The iPad as a book

Since the iPad came out, I have had many inquiring people asking me about it. How do you use it? Isn’t it just a toy? Can you do work on it? … only one person recently asked, how is it for reading. Here are my thoughts on reading books on the iPad.

First – It rules. I love it. I truly discounted the idea of iBooks a lot when I heard about it. I felt the same as most do, where we want pages to turn and a regular book to curl up with. That went away when I realized the last few nights I had been plowing through Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy. A epub formatted book that I bought a long time ago, but not off the iBook Store. Each page turns the way a page would and the iPad it self is the right size to feel like you can curl up with.

Second – Everything is automatic. No more hunting for a bookmark because when you close the iBook app you go back the page you left off. I can’t remember how many times I have lost my place on in a book because of it. To add to that, there is a search function… so for educational/technical books the index in the back of the book is now obsolete.

Third – The screen can be set to any brightness. Like many people I read my books before bed. Before, I needed to have a nightlight on which sometimes is too bright for my wife. No more. Now the light can be off and I can the brightness of the iPad to whatever makes sense; either light up the room bright or just bright enough for me to read. Also, there is no more fumbling around to find the light switch.

Forth – Just like with the iPod and music… you can take every book  with you at all times. This is an amazing thing for programmers like me who have a ton of books that come in handy from time to time for reference. Those book are also (on average) 300+ pages. Taking more than 2 with you is a pain in the back. If schools do the same thing with all their books, College students will have life become much easier… just grab the iPad and get to class.

If you like to read, this is hands down the best ebook reader out there. Naturally because it does more than the others, but also everything about the iBook app feels just like a book… without real paper. Do check it out!

1. The next iPad software update will truly unlock its awesomeness
2. The iPad is a big iPhone and that is why it is awesome