The iPad, as multi-functional as it is, has primarily become a gadget
that has a specific purpose for most of its owners. For most, it allows them to surf the net in
the absence of their laptops. Some use
it specifically for FaceTime, a built-in app that allows fellow iPad owners to
virtually chat while seeing each other.
There are those who heavily use their iPads to store and share their
pictures and videos in real time. Of course,
there are those who use the iPad primarily as an electronic reader. While there are manufacturers of gadgets that
specifically function as e-book readers like Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble
(Nook), and Kobo, among others, there are solid Apple fans who are willing to sell old iPads just to stay
updated with the features and apps that will enhance their experience of
reading through their iPads.
Electronic books or e-books these days have become a must-have for
bookworms. While there are those
traditionalist who insist that e-books do not give people the experience actual
books provide, more practical users don’t mind missing out on these pleasures,
as they claim reading e-books through an iPad has benefits that outweigh the
cons. For one, you can carry thousands
of books with you on your iPad, whereas carrying the same number of actual
books would be impossible, unless you want to break your back or look crazy lugging
along thousands of books. Moreover, many
people claim they read an e-book faster than an actual book. Lastly, downloading bootleg e-books, albeit
illegally, makes it cheaper to amass a library rather than buying books.
So, should you sell
broken iPad to have the new iPad that features the Retina Display for
clearer text? For e-book fans, the
answer is yes; especially since the iBooks app of the iPad has been given a
facelift and more features to delight any reader. What’s great is that iBooks recognizes a
number of e-book file types, including PDF and epub.
Amazon also has a free app called Kindle, which you can install in
your iPad. It has a larger collection of
books, which is about 700,000 and growing.
This app allows you to see the highlighted texts of other people. It also has a two-page layout when the iPad
is placed horizontally. The downside of
Kindle is that it does not recognize the rather popular epub e-book
format. It also does not open PDF files.
The Nook, Barnes and Noble’s free app, boasts of having the largest
collection of books among the three.
Most of the books available here are those that are already out of print. The nice thing about the Nook is that it
allows you to borrow and lend titles to other Nook users for two weeks at a
time. The drawback here is that it is
quite slow when loading the pages and the horizontal view does not work at
times.
With the temptation of owning thousands of titles and bringing them
anywhere you want, e-books have certainly taken the reading world by
storm. You certainly won’t regret it if
you decide to sell your
iPad for the new model so you can experience the difference.
