iPad Exporting Notes: Does ANY app allow it?

[petermillard]

Originally Posted by bakura82

If I only designed products based on what I was personally concerned with, I would limit potential profit and user satisfaction... Part of development is understanding your user base. The features you mentioned are not hard to implement. Leaving them out is just silly.

Sure - and yet these 'easily implemented' features continue to be left out, no?

The features I desire have been brought up over and over with most of the major reader and application designers. God only know why they keep designing Frankenstein'ed devices/application with only some of features people really want.

If you say so - I've been here on MR for a few years and this is the only thread I can remember that's asked about exporting notes <shrug> As I said before, perhaps the developers have other priorities right now than cramming every possible feature into an app (feature creep and all that) - or is it really beyond the bounds of possibility that perhaps they understand their user base very well, and the simple truth may be that the features you want don't happen to be what the people want, after all?

Just sayin'

Pete

[januaryman]

Originally Posted by petermillard

Perhaps the software's being written by people who only read books?? Not everyone needs/wants to annotate, bookmark, highlight, search or even use a dictionary with their their ebooks - I don't - even if you see these as core requirements of a reader application. Which isn't to say that the developers are right not to accommodate these features, but perhaps they want to concentrate on making a good reading app to start with?

You don't say which reading app you're using, but perhaps you could petition the developers to add the features you need?

Cheers, Pete

Point taken, Pete, that some folks just want to read through a book as quickly and unencumbered as possible - I do myself, for say a Lee Child novel, or similar. Good reads, not much to annotate. But if the ebook offers more limits to the total reading experience than a paperback, then it has lost some of the luster. I can mark up my books, scribble in the corners and pass the book on to others to look at and to read my scribbles, see my highlighted passages. You can "kind of" do that with an assortment of these readers, but there is no one solution that will do whatever the reader/user wants.

My apps--
I have Kobo, which cannot search (the only reader I have that lacks this ability), takes long to load chapters and some pages, but can be used as a social networking tool, opening new avenues of discussion. An interesting new concept.

I have iBooks which is pretty good, but I've found the dictionary to be useless, as when I come upon a word I'm not familiar with, iBook has a similar difficulty. I really have not used ibooks much.

The Nook app is similar in limitations to the iBook, but I like being able to get the B&N ebook editions of some classics that contain interesting forwards and essays. I rank this just below Kindle.

Kindle is my favorite, as it is easiest to use, fastest, and the dictionary is in a class by itself. Always useful.

Still, as the OP pointed out, not export feature for the notes or highlights. Why not some "sidecar" type file that can coexist with the actual book file, as in image Raw files, that keep track of related meta data? That way we have all that info at least available to us. Not being a software designer or developer, I can only wish for functions and suggest similar usages I come across. Still I'm hopeful that the changes we seek will show up. Eventually.

[bakura82]

Originally Posted by petermillard

As I said before, perhaps the developers have other priorities right now than cramming every possible feature into an app (feature creep and all that) - or is it really beyond the bounds of possibility that perhaps they understand their user base very well, and the simple truth may be that the features you want don't happen to be what the people want, after all?

You could be right. But then again, the iPad isn't an e-reader. Apple may try to market this ability, but it really isn't optimized for that task. (I am not talking hardware. I am talking about the severe limitations of iOS.)

Anyway, I really didn't mean to start a commotion. People are happy with their iPads and that is good for them. I have just been so incredibly frustrated with it because I realize it is more of a gimmick and toy than a device for [my] practical use. I also happened to be more tech savy than most and I know it's capabilities. It tears me up when Apple kills this device with all the unnecessary restrictions as they do. I now understand why jailbreaking community is so large.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by bakura82

You could be right. But then again, the iPad isn't an e-reader. Apple may try to market this ability, but it really isn't optimized for that task. (I am not talking hardware. I am talking about the severe limitations of iOS.)

Anyway, I really didn't mean to start a commotion. People are happy with their iPads and that is good for them. I have just been so incredibly frustrated with it because I realize it is more of a gimmick and toy than a device for [my] practical use. I also happened to be more tech savy than most and I know it's capabilities. It tears me up when Apple kills this device with all the unnecessary restrictions as they do. I now understand why jailbreaking community is so large.

Why sweat an iPad if you're technical and free to use other devices that will serve you better?

For someone like me, who's not interested in messing with tech, iPad is a great device. If you're technical, you can jailbreak and mess with it, or you can ditch it and move on.

Seems silly to angst about a company because it makes products you don't want. Apple (or any other company) isn't obligated to serve every customer. Seems to me that it targets a certain customer base and makes good money doing it. Of course Apple and iPad aren't for every customer. Neither is any other tech company. There's plenty of tech stuff I wouldn't buy. That doesn't mean there's no value in that stuff; it just means they won't get my money.

[bakura82]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Why sweat an iPad if you're technical and free to use other devices that will serve you better?

Honestly? I was given the device and wanted to give it a chance. I tried in vain to make the device practical for my family and it just continues to disappoint. I want to like it though -- really.

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

For someone like me, who's not interested in messing with tech, iPad is a great device.

Your satisfaction is a good thing. You shouldn't own it otherwise.

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Seems silly to angst about a company because it makes products you don't want. Apple (or any other company) isn't obligated to serve every customer. Seems to me that it targets a certain customer base and makes good money doing it.

Most of my angst comes from how I see Apple as taking advantage of people through great marketing. Think of the elderly person who is sold a $1500 computer when all they needed and wanted was a computer that would only cost $250. Or how about the woman who needs an oil change and ends up paying an extra grand for work she never needed... and was only partially complete?

