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Ask HN: Anyone Successfully Read a Book on an iPad?

2 points by greatjackie ↗ HN
I want the iPad to work for me as a book reading device. My aging eyes need the font boost. But every time I start a book, my eyes get sore and my arms get tired. Am I missing something? I keep seeing others tweet about their great reading experiences and pronouncements of the death of Kindle.

Are there tricks I should attempt? Or should I score a big sized Kindle?

4 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 16.9 ms ] thread
aaronbrethorst
Yep, very happily. I've read a few books in the Kindle app on the iPad so far. I can't speak to the eye soreness issue, but I've mostly read in bed with the iPad on its side.
rmundo
1. Use a folio style case so you can cradle the spine on one palm or two hands instead of needing to clamp down with thumb on top and fingers below. The aluminum/glass casing is slippery, and maintaining a vise-like grip tires out your muscles more quickly.

2. Imagine you're holding a hardcover War and Peace or Lord of the Rings instead of a paperback novel. Read it propped against a desk or the covers.

3. I find my eyes feel less strained if I'm reading in a shaded but not dark room. Try adjusting the ambient light?

Hope that helps some. I'm surprised how awkward it is to surf the web on the ipad, but for reading ebooks it's almost everthing I could have wished for.

ZeroGravitas
I read a lot of actual traditional books and have never found it a particularly comfortable experience. Holding pages open, turning the pages, trying to find a comfortable position, it's not ideal no matter how much you romanticize the smell or feel or cover design of real books. I've read a few books on the train via an iPhone and found it acceptable.

But what I'd quite like is a a clamp that attaches to the back of my chair or bed headboard and loops over my head to hold an iPad, Kindle, or generic unbranded alternative in position a reasonable distance from my eyes. Then to finish off I want it to flick onto the next page via some ingenious mechanism, maybe a keyword or eye tracking (even something geeky like a bluetooth clicker remote would be good) that doesn't require to me to lift my hands to the device.

I've seen similar in hospitals for TVs (which of course would be a second function for iPad like devices). Has anyone built something like this, either for sale or just jury-rigged for their own use?

Charuru
I think the iPhone is a better reading device than the ipad. It's smaller, easier to hold in various positions on the bed or slouching. For pure reading I see no advantage in the iPad's size.

IMO, read on the iPhone or a similarly sized device.