iPad, FIRST MUSINGS ON THE NEWEST CREATION FROM APPLE

I have been deluged with emails (spam) about this new gizmo from  Apple and I thought perhaps I should say something about it here.

In common with most reviewers of the iPad (what does that lower case "i" stand for?), I haven't yet had the pleasure of actually holding one in my hands and putting it through its paces, so I have to rely on the acres of loving verbiage (Apple owners) and less loving verbiage (PC owners) that is spreading like some dreadful disease over the net just now.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

My first impression when I saw its specifications was that it is actually a rather wonderful machine, as it appears to have all the capabilities of a real computer, without the size and weight of even a laptop.   However, on further reading I discover that most of the computer functions -surfing and so on, are  somewhat limited in scope, or in several surprising ways absent. (no built in camera, no Flash support, no built in WiFi support, no expansion memory slots and the list goes on and on........)

WE ARE eREADERS HERE, NOT ACTUALLY NECESSARILY COMPUTER USERS.........

Anyhow, our interest here in this machine is whether or not it is a serious contender in the eReader market, and on this I am completely sure it isn't even a starter.  It is too big, you have to use the screen to turn pages, it is a normal backlit computer screen, which as we all know, isn't the same at all as electronic ink, it doesn't support the normal formats for eBooks, but merely all the normal computer formats - doc, txt, pdf and so on. 

And worst of all, its battery will only power it for about 10 hours, and you can bet that in reality it works out at much less.   Whilst this is better than a laptop, it isn't even on the same planet as any eReader currently on the market.

WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE KINDLE?

For some reason all the various comments I have read about this aspect of the iPad compare it to the Kindle, it is very odd how almost all such reviews on computer websites seem to ignore all the other serious competitors to the Kindle and talk as if the Kindle is the only eReader that needs to be taken seriously. 

Doubly odd when you consider that the Kindle locks its users into buying books from Amazon (Only reading Amazons own format), whilst the rest of the vast and growing world of eReaders mostly support multiple formats,and almost all support the ePUB format.

MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

There is a general feeling that the large screen size and the fact that it is in colour will make the iPad an extremely good machine to read magazines and newspapers with.  I find myself in agreement with this thought, since even the kindest soul in the world can't deny that images on most eReaders are a complete disaster still.  

We are back in the early days of computers with their 16 grey tones still.   But I am sure that electronic ink will develop in a reasonable time to give us colour too.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

I think this machine will very rapidly become as important as the iPod and iPhone have become, as it obviously has a large range of perfectly sensible uses for a lot of us, but I agree wholeheartedly with those reviewers who say "Hold tight, wait for the second or third version of the iPad before buying, as by then probably the missers in the current version will have been corrected".   But I don't think it will ever be a serious contender in the eReader market, as it simply isn't an eReader in the general sense of that word, nor can it become one without undergoing a complete redesign.

APPLE'S WEB PAGE FOR THE iPAD:

SHARE WITH  US:

If you have managed to actually play with one of these new toys, or have feelings about it, preferably in the context of eReaders, I would be very happy to hear them.   Simply put your thoughts into a comment box, and we can all share them with you.

SOME QUESTIONS AND MUSINGS ON eBOOK READERS BY A SCEPTIC

Introduction:  

I have asked a number of my friends if they would give me their thoughts on eReaders and associated matters. Here is the first of them, in what I hope will be an occasional series of postings.  I shall be interested to hear your reactions to Jolyon's musings. 

My immediate reactions I shall place in the comments form below.

THE MUSINGS OF JOLYON HAVINDEN.

Over the past few months, I have become increasingly aware of the phenomenon  of "electronic books".  Thus far, my knowledge of this subject is patchy in the extreme, consisting mostly of snippets read in newspapers or heard on the radio.  I have to admit that my initial reaction has been skeptical for many reasons, although I am open to persuasion.

I grew up in a house full of books, of all sorts: reference, art books, literature and the classics, poetry, history, school books and so on......

Throughout my life books have been a constant, I have shelves of them all over the house, there are boxes of books over in the barn which I have read and am unlikely to read again, or are not immediately relevant but I cannot bear the notion of getting rid of them.  There is a teetering pile of books beside and underneath my bed, waiting their turn to be read;  as I finish one I turn to this heap to see which one takes my fancy as the next bedtime read.

There is the entire wall of reference books in the dining room, to which the whole family turns when looking for a recipe, trying to complete the Polymath crossword, settle some argument about an obscure historical event, or sometimes just for opening an atlas and daydreaming about some far-off destination to visit one day.

Every fortnight the mobile library calls, and I browse those shelves too, and fill my bag with titles that look interesting or informative.  I hardly dare visit a bookshop in the town - I can't afford it, I have calculated it costs me about 1 British Pound a minute at least!

All these books seem to have a life and substance which is more than just the sum of the ideas and knowledge contained within them.   They have a smell, a feel to them which is impossible to describe to others, but I know that I am not alone in this feeling.