What may seem silly to you is very frustrating for developers who have you in mind. An example is word processing. There is no free alternative on the iPad and there never will be if iOS remains as it is. People like those wonderful folks over at OpenOffice.org cannot port their code because the operating system is too restrictive as is the requirement of objective-C language only. Apple tries hard to manage its platform because free alternative go against their business practices.

This tech angst may be silly, but it's a real bummer for developers who want to open things up for folks and truly put the consumer first.

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

If you're technical, you can jailbreak and mess with it, or you can ditch it and move on.

Jailbreaking is always a solution. Unfortunately, you are punished by a broken warranty, no support, and the chance that a future update can't be hacked.

You're probably right though. I'm just silly. Sorry for the venting. All I wanted was to export annotations. But, I guess expecting that much is expecting too much.

[arcadata]

@bakura82,

With the Kindle, the annotations are stored in a file (with extension .mbp or .tan) that has the same name as the book file. I haven't checked, but wouldn't the Kindle app save them the same way? I'll have a look later to see if the app also saves the notes/highlights in the same way as the actual Kindle.

[bakura82]

Originally Posted by arcadata

@bakura82,

With the Kindle, the annotations are stored in a file (with extension .mbp or .tan) that has the same name as the book file. I haven't checked, but wouldn't the Kindle app save them the same way? I'll have a look later to see if the app also saves the notes/highlights in the same way as the actual Kindle.

I believe I remember reading that it does save the information. Unfortunately, the Kindle App doesn't support any of my ePubs. :/

[Maggie Leung]

bakura, I think you're assuming that people buy from Apple because they don't know better. In a sense, you're right, because some people are frazzled by tech, so they turn to Apple. There are plenty of people who buy Apple stuff because they don't care to mess with tech, too. I can't speak for anyone else, but in my case I could mess with tech stuff. It would take me more time and aggravation, is all. In both instances, buyers are paying for convenience. No need for others to "protect" us from ourselves and parting with our money.

My in-laws are the kind of tech-inept people you're probably worried about. They tend to get themselves in computer jams and then not know how to get themselves out. Every so often, they call my techie husband in another state and have at times asked him to fly in to help. For their sake and his, they'd be better off buying Apple stuff. The time and aggravation they've wasted on PCs has cost them, just not money.

One way or another, people who don't know tech pay. They can pay through money, inconvenience, time and/or aggravation. Apple offers consumers the choice of paying money for convenience. There's nothing wrong with that. People pay for all kinds of services they could do themselves, yet choose not to.

To attribute all of Apple's success to marketing is silly. I bought my first Apple product during iPod's 5.5 generation, for instance. I apparently didn't fall into Apple's marketing clutches before, lol. I've never owned a Mac, and I don't plan to.

If Android devices end up offering the user experience of Apple, I'll give 'em due consideration. At this point, the Android market is the Wild West. I read about people who buy Android devices running into problems just getting to the Android Marketplace, or having problems with various versions of Android that read like a dessert menu. No thanks for now.

[bakura82]

Thanks for your thoughts Maggie. I am very glad for you and others who are satisfied.

[MelC]

I have completely lost the train of why Apple is to blame for the fact that no developer has created the app that satisfies yhe OP's needs... Apple is responsible for the hardware which is clearly suitable for this purpose. They also have an app which comes close but doesn't yet quite meet the OP's wishlist. Other developer's are in the same boat. While Apple does exert control over developers this is not a feature likely to be blocked by them as exhibited by programs like iAnnotate with this capability. So a lack of this feature means the developers haven't yet appreciated the need or otherwise can't be bothered. Not sure how you leap from this to the iPad is a useless novelty? I use it for work all the time. If you are so tech oriented and eager to take the time to mess around to solve the problem presumably you can find a way to port your file into a format other than epub that can be used with one of the apps that has the functionality you need until such time as the epub platform developers catch up.

Just the 2cents of a satisfied iPad owner who doesn't expect it to magically grant all of my wishes instantaneously.

[bakura82]

I am very happy that you are satisfied, MelC. Unfortunately, I will not be elaborating further on opinions of Apple and/or the iPad. I have since sold it and purchased two devices that bring my wife and I more satisfaction. Now that makes three of us satisfied. Thanks for your input.


For those who visit this thread seeking answers to whether an iPad apps can export annotations, the simple answer is "not as you would hope." iBooks will export notes through email (no highlights). Stanza will export one note at a time (no highlighting), but there is a high probability that development will not continue much longer with the app.

As of now, the iPad cannot perform the function of a device such as the Sony PRS line which can export a document with all your notes, highlights and scribbles with the click of a button.

Good luck to those seeking this feature and happy reading to those enjoying their iPads.

[MelC]

As a further addendum to your cautionary note to those seeking this information, the OP is only commenting with respect to the current state of apps for the epub format. IAnnotate and Goodreader and several others will perform this admirably for pdf documents and although I have never used it another poster appears to have confirmed that this also can be done with kindle format.

[bakura82]

I was focused on ePub, but what I said above pretty much applies to most formats aside from Amazon books and PDFs.

I believe the Kindle App will upload annotations to Amazon some how, but I haven't investigated how well that works since I don't use a Kindle.

And like you, I have heard, iAnnotate and Goodreader work really well with PDFs.

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

You didn't think it would be easy, did you?

(slouches over, pulls pants waistband up, and assumes best "Grandpa" voice) Why, back in MY day, we didn't have any of this here e-mail, fancy-dancy iOS stuff. If you wanted to e-read, it was PalmOs and you liked it! Annotations were hand written! On a piece of PAPER! (wanders off muttering and drooling)

now there you youngster don't forget to adjust your Depends. I need to wander off and find where my "good teeth" got to.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by snipenekkid

now there you youngster don't forget to adjust your Depends. I need to wander off and find where my "good teeth" got to.

Hey! You get off my lawn, you whippersnapper you!