Why Do I Want an iPad?

Turning a page on the iPad on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

I have resisted until now, but I broke down today and ordered one. Why? I know it’s Thursday, but I don’t have thirteen reasons. We’ll have to cut this Thursday’s Thirteen post down to a Thursday 3.

1)  Amazon just released some of the most useful interactive e-books I’ve seen. The cool thing is that the Amazon books weren’t made for Kindles, but to run on the Kindle app for Apple devices like iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. They started by offering 13 Titles. It took a couple of days to get past the fact that my iPod didn’t have the right version of software and my connection was too slow for the download, but I eventually managed to download a copy of Bird Songs. It is incredibly cool to have something I can slip in my pocket and look up bird songs when I am out hiking. Still it got me thinking this is the kind of book it might be nice to read on a screen bigger than a deck of cards. There’s also a cool guide on Paris( which I expect to need in 2012) and another one on cake baking that Bond is after me to buy.

2) I have teamed up with 3 other authors to do workshops on e-reading and this is the only major e-reader we didn’t own between us. When readers actually hold an e-reader in their hands and experience an e-book firsthand, it can completely change their opinion of e-reading. I want to be able to explain all the reader options, then let them make informed decisions about how they will read.

3)  I’m once again waking up to the sound of logging saws instead of birdsong in the morning. The only way to curb the destruction is to reduce the demand for paper.

Read E!