Reading On the iPad
First up, iBooks didn't work for me. Most of the books on my reading list were not available there. However, most of them were available on Kindle, and you can read any Kindle book on the iPad by downloading the free Kindle app. Does Amazon care that you are not reading them on a Kindle? No at all, since you are still paying for every book that you read.
So I tried reading a Kindle book: Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman. What I found is that reading on the iPad is the best reading experience there has ever been: far better than physical books of any form factor. Molly Wood did not do it any justice.
Why I Disagree With Molly
Molly's main complaint was that the iPad is too heavy to hold like a book - with two hands holding in front of your face.
My answer to this is simple: don't hold it like that! What I have found to work best for me is to set the display at a larger font size, so you don't have to hold the device close to your face in order to read it comfortably. I usually put the iPad on my lap flat:
or slightly till it toward me by crossing my legs:
or propping up my legs:
This works so nice because one of the nicest features of the iPad is it's cool operational temperature - I would never do this with my Macbook Air. If I feel real lazy, sometimes I lie all the way down on my side and hold it up side ways with one hand.
Why it's Better Than a Book
The reading experience of the iPad is decidedly better than a real book. With a book, well, you usually have to hold it up with two hands, which puts strain on your arms and your palm. If you decide to hold it with one hand, you will contort your fingers in a strange way to try to hold the pages down which will strain your palm even more, to turn a page you'd most likely still require two hands. If you hold the iPad the way I prescribed, you are not really holding it with your hands at all, so no strain, but even better than that, turning a page is a matter of a tap or a flick of a thumb! In fact, when you are sitting comfortably reading with an iPad, the only thing you'll ever have to move is one finger.
Another advantage that the iPad - and eReaders in general - have over books that is rarely mentioned is their accessibility for the visually impaired. In short: old people don't read so good. My mom returned a paperback book because the print was too small for her to read. With an eReader you can set the font size to what's the most comfortable for you.
It's All eBooks From Here
That's it. I've decided. I will never buy a book again unless I absolutely have to.
