iPad as an e-reader? - Not in sunlight. Update3

Len Edgerly, host of the excellent TheKindleChronicles and TheReadingEdge podcasts, is also a long-time Apple fan, and then some.  You can read his Twitter tweets for the last two days to see just how much, as he was in line at 4:30am to get his iPad.  He loves it and has written and video'd first impressions.  The aspect that will interest readers of e-ink e-reader blogs is how the iPad does in direct sunlight, and the images borrowed for this blog entry leave little doubt on that.
  You can read the words in the original, larger image.

Len also did a video of his first impressions.  There is wind noise in the beginning but it clears up within a minute or so.  Near the beginning he shows the iPad and his Kindle (U.S.) side by side, outdoors.




Teleread's Paul Biba points us to an excellent article by Jane which, in addition to spelling out the beauties of the iPad, also draws needed attention to why it is not meant for reading in sunlight (where the Kindle does especially well).  Paul inserts the picture comparison and some text from Jane's report:

'`This is something that most reviews have skipped over:
"The iPad is fairly heavy. It weighs 1.5 pounds versus the Kindle’s 10.2 oz. Plus, it is unuseable in bright sunlight. You really, really need to have some shade to be able to see much of anything. You can see the comparison between the two. The indoor picture is the exact same screen, finger prints and all." '

The article by Jane has plenty of pro's for the iPad otherwise, so please read it.  The iBook reader app is beautiful indoors, though there is no note-making feature on it yet (doable on the Kindle app for iPad).


Since this is an image-happy blog entry, here's a delighful picture by the Denver Post.  The larger photo, slowly viewable upon a click, is done with Adoble Flash but, ironically, cannot be seen by iPad users due to lack of Flash support.

UPDATE 3 - APRIL 6, 2010 - 3:40 PM PM PST - Original posting was at 2:07 PM PST)
  While identifying the source, I somehow forgot to identify the two main people in the photo.  This is of Len and Darlene Edgerly, up early to get the iPad and enjoying what they see.  This is the same Len Edgerly who made the photos and video in the first section above, in his trials of using the iPad outdoors in sunlight.  Outside of that direct sunlight scenario, which Len and other Kindle users with iPads will be using their e-ink Kindle for, he is thrilled with his iPad, as you'll see in his Twitter stream that I linked you to.

 The Denver Post offers to let us share the larger photos from the slideshow, so I made a straight-viewable non-Flash version also, that iPad users can view.
  Your browser may reduce the size of this 950 pixels wide photo and, if so, then PC users can just press the function key, F11, to see it full screen and then press F11 again to get back the toolbars.  (You can also press "Ctrl" and "+" keys together to increase the size (PC) or "Cmd" and "+" keys (Apple).)  On a laptop you normally need to use a special function key-combo.

SUMMING UP
The readability in sunlight is a not-trivial consideration for those intending to read books outside when on errands or in an outdoor cafe or sunning somewhere.  Also almost all reviewers note the relative heaviness of this device for mainly-reading.  See the very thorough review by Melissa J. Perenson for Businessweek, which includes these aspects.

OTHER UNEXPECTED MISSING FEATURES (besides those covered earlier along with pricing analysis):
Printing
I was surprised to read that you can't print from the iPad basically - it's recommended that you send a document to a computer that will print it.  However, some are making special apps to provide printing.  I think iPad II will have a lot of features added to it.

(UPDATE APRIL 5, 2010 - 3:49 PM - Original posting was at 2:07 PM) - FURTHER UPDATE (#2) at 4:53 PM, thanks to commenters to this topic.
PDFs ARE NOT READABLE BY THE IPAD
I had actually been a little shocked to read in two places that the iPad had no native PDF support.  Thanks to Mary McManus and "Anonymous" for alerting me to the fact that apps are being sold (at reasonable prices) that deal with the PDFs.

It turns out that GoodReader handles both reading of original layout and reflowing of text.  There's an iAnnotate app that lets you add notes to a PDF and there's also something called ReaddleDocs that's more expensive, but GoodReader seems the current favorite at 99 cents.  That's impressive.

Will be back with more tonight.

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See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
Also, a page of links that confine searches to mid-range priced e-books.