First Looks at the iPad - Two Videos and a Pogue

By Stephen Windwalker
Originally posted at the iReader, April 1, 2010

Let's begin ever so modestly with two videos and one review that take a useful and fairly objective look at the iPad, by reviewers who have actually had the opportunity to test drive the wifi version of the iPad for a few days. First up is the Wall Street Journal's Personal Tech columnist Walt Mossberg. He likes his Kindle, but he prefers reading on the iPad:

What Mossberg does not address is ebook price and selection, and it appears that at least for a while, the best prices and selection for reading ebooks on the iPad may be found in the Kindle for iPad app once it is released. The approach that we'll be taking, here at the iReader, begins with the assumption that most of us who want to use the iPad for reading will avail ourselves, at the very least, of both the iBooks and the Kindle for iPad apps, since both are free. Part of the mission of this blog will be to share information -- on the best content, selection, pricing and convenience from a reader's point of view -- in ways that are app-agnostic. In other words, we'll try not to be drawn into fanboi or hater camps with respect to any device, app, or company, but that of course will not keep us from calling 'em as we see 'em.

In a written review of the iPad that is featured in today's New York Times, tech columnist David Pogue is pretty positive about the iPad reading experience, but raises his eyebrows at the initial lack of selection in Apple's iBooks store:

There’s an e-book reader app, but it’s not going to rescue the newspaper and book industries (sorry, media pundits). The selection is puny (60,000 titles for now). You can’t read well in direct sunlight. At 1.5 pounds, the iPad gets heavy in your hand after awhile (the Kindle is 10 ounces). And you can’t read books from the Apple bookstore on any other machine — not even a Mac or iPhone.

Tim Gideon's PCMag has a pretty thorough, balanced, and occasionally witty review and video here, although I suspect this brief snippet may inspire a few chuckles at Amazon: "Of course, the iPad has iBooks, and they look great. It will be interesting to see if the Kindle and other ebook readers stay in the game."

Thanks for tuning in to our first post here at the iReader. There will be plenty more to come, and they will soon be available in the Kindle Store. I will also promise Kindle subscribers that fewer than 10 percent of our posts here at the iReader will include embedded videos. Whenever you do find a video or other content that will not open on your Kindle, you can go to http://theireader.blogspot.com/ on your Mac or PC and view the entire post with the embedded videos there.