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Who reads books on their iPhone?

Since my iPhone is almost always with me, I read a lot on it ( kindle app). However, I read on my iPad and my Kindle. It's great to a lot of options. The iPhone's retina display is great. Even after several hours, I do not get eye strain. For outdoor reading, nothing beats the Kindle. For in bed reading, I use a light with my Kindle. To me, the iPad is a good Ereader but isn't as ergonomic.
 
Hemmo said:
why is that?
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I currently live in Geneva Switzerland (expat Canadian) and the Apple online iBook store only has those books available. Probably don't have the copyright clearance yet or something. Same thing as on the iTunes shop sometimes has certain artists or apps only available in certain countries.
 
decafjava said:
I currently live in Geneva Switzerland (expat Canadian) and the Apple online iBook store only has those books available. Probably don't have the copyright clearance yet or something. Same thing as on the iTunes shop sometimes has certain artists or apps only available in certain countries.
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Tried it. Not too bad now that I have stronger reading glasses! :p

Must admit, though, I still like real books better. Phone is OK for relatively brief periods of time. :)
 
xkmxkmxlmx said:
I have been considering getting rid of my iPad since my phone does a good amount of what it does. The only thing I am weary about is reading books on my phone.

I have tried it a couple times and just didn't really get into it as I am just too used to the iPad. I can probably get used to it easily once the iPad is out of sight.

Does anyone read books on their phone? Do you like it? What are some annoyances? Anything you actually prefer?
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I think you mean wary or leery. Weary means tired.

I do read on my iPhone, mostly when I'm out and about and have to sit and wait. (Doctor's office, waiting for oil change on my car, etc.) It doesn't bother me much. I never read on my iPad though. I don't like reading on a backlit screen. I prefer Kindle, but if I don't have it with me, iPhone will do in a pinch.

If you are going to be doing hours of reading, I wouldn't suggest that you rely solely on the iPhone.
 
decafjava said:
I currently live in Geneva Switzerland (expat Canadian) and the Apple online iBook store only has those books available. Probably don't have the copyright clearance yet or something. Same thing as on the iTunes shop sometimes has certain artists or apps only available in certain countries.
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Use the Kindle App.
 
ideal.dreams said:
I had to read 3 books over the summer for AP English and I did attempt to read them on my iPhone 4, but the screen was too small and it just wasn't working out. Needless to say I used the actual copies rather than my phone.
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This is why a multimedia device like the iPhone really needs to go 4". It's not all about retina. As we get older it's just too difficult to read on that tiny screen.
 
I read on my 3GS from time to time. iBooks is decent enough (the selection isn't so great, but the application itself is fair). For the books I've purchased through the iBooks store, I turn on sepia and set the text to medium, and find I can read without eye strain.

I tried to read a pdf a few months ago about the Fukushima Daiichi disaster that came from CANES at MIT... it was a painful experience. iBooks did a lousy job converting it, and the text never really got big enough to read comfortably. I had to rotate the phone to landscape in order to make the text big enough to see, but then I found that turning pages was balky in landscape mode. I ended up just reading it on my laptop.

Overall, though, I still prefer paper-and-ink books. I've tried the Kindle and the Nook, and haven't been crazy about the screens. Maybe it's an acquired taste.
 
decafjava said:
I currently live in Geneva Switzerland (expat Canadian) and the Apple online iBook store only has those books available. Probably don't have the copyright clearance yet or something. Same thing as on the iTunes shop sometimes has certain artists or apps only available in certain countries.
Click to expand...

You can buy content from other places. Don't feel you have to stick with Apple.
 
eBooks are fine on the iPhone but technical PDFs just don't work well.
Screen is just too small for scaled images and text.
 
When waiting in line for something, I do read books on my iPhone, I have couple of ebooks for just reading in line, something that I can read for 5 min than come back to it few days later, like business accounting :D
 
I read books on my iPhone 4 all the time. I use ibooks just to simply moving back and forth between the phone and the ipad while reading the same book.
 
I read FICTION books or books with just straight text almost exclusively on my iPhone. It's always with me and I have no problem even reading the default sized font. The only issue is direct sunlight, which is a common problem for most backlit devices.

However, the iPhone is just to small too read most technical books, such as programming books or any book with embedded program code, pictures, etc. It also is not great for PDF, since things get pretty distorted pretty quickly. The iPad handled both of these very well, although I've yet to find a book reader where I can reduced those way too big margins on the iPad - in the iBooks, Kindle, Nook, etc apps, this is never adjustable.

Tony
 
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I read books on my iPhone and before that I read them on my Treo. Both were fine. On the Blackberry it feels clumsy though. To me. Books are better on the iPad and even better as actual books. For some reason I find reading books quite sucky on a laptop or desktop computer.
 
I do. Not that I have an iPad to compare but I think I'd prefer it on the phone.

Why?

The reason everything ties down to: I can hold it with one hand. That's the big reason I even like ebooks over paper books even when I'm not traveling.

It's easy to read in bed cause it's easy to hold in one hand, or do something with the other hand cause I can hold it (and change pages) with one hand.

I don't think the iPad would be the same.

It doesn't bug my eyes to read the small screen but I admit it would probably be better on my eyes in the long run to be reading it on a Kindle or iPad sized screen.
 
I tried this, but it's hard with the small text and the x1000 additional page turns. I just use my Kindle since I usually only read at home anyway.
 
Just finished reading Sex on the Moon on my iPhone. Like others said, you just gotta get used to the text size, and turning pages more frequently.

Next up on my list, Now You See Her.

Edit: I've also got a Kindle, but I prefer the iPhone many times due to the backlighting (I like to read in bed before falling asleep, without having to turn the lights on/off. Plus when its dark in the room, I invert the colors on my phone with 3 Home taps, so I've got white text on black background. I find thats easier on the eyes at times).
 
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I've been reading the Harry Potter Ebooks. Sure, I have to flip the pages somewhat often but it's only a quick swipe - and it's perfect for train rides to and from wo rk! I'm finding it a LOT more usable and useful than I would have ever imagined. I just finished 2 books and am onto my third, so it's clearly not that bad.
 
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