Imagine therefore, the news of an electronic gizmo displaying books in an allegedly readable form has thrown me into some confusion.  The idea that one relatively compact device can carry, for instance, all your holiday reading, and more, is intriguing.   It sounds like the answer to so many prayers, you could be armed with a selection of bedside books, an atlas, a learned treatise on the geology or flora and fauna of the destination, and the addition of the Rough Guide for finding the evening's restaurant of choice.

Then the questions start, and the doubts creep in - what if I drop it in the bath? - what if I lose it, that's  a  whole holiday's reading and information down the tubes? - are all the titles I would want available to load into it? - how does one access all the available writing? - how much space is there on it anyway? - are there only selected titles available?

Then back home, how exactly would this device fit into my pattern of usage of books?   When researching something for work, or just, or just doing the crossword, I am given to having half a dozen books open around me, so that I can refer to them as required.   How would that work with an electronic reader?   Surely propped up in bed at night, it wouldn't feel like a proper book?

These and other questions have floated through my consciousness of late, usually prompted by something I have read or heard, and thus far remain mostly unanswered.   I will no doubt have to begin to address them;  I am not averse to gadgets and technology per se,  but I think it takes me a little while to get used to the idea of things, and then once converted, I am an eager convert.   However, I do have one admission to make, I do not generally like to read things from a screen, and will print out a long email so that I can read it "properly, on paper".

The other killer question is this; when I  visit other people's homes, I do look at their bookshelves, I note mutual interests and enthusiasms, I can discuss things and compare notes with them on the basis of what I see on their shelves - if all I can see is a shiny piece of electronic wizardry, surely these people will remain, well a "closed book" to me?

Oh dear, there's nothing else for it, I am going to have to find out more about these infernal things, and see if my questions can be answered..............

WHY eREADERS ARE SUCH A GOOD IDEA

I have often been asked by friends and people who see me with my nose deep in my trusty Sony eReader, "Why do you have that gadget, what is wrong with normal paper books?"

Right there you have one of the benefits of owning one, people talk to you, they are curious about it and want to know all about the thing.  

There is nothing wrong with paper books - I recently moved, and was astounded, and rather embarrassed to find that I filled 83 boxes with books!  I like paper books enormously, the feel and  heft of them, the smell and the warmth of them, and the way that favourite books have become old friends over the years we have been together.  I get a pleasant feeling of being among friends as I gaze at their familiar battered old covers on the shelf.

So I don't think I can be accused of not liking traditional paper books, but I also love my eReader.

Second point, an eReader isn't a gadget (or at least not in the sense of a gadget such as a pocket DVD player).  An eBook is a perfectly sensible and useful addition to anyone's library for a whole host of good and sufficient reasons, some of which I shall now enumerate:

• Lightweight
• Convenience for travelers
• Ease of buying books for it without leaving home
  
• Capable of containing more than a few books
• Access to free books
• Encouraging experimentation in what one reads (especially with free books)
• Good for starting conversations with strangers
• Ease of reading
• Easy to organise one's books in it (well, with most eReaders this is the case)
• Never to be in that horrible situation of having come to the end of a book, and still having an hour to wait for the train and not having anything more to read.

And so it goes on and on.  Those are just the advantages that I could think of sitting here after spending the morning Scuba diving, thus not at my freshest!

A further point that has just struck me; I am addicted to sitting on cafe terraces with a book and a good cup of coffee, and with my eReader I don't have the irritating problem of a strong wind flipping the pages of my book. A small point, but an important one I feel.

For me personally, the main advantages of my eReader are the ease of always having a number of unread books with me when out and about and all fitting snugly into a large pocket on my trousers or in my small rucksack, and the second great point is that I am beginning to experiment much more with the books I read.

There are so many sources of free books online, ranging from sites such as Gutenberg to the huge number of self-publishing sites, so I am busy taking risks and downloading books by authors I have never heard of, never seen reviews of or in any other way have a clue as to whether they are readable or not.

There is no way I would do this if I had to go to a book shop and pay for these books, but simply surfing the web, stumbling across a book that looks like it might be interesting, downloading it and reading it at no cost is a risk I am happy to take.   As I have remarked elsewhere on this Blog, by doing this I have come across a number of very interesting and entertaining books, some of which I shall review here in due course.

To my pleasant surprise I am finding books written by Victorian  authors - not normally a period I feel comfortable with - whose books are vastly entertaining and readable.  An enrichment of my inner life that I truly feel happy about, and I have achieved this simply by owning an eReader.

So to sum it all up, an eReader isn't a replacement for a paper book, it is an addition, and that is what a lot of critics of eReaders are not seeing.

SHARE WITH US:

As with most of my posts, I would be very happy if any of you felt moved to let me know what it is about eReaders that made you take the relatively expensive step of buying yourself one, so that I can post it here for the interest of others.