The Techie: We All Scream for iPads! Or at Least, I Do.
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Mia Eaton takes a break from the topic of Twitter to explore the bookish possibilities of Apple's new iPad.
I promise to pick up our Twitter conversation next week, but I'd be totally remiss in my techie duties if I didn't write about the iPad today. I got mine on Saturday night, and by Sunday morning I was using it to read LIT slush on a bench in the sun outside my favorite brunch spot. It was pretty awesome.
Before I dive in, I need to admit I've been annoyed with people who feel the need to announce where they stand on the whole buying one thing, as if everybody had to decide right now and get all defensive about it. Speaking only for myself, I'm pretty much exactly the type of person who has to have one.
So, all I want to do is present you with information, reviews, first impressions, and more first impressions so that you can make your own decision. When I'm done, you'll either want one like you wanted a pony as a child, or you'll at least know enough about them to appreciate that the iPad is indeed an interesting step in computer evolution.
For years, the way I've used computers and devices has been a stretch of their limitations. Unless I'm working-working, laptops are too cumbersome, hot, and fragile, but smartphones (even the iPhone) are too clunky, claustrophobic, and limiting. The iPad is a wonderful intermediary computer, a bridge device that solves some problems you've thought of (like being uncomfortable reading slush while sitting at your desk, but not wanting to make wasteful printouts to take to bed) and offers a world of delight you probably haven't yet dreamed of.
If you're the type of person who bought a laptop so you could read in bed or carry it into the kitchen to follow recipes or watch Netflix, if you like to surf, chat, or Google while watching TV on the couch, if you like to play Scrabble or other games on your iPhone, if you like your Kindle but wish it did a million other things or that you weren't limited to Kindle-only eBooks, then I can tell you the iPad could well be your shiny new best friend.
Will it save publishing? No, but no one thing will. Is the key board hard to use? Not for me, but for lots of people, it is, so there's also one you can attach. Can you "create content" on it? That depends on what you mean by content.
At the very least, the iPad is for readers. Says Salon's Laura Miller, "The futuristic device provides an ideal sanctuary for the most old-fashioned leisure activity." The free iBooks app is pretty lovely, and you should also read Ryan Chapman's report. He and I both lament the continuing problem of title selection. This will remain a problem on eReaders for some time as publishers decide if and how to catch up, but the good news is three-fold. One, the iPad uses the epub format, which is open source (not tied to a specific device or retailer) and allows any work digitized in epub to be functional on the iPad. The iPad also has a Kindle app, which means if you're already a Kindle owner, you can transfer your Kindle books, and also buy new ones from Amazon and load them straight onto the iPad. A third option is that some books/works are being released as stand-alone iPad apps. All of this allows for the best of all possible, though still limited, eBook worlds. And though it sounds simple, I'm so relieved and grateful that it has a button to lock the orientation, so when you lie on your side, the page doesn't flip around trying to figure out what you want. Wish my iPhone could do that.
There are apps galore for reading whatever it is you like to read. Marvel's comic app is beautiful, and various magazines have had varying degrees of success creating iPad reinventions of their physical selves. The NYTimes app, in my experience thus far, is a real pleasure. For your charming bedtime-story-telling pleasure, there is "A Story Before Bed."
And if you're wondering how technically inclined one must be to use one, check out this adorable video of a 2.5 year old using one for the first time. Come to think of it, if you have kids, there's an amazing array of kid-friendly games and edutainment apps, and the only down side is they'll probably fight over who gets to play with it.
That kinda reminds me of me and my husband attempting to take civilized turns using our brand-new iPad, unless one of us gets our own.Share
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Some weeks ago I read that printing from what you see on the iPad was not yet possible. Do you know anything about this? I write HOW TO crafting eBooks, and all of them include graphics to print on transparencies. I'd be happy to send you a download link so you know what I'm talking about. Thank you! And thank you for this posting. I've been a Mac user since buying that first Classic II a long, long time ago.
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For my SheWriter peeps, since I last posted, I've come across a couple more insightful reviews on the iPad, from the POV of writers and readers.
So far, the Daily Kos' take most resonates with me (and he really breaks down what it's like to work on the iPad or say, can you travel with it as opposed to a laptop).
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This morning, the LA Times' by @paperhaus:
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I enjoyed this post, it provided relative information in a lighthearted format. Although I'd like an IPad I think it may be in my best interest to wait until the upgraded version and after a few more issues have been resolved. I will continue to follow the iPad's future revisions and developments.
Thanks for sharing.
Wonderfully,
Chrystal
I got a Kindle last year, and I love it, largely because it uses ink, and isn't back-lit, as computer screens are. I find reading for any length of time on a computer screen a dreadful experience, whereas reading the Kindle is no different than reading ink on a page. Thoughts?
There is a great article on Daring Fireball about the iPad that goes into loads of detail (like how it doesn't get hot, doesn't hum, is affordable, and much, much more about how it works and feels)
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Ouch! poor Eeyore!
Kerrie, my husband's a graphic designer and loves it for exactly that! I'll have to ask him which apps he likes best so far.
Eileen, that's a great question, and as you probably know, a huge can of worms. While whatever method you choose to publish is ultimately up to you and your publication goals, but be sure to do your homework so as to know what you're getting in to, and what, if any, limitations this will mean on your rights and distribution. Understanding the motivations of giants like Amazon and Apple is helpful.
As you probably know, Amazon recently had a big kerfluffle with pub giant Macmillan and lost: http:/
Check out this recent article in the NYT, http:/
Apple has a deal where they demand that any publisher selling a book through their iBookstore must offer the same price to any other outlet, which means that Amazon could no longer set its own price, which is what it wants to continue to do. Amazon also wants exclusive ebook selling rights so that they can always give the impression of having a wider selection. But Amazon is also demanding a 3-year contract, which most publishers don't like because of how fast the technology and culture of book-buying is changing (which makes sense to me, to be wary of that). http:/
The other issue with Kindle-only, is Kindle DRM, and if your contract would allow you to opt out if you choose to do so (yet a whole 'nother pile of homework).
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Now, judging from my half-week owning an iPad, buying ebooks on Amazon is familiar and $9.99 a nicer price, and pretty easy to do on the iPad. Ultimately as a consumer, I want selection and availability, but I don't want to have to re-purchase books I've already bought when (not if) the platform and electronic format change, or once I've downloaded it to X number of devices (a la iTunes or Kindle DRM). I'm not trying to say that any one company is more or less evil than the other.
So it's a tough call, and you can only do what seems best for you and your goals. It's all such new territory, and the big boys are all fighting to be top dog. The desires and interests of voracious readers, and eager publishers, like we SheWriters don't seem to wield as much heft... yet. Most books I want to read aren't available in electronic format at all. Such a bummer.
I know I've typed and pasted a lot here, but I hope it's helped some.
This Google Reader you speak of, do you mean the rumors like this? http:/
Anyone in publishing or currently have an ebook publishing experience they'd like to share? Thanks, Eileen!
As a visual artist, I also want an iPad!! The quickest, easiest way to keep drawing and show prospectives a portable portfolio!!
Looks cool. I'm wondering about the coming Google reader. I was offered a Kindle-only contract for a ms. but that seems way too limited. Yes? NO? epub advice?
Just a note to anyone interested in more specific answers or technical questions, feel free to post them here!