iPad Experience - Day 4

Read a magazine on Zino format on iPad. Note that Tom downloaded application and magazines while still in the US. Overall, a good expereince. I chose National Geographic, an iPad interactive issue from April 10. The pictures looked as fabulous as they do when you read the magazine. And since they are about the same size, that part of the experience was basically the same. Really enjoyed the integrated video that was available in this magazine. However, since our wireless access is not working (see previous post), the integration to the internet content was not yet there. It took me about an hour to read thorugh the whole magazine. 


One observation regarding my reading process though. I spent a lot of time with the visual aspects of the stories, but found myself uninterested in the actual text that went along with it. I tended to focus on the text that was integrated into the pictures or visuals. Not sure why that was, maybe content, though the same thing happened with Spin. 


A note about SPIN. This magazine has a lot less interactive content and required the iPad to be in a vertical mode versus the horizontal mode. When horizontal, there were two pages formated for the screen. I would have needed much stronger reading glasses to read any of the small text. The feeling when looking at this way, was like reading a pdf file or some type of scanned page. But vertically, it paged OK until you hit a page which was actually a two page spread. Anyway, the point is that some magazines (i.e. magazine publishers) have invested more than others on the future of e-reading magazine content on these types of devices. I am not yet convinces yet to give up my Wired paper magazine! But I can see this device allowing for more casual browsing of magazines that today I buy occasionally for specific content.


READING/BROWSING INTERACTIVE MAGAZINES: 4/5


I also feel that as a reader, the iPad is REALLY heavy. So I tried reading the Kindle for Mac that Tom has also installed on the iPad. Not a good experience. The thing is heavy. The light in a room reflects off the screen making it hard to read. Forget reading outside. For me at least, this would never replace my Kindle as an e-book reader. If you don't have an e-reader already, than maybe this will work for you. I read ever night in bed, and the thought of holding this vertical for more than 2 minutes makes me queasy. I am an avid reader (except apparently when it comes to interactive magazines!) so I have specific rituals (not like voodoo) that come into play: reading with one hand in bed, cheating on an airplane and leaving my "device" on during take off, and reading at the beach. So, this usage for the iPad is not going to get a high score.


e-Reader (current Kindle user): 1/5

Now off to find a new router...