On the iPad
Apr. 13th, 2010 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraaI've had a few people ask me whether I want an iPad, and I've generally said 'no' without thinking too hard about it. Having now thought about it, I've figured out why.
(Note: This has no bearing on whether you should want, or get, an iPad. If you want one, get one! And I hope you enjoy it very much! I just don't. But people are different, you know, and that's okay. You can want one and get one even if I don't want one.)
1. E-ink. Having read on e-ink devices, I'm not going back to reading books on a non-e-ink screen. I get more eyestrain reading on my iPhone or laptop, especially in strong light, than I do with my e-ink ereader. (The iPhone, being a touchscreen, is particularly bad because fingerprints show up with astonishing clarity in strong light.) So there's that: the iPad is not a replacement ebook reader for me, becuase I want an e-ink screen on my ereader.
But more importantly....
2. I'm not getting a larger-than-a-phone multifunction device that doesn't have a real keyboard. Probably three-quarters of what I do on a computer relies on typing, often a lot of words, often very fast, via touch-typing, and for that I want a "real" keyboard. Otherwise I'll spend a lot of time going, "Well, I could do that, but it'd be easier to wait until I have my laptop with me...." Which defeats the point.
Which raises the question: what are your non-negotiables for portable electronics?
(Note: This has no bearing on whether you should want, or get, an iPad. If you want one, get one! And I hope you enjoy it very much! I just don't. But people are different, you know, and that's okay. You can want one and get one even if I don't want one.)
1. E-ink. Having read on e-ink devices, I'm not going back to reading books on a non-e-ink screen. I get more eyestrain reading on my iPhone or laptop, especially in strong light, than I do with my e-ink ereader. (The iPhone, being a touchscreen, is particularly bad because fingerprints show up with astonishing clarity in strong light.) So there's that: the iPad is not a replacement ebook reader for me, becuase I want an e-ink screen on my ereader.
But more importantly....
2. I'm not getting a larger-than-a-phone multifunction device that doesn't have a real keyboard. Probably three-quarters of what I do on a computer relies on typing, often a lot of words, often very fast, via touch-typing, and for that I want a "real" keyboard. Otherwise I'll spend a lot of time going, "Well, I could do that, but it'd be easier to wait until I have my laptop with me...." Which defeats the point.
Which raises the question: what are your non-negotiables for portable electronics?
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Date: 2010-04-13 07:01 pm (UTC)I'm not sorry I got the DX (cf. your point #1), but I do wish (a) you could use a real keyboard with it, and (2) they wouldn't hobble its potential functionality. You should be able to highlight and annotate and do everything else with an OCRed PDF that you can do with a Kindle book. I'm willing to bet that these functions aren't enabled not for technical reasons, but because they want people to buy a Kindle book instead of obtaining a PDF... this is just ridiculous if they really want the student market--students need to be able to work with PDFs that they're given.
Well, that was an unexpected rant. :) I must be procrastinating.
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Date: 2010-04-13 07:08 pm (UTC)The main thing I want in Kindle is foldering, damn it. I'll buy a new one if they introduce folders!
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Date: 2010-04-13 07:10 pm (UTC)