My iPad experience...

If I summed up my experience in trying out the iPad in one word it would be “meh”.

Let’s break that down a little more, shall we:

Pro’s:

It has interactive e-books.

Reading The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce was very cool. You could touch various objects on the screen to make things happen, have the words read to you, and even play a song on a piano keyboard! I could definitely envision a kid-friendly device with interactive e-books like this for my niece. However, I would never give my 3 year old niece a $500 iPad.

It has a touchscreen.

It has a color screen.

I can use it to read e-books.

Con’s:

I can use it to read e-books.

What do I mean by this? Well, when I want to read a book, I want the experience of reading a book. So when I read an e-book, I want it to be as close to reading a real book as possible. The features available are similar to what I have on my Nook Simple Touch Reader; note-taking, dictionary look-up, book-marking, etc. However, when I sat outside for my lunch break in the beautiful late-summer sunshine and wanted to immerse myself in the world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I couldn’t. I felt incredibly cheated that the glare on the screen kept interrupting my thoughts as I read about Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy. I kept thinking how I wish I’d brought my Nook with me instead. I prefer the non-glare, realistic-looking E-Ink to any beautifully colored screen.

While interactive books will surely flourish on the iPad, I found the normal e-book reader to be annoying. I didn’t like typing on the screen either; I prefer the tactile feel of pressing real keys. I know you can get various apps on the iPad, but it doesn’t seem to offer any features I can’t use just as well on my smartphone, and it can make phone calls! In short, I would consider it a waste of money for someone who already owns devices that serve these purposes to purchase an iPad.