Yes, You might say, “ya ya ya… another apple fan boy is talking licking Apple’s ass”. Maybe? Maybe not? I have to admit. At first, I dont think i will get an iPad. I was thinking. No webcam? 3G/wifi model is $130 more than the wifi version? I am not getting it.
As time goes by, I realized i was missing the point. The reason i need an iPad it’s not b/c it can go on web, check email, use apps. I can do all of the above on my laptop or iPhone.
The reasons i think it’s revolution is because I can read books on it, with COLOR.
I was amazed when i saw the Amazon kindle before. It’s slim and light, and the e-ink looks nice and comfortable for the eyes, but i never bought it. Why? It’s because, first, it’s not in color. I am a designer, and I love reading book with a lot of nice illustration or photos. Most of the design/technology book are full of photos, charts. Amazon and SONY sticks with e-ink and they only get some grey-scale images which is not really ideal for design and technology books (or even any normal non-fiction book we are reading today.)
User interface is another problem for kindle and SONY reader. Don’t get me wrong. The next and pervious buttons are looking useful on kindle, but other than that, the user interface is just what we expected in DOS era. (If you used computer long enough, you will know what i meant). It might not be bad for fiction books, but it’s really bad for reference books. We want to quick search and find the page we are looking for, access the content quickly.
Not only the color screen, the ability of handling 3D objects and smooth graphic/video playback are the essential points to make iPad stands out in digital reading. Oh, did i mention now you can finally carry all the books with you when you are in the move?
We have problem to carry the design/technology books with us because they are usually big and heavy. Carrying one is heavy enough, and i am not gonna even mentioned about the advantage wen you move to another place. Last time I moved from upstate New York to New york city. Half of the boxes i mailed were books. They are heavy and taking a lot of space. They are not good for moving or storage in a small room in NYC.
iPad provides a new platform for us to re-think and re-define “a book”. What’s a book? What kind of content can be put on a book? How are we going to carry a book? How is the experience we have with a book. How can i keep my book looks clean and nice? What if i lost my book? The answer you have now might not be the same after we are using iPad.
Therefore, I think today is a big day in history. Human has been reading for centuries. A new era for reading is coming. I wish this is a good start. No matter iPad will be the most successful reading device or not. I think it changes the way we read, and the we as human are moving forward.