Reading from the iPad

I’ve owned my iPad for a few months now, and one of the things that excited me about it was the idea of reading books with it. It is no secret that to own an iPad here in the Philippines means shelling out a significant amount of money. I have the 64G Wifi version. In deciding to get it, I had to commit to a few months of scrimping. I watch my spending until now.

I’d like to think that most expenses I make are for ‘essentials.’ So the non-essential that I could definitely cut back on was on eating out, and buying books. If you’ve read about my book buying habits, you’ll know why stopping myself from buying more would actually translate to huge savings. I told the boyfriend that it was bound to be easy – I’ve got tons of books waiting to be read, and when I ran out of those, I can just download and read ebooks from my iPad.

Well, again, refer to the post a few clicks down and you’ll know it hasn’t been that easy

I also haven’t maximized my iPad as a book reader. Not yet.

I’ve got a few apps that comes with free books to read (The Art of War included), then of course there’s Winnie the Pooh that came with ibooks upon installation. The first thing I did was try them out of course, I browsed through the books, even flipped through the pages. But I haven’t actually read them.

While at the foot spa last week and trying to read The Kite Runner, I realized how the iPad would have been the perfect reading companion right then. Why? Well they promote relaxation while having your foot spa, reflexology and pedicure. They encourage you to snooze actually, which I avoid because I’m embarrassed by my snoring. So the lights are dim, it’s actually really dark. Not conducive to reading. Since the iPad is backlit, you can read there in the dark all you want.

Where else would the iPad be a wonderful reading gadget? While on a road trip I guess. It wouldn’t matter what time it was or if everyone else in the car or on the bus was sleeping. You don’t have to turn on the lights and disturb everyone else. Your iPad lets you read, while you even provide a nightlight for the others. The iPad is wonderful for road trips in general. Equipped with 3G (or your portable WiFi device) you can navigate with the maps, or check online for roadside assistance in case you run into car trouble. Haha.

But seriously, though the iPad will never replace the actual feel of owning books, having them and flipping through real pages, and smelling them too, it is a pretty good substitute. I must read from mine soon.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you read ebooks, how does the experience compare to reading from actual print?

Image from the Apple.Com website.