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I tried to study from pdf version of textbook from iPad

  • I ended up buying the textbook

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • I continue to use use the pdf verison of the textbook and study from iPad

    Votes: 6 46.2%
  • I have both versions

    Votes: 3 23.1%

  • Total voters
    13

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
Hi, although pdf version of textbooks can be downloaded easily for free, I found it dificult to study from the iPad. I may end up spending money to buy hard copy of textbooks. Anybody has the same experience?
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,832
46,277
In a coffee shop.
If I want to pay close attention to a text, I prefer a hard copy - a real book, with real paper.

Now, granted, the iPad has never appealed to me, but I do read newspapers and other texts online on my computer's screen; having said that, for serious reading, I still prefer a hard copy. Somehow, my mind and memory work better.
 

yaxomoxay

macrumors 604
Mar 3, 2010
7,390
34,168
Texas
Hi, although pdf version of textbooks can be downloaded easily for free, I found it dificult to study from the iPad. I may end up spending money to buy hard copy of textbooks. Anybody has the same experience?

Kinda. Depends on the price and how much it's actually needed for the course.
Suggestion: check the LiquidText app. It's great to take notes, highlight, and extract text and bubbles from PDF's for later review. It also allows for linking PDF notes and multiple document views.
 
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hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
With iPad, I don't need to carry heavy books and I get the pdf for free. I can also use LiquidText app (bought the pro verison but have not actually used it). However, I found it difficult to study using an iPad. It just feels "strange".
 
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jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
I much prefer the electronic version of all documents. Throw them in one of the notebook apps and I can rearrange, add, subtract, and annotate till the cows come home. I’m currently taking a class where the professor doesn’t like electronics and is big on hand outs. I feel like a caveman.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,832
46,277
In a coffee shop.
With iPad, I don't need to carry heavy books and I get the pdf for free. I can also use LiquidText app (bought the pro verison but have not actually used it). However, I found it difficult to study using an iPad. It just feels "strange".

Agreed.

They have their uses, but I would recommend (and I am a former college teacher) that you use both methods - tablet and hard copies as suits and as you need.

I much prefer the electronic version of all documents. Throw them in one of the notebook apps and I can rearrange, add, subtract, and annotate till the cows come home. I’m currently taking a class where the professor doesn’t like electronics and is big on hand outs. I feel like a caveman.

The two can exist side by side, without in any way undermining one another, just as radio still exists alongside TV.

However, I find that I actually read documents differently in different media; thus, when reading online, online, I race through a text, almost scavenging it - there is rarely any pleasure taken in reading online, rather, it is something I do because that is where I find the information in a convenient format.

But, for memorising material, I far prefer a hard copy, a book or actual paper publication.

Re "cavemen", try this: Do you find it easier to recall material if you write it by hand (I do) or when you type it on a tablet or computer?

Likewise, I, personally, find material far easier to recall if I read it in a hard copy version than if I read it online. Now, I will concede that I long predate the computer age, and was already well into postgraduate studies before the use of computers became widespread.
 

jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
Agreed.

They have their uses, but I would recommend (and I am a former college teacher) that you use both methods - tablet and hard copies as suits and as you need.



The two can exist side by side, without in any way undermining one another, just as radio still exists alongside TV.

However, I find that I actually read documents differently in different media; thus, when reading online, online, I race through a text, almost scavenging it - there is rarely any pleasure taken in reading online, rather, it is something I do because that is where I find the information in a convenient format.

But, for memorising material, I far prefer a hard copy, a book or actual paper publication.

Re "cavemen", try this: Do you find it easier to recall material if you write it by hand (I do) or when you type it on a tablet or computer?

Likewise, I, personally, find material far easier to recall if I read it in a hard copy version than if I read it online. Now, I will concede that I long predate the computer age, and was already well into postgraduate studies before the use of computers became widespread.
I’ve used tablets (Nexus 7, Surface 3, iPad Pro) almost continuously for education since 2014. Except for the Nexus 7, I’ve always used hand written notes and diagrams for my studies. For consumption of text, being able to electronically highlight, bookmark, and add integrated notes beats my experience with physical books.

And best of all, I can access those notes when needed via a browser on any device, anywhere.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,832
46,277
In a coffee shop.
I’ve used tablets (Nexus 7, Surface 3, iPad Pro) almost continuously for education since 2014. Except for the Nexus 7, I’ve always used hand written notes and diagrams for my studies. For consumption of text, being able to electronically highlight, bookmark, and add integrated notes beats my experience with physical books.

And best of all, I can access those notes when needed via a browser on any device, anywhere.

I'm a fan of dog-eared texts, and the intelligent use of an index.

But, it may also be a generational thing - I am comfortable with books and love the feel and heft of them, and the physical experience of reading them.

Reading a hard copy of a novel - or history book, or text book - is far superior to reading it online, in my experience.

However, if tablets work, - and they do work well for some - by all means, go for it.
 
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jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
We’re not so different.

Books, how I treat them today, are luxury items. If there is something of long term importance, I get the physical book. I’m rebuying some of the books I loved from my childhood for my son. Text and reference books are just resources for me.
 

annk

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
I almost always buy both versions of a text I need for a class. The digital version is great for studying when traveling, and I agree with what's been written about the Liquid Text app - it's just wonderful. It took a while to get used to using digital indexes over indexes in paper books, but now it's fine. It's great to be able to remember a certain sentence or phrase you want to cite, not remember where in the book it was, and be able to do a digital search!

After having done a bachelor and two masters before digital editions came on the scene, I found it was a huge relief to be able to choose and go back and forth in my current degree program. I don't notice a difference in the reading "feeling" I get or my retention either way, but I go back and forth so much that it would be awfully hard to tell what was what.

I'll never give up my paper Chinese dictionaries (but the electronic versions are very nice sometimes)!
 

designs216

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2009
1,046
21
Down the rabbit hole
After spending 10 hours staring at screens for the day job, the text book really appeals to me for my evening and weekend grad work. Also, hard copy works well poolside.
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
For those who go back and forth between electronic version and hard copy of the same textbook, do you double the work of highlighting and note taking on both versions? How do you sync between digital and hard copy versions?
 

annk

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
For those who go back and forth between electronic version and hard copy of the same textbook, do you double the work of highlighting and note taking on both versions? How do you sync between digital and hard copy versions?

I do copious note taking in my digital editions, and much less in my paper editions. I find the digital notes easier to use/compile when writing papers.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
Hi, although pdf version of textbooks can be downloaded easily for free, I found it dificult to study from the iPad. I may end up spending money to buy hard copy of textbooks. Anybody has the same experience?
I’ve told this story here before, but I used to be very anti-digital technical manuals (associated with aviation), until I discovered pdf searching, which was tremendously more convienent that lugging around, and flipping through an oversized 3lb brick.

And with my somewhat deteriorated vision, as far as novels go, especially large, small print paperbacks, my iPhone is now my reader of choice. I can remember the fondness I had for cradling a book, but I have mostly gotten over that, through convienence and necessity.

We are planning a trip to France next week, Normandy area with a side trip to Luxumberg and stopped into Barnes and Noble to look for a travel book. For what they offer, imo they have become obscenely expensive, in the $25-30 range for something slightly larger than a typical paperback, but with lots of color images.
 

ZStech

Suspended
Feb 3, 2019
150
32
Hi, although pdf version of textbooks can be downloaded easily for free, I found it dificult to study from the iPad. I may end up spending money to buy hard copy of textbooks. Anybody has the same experience?
I've tried to study from my iPad but my eyes... I switched back to a book because of that.
 
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