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The iPad is for readers
What I've mostly been doing on the iPad is reading, because this much-ballyhooed harbinger of the future turns out to be the ideal device for that most old-fashioned of leisure activities.
With all the back-and-forth questioning whether the iPad can do "serious work" (it can), here's a great take on one of its other capabilities.
This is what I'm most looking forward to when I get mine. Yes, I plan to do most of my writing/blogging on it, but I read on my iPhone all the time, and think the iPad will be a huge leap over that already enjoyable experience.
Apple Preparing For Great eBook Experience, Amazon Preparing For... What, Exactly?
I like Amazon, and though I don’t own a Kindle I use the Kindle iPhone app often. I also love the Stanza eReader. You’d think the Amazon name, the Kindle app, and Amazon’s acquisition of Stanza would allow them to be impressive competitors to Apple in the software eBook arena, but instead I see Amazon about to get steamrolled...
Amazon Speaks: iPad Kindle App Will Be Cool, But Late
Amazon promises that the iPad version of the Kindle app it is working on will be cool, but it won’t be ready when the first Apple devices show up April 3. That’s because the e-commerce giant, like most other developers, hasn’t been able to test the app on a real device. And it’s going to wait until it can do so to finish the software.
They're stupid not to deliver on April 3. With no Kindle App why not try Apple's iBooks? Which is just what many will do.
It's hard to believe they're really waiting for the physical device to test with. Very few developers have the physical device yet there will be thousands of native iPad apps available on opening day. Besides, this is just an eReader, hard to believe the physical device will make that big a difference. Get the app in the store, and if the physical device makes a difference push an update out ASAP.
I think the real reason is that it's simply not ready. Amazon dragged their feet since the iPad was announced. They've focused on agreements and posturing with content providers, an SDK for the Kindle, and pushing out a weak beta of Kindle for the Mac. All those things should have taken a back seat to the iPad.
Only thing left is for their late Kindle iPad app to kick ass. Early looks seem promising. If the buying experience isn't significantly improved over the iPhone version, they blew it. Big time.
Good: Kindle For The Mac. Bad: Kindle For The Mac
Barnes & Noble Is Smart. Hello, Amazon? Anybody Home?
Designed specifically for the iPad," the company said, "our new B&N eReader will give our customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore
Very smart of B&N to do this; the sooner they get it released after iPad launch, the better.
Meanwhile, I've heard nothing from Amazon on their plans for the iPad. Do they have any? They seem to be too busy licking their wounds instead of modifying the Kindle app for the new device.
Hello, Amazon, say something. Do something. You should beef up Stanza while you're at it. I want as many good eReaders on the iPad as possible and you control two of the most popular. I love the iPhone for book reading; the Pad could be that much better. Don't blow this.
Stanza: The iPhone Becomes a Great E-book Reader.
I doubt the folks making Amazon's Kindle are scared, but I'm surprised at how much I'm reading books on the iPhone now that I have the 2.0 software and the Stanza application. There are lots of books or readers for the iPhone, so why did I finally settle on Stanza? There are four reasons:
- Price.
- Ease of getting books.
- Usability.
- Customizability.
Price:
Stanza is free. There's a boatload of Public Domain books out there (most of the classics) and they are free as well.
Ease of getting books:
Is downloading them right to your device easy enough for you? When you launch Stanza you get the Library screen below. (Note the item called 'Sherlock Holmes' is a category I made myself to place the entire works inside for easier access; just one of many ways to customize this app.) The 'Online Catalog' button takes you to numerous categories (type, author, etc.) of books available for download.
One of the categories listed in their catalog is 'Most Popular'. Below is the first page of that category (there are ~200 titles listed):
Clicking on any title asks if you want to download it. Say yes, and that's it. They download quickly (5-30 seconds on WiFi). Once downloaded the book opens in Stanza ready for reading.
Usability:
When reading a book, there's a lot of personalization you can use to get the pages looking like you want them. Below is a screen shot of my page (the screenshot is weak, in person the text is sharper and the background not so dark):
Notice that the iPhone's entire screen is dedicated to reading (i.e., even the "info bar" at the top of the iPhone is hidden). That's just one of the multitude of user options. Believe me, if you hate my page you'll be able to make yours completely different. You can flip the iPhone and read in landscape if you want, but I prefer to hold it in portrait. While in a book, just tap a page and menus appear at the top and bottom with a few common items, one of which is a Bookmark item that lets you move by chapter:
Other commands on the quick toolbars let you change font size, perform a search, delete the book, or get back to the Library page. When reading, you "turn" pages by either swiping left or right or tapping the left or right side of the screen. The latter can be turned off, and I did so because occasionally when changing positions I'd touch an edge and change the page. I like turning the pages by swiping; it feels natural to me. Further, you can have the page instantly change or use a slide effect. If the latter, you select how long the slide takes. I like the slide but set it to be a bit faster than the default. It now gives just the right amount of feedback on page turning.
Customizability:
As mentioned above, if you think my page sucks, make your own. Below is the settings page (found in the iPhone's Settings section, not in the app itself):
Each one of the categories provides many options. For me, the default white page is a bit bright (computer screens always seem that way to me), so I picked more of an off-white color (the one I'm using is called Navajo White). I'm too lazy to count them all but you have ~150 color choices for your page. Don't like my font? I'm using Georgia, but the two dozen or so fonts that come on the iPhone are all available. Knock yourself out. And fonts have the same color choices as pages. Font size? Just set a slider for your default, and you can easily adjust up and down within the app. But maybe you're Mr. (or Ms.) particular, so setting font, size, and color is not enough for you. You also want justified text, with more leading and a bigger margin. Guess what? You can have all those. In fact, justified text is the default, but I prefer ragged right. There are even more ways to customize it, so you should go through all the settings to see what you like.
Other stuff:
For Mac users there's a desktop application that allows transfer of files from your Mac to the iPhone. With so many freebies to download directly to the device I have not tried this. Since no connectivity is required after a book is downloaded, this makes the iPod touch a great reader as well. Download your favorites and read all you want when you're not on WiFi. Oh, and what would a new app be without bugs? I've noticed sometimes the app will stop scrolling pages. It's almost like it freezes, except I can exit the app via Home as usual (i.e., I do not have to force quit) and then open it again and it remembers where it left off. There were also a couple of times a book download times out, or I'll choose a category and it tells me to try later. Is that the app, the iPhone, or my connection? I don't know.
Conclusion:
When the Kindle came out there was a lot of talk about if it could replace the "book experience". That is, the physical act of hefting the book, "curling up" with it, flipping through pages, etc. I don't discount any of these, but I've come to believe part of why the Kindle has to compete with that is because it is the size of a book. Honestly, with the iPhone I never think about that. It's smaller and lighter than any book, and the one-handed operation with a simple flick of the thumb to turn pages is so smooth and intuitive I was immersed in reading before I knew it. I think a big key is to use the option to hide the info bar. With the entire screen taken over, and using a color/font/design of your choice, it was easy for me to forget I was holding an electronic device that also takes calls, gets emails, etc. If you're a reader, you owe it to yourself to try Stanza. Just download the thing and a couple of classics you've been meaning to read (no, you didn't read them all in college and, besides, you'll appreciate them more now) and give it a whirl.
