posted by scottjl

erm. who wants to carry that 102" screen around with them in their pocket? i'm quite happy with my 9". thanks.

And I'm happy with my 6" reader. But I thought we were discussing something else.

[Bremen Cole]

Right now I'm back inside..... and when outside on that particular trip I did not use any multimedia....

anyway, perhaps you are not old enough to have experienced multimedia growth. In the mid to late 1990's the multimedia CD was introduced. Encyclopedias, virtual tours...etc. They were big for a while, but faded. In 2000 my PS2 could play a video game, a dvd or a cd.... and had internet connectivity (as an add on).

The new surge in "multimedia" is being fueled by the iPad, and the potential other devices that will be coming out over the next few years. Mobile devices are the rage, and that started many years ago..... Laptops have outsold desktops for several years now, and many think the "iPad like devices" will replace many of those for the HOME USER.......

[John F]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Right now I'm back inside..... and when outside on that particular trip I did not use any multimedia....

anyway, perhaps you are not old enough to have experienced multimedia growth. In the mid to late 1990's the multimedia CD was introduced. Encyclopedias, virtual tours...etc. They were big for a while, but faded. In 2000 my PS2 could play a video game, a dvd or a cd.... and had internet connectivity (as an add on).

The new surge in "multimedia" is being fueled by the iPad, and the potential other devices that will be coming out over the next few years. Mobile devices are the rage, and that started many years ago..... Laptops have outsold desktops for several years now, and many think the "iPad like devices" will replace many of those for the HOME USER.......

Thank you for the nice history on multimedia. I think that is the jist of my argument (or what I've been trying to get across), i.e. multimedia applications like the Alice iPad app have been possible for quite a while, and I don't think that just because we have some nice mobile devices that are a little bit bigger, and a little more transportable, that "multimedia apps" (like the Alice iPad app), will be all that big, IMO. There will probably be a window while they are the "must have/demo app" for the iPad's capabilities, but in the long term I think they'll be a niche market.

[stustaff]

Isn't the internet the best example that multimedia has taken off?

Facebook- text photo video music live chat
YouTube
Books online
Movies
Music
Live cams showing theatre

Etc
Etc

How anyone can deny multimedia is now BIGGER than ever is unbelievable to me.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by kennyc

What it has to do with is the post I was responding to saying that ALL reading devices needed multimedia etc.

Ah...ok, makes sense to me. I agree with you that all reading devices do not need to be multi-media devices. I think that dedicated readers will continue to have a viable nice even if slates like the iPad over take them as "the" most used eReading devices (which I think they will).

eInk is it's own killer feature. And they will always be cheaper.

Lee