iBook App for Ipad

[LaterGator]

I'm wondering whether anyone knows whether the iBook app for the iPad will have anything like "text to speak" like the Amazon Kindle has?

 

[Sparkee]

Not sure about that, but I'm sure text to speech will be available if not now but later. Apple seems to be pretty good with accessibility features.

I do hope magazines and newspapers are able to provide downloadable content through the iBook store eventually. I think the newspapers and magazines would be nuts if they didn't. It needs to be able to download a daily newspaper or magazine for off line reading like ebooks before I'll get one. I frown upon the idea of this size of a device earlier, but to get your daily newspaper with full color pixs intrigues me. I would jump on a Times, Macleans or similar magazine subscription if I could download and read it in full color, off line and in a format similar to the print version.

 

[astroman33]

I concur. What would be good is if you could set up various apps to automatically fetch content when you wake up the device. That way, after a couple of minutes, your newspapers and magazines would be up to date and ready to read!

Add in auto info fetching for other apps-- such as astronomy picture of the day, satellite flybys, RSS feeds, etc.--would be really useful!

 

[wyneken]

Well, it's revealing that one of Steve Job's first moves after the product announcement was a secretive (though copiously leaked) trip to New York to meet with newspaper and magazine publishing executives. I would guess that he shares the widespread feeling that these lumbering print media folks haven't yet grasped the possibilities of this kind of platform. (The NYT may be the big exception here.)

It'll be interesting to see whether some of the early exploitation of the iPad comes from outside North America. The German mag Die Zeit, just to name one, has always been new-media savvy. In my experience, one thing that magazine editors are always aware of -- even if they're generally slow to take note of emerging technologies -- is what's going on at other magazines.

 

[kornchild2002]

EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) is coming back but they are offering a series of different subscriptions. One is a basic 12 physical issues while others add digital magazines to those 12 physical one. The different levels are kind of confusing but I know that I would definitely pay a flat $24 to receive all of the digital releases from EGM through an iPad.

I hope that newspaper and magazine companies start offering content digitally through the iPad. Some have already done this through the Kindle but I imagine that Apple is a bigger media company than Amazon and has more influence. Amazon has done great with the Kindle but I have seen companies change their way of thinking because they wanted their media/products on an Apple device.

I know that I would like to subscribe to a newspaper from back in New Mexico despite me living in Cincinnati, OH. I could then subscribe to a series of different gaming magazines all from one device. The nice thing about the iPad is that the color backlight panel would offer a better viewing medium for newspapers and magazines than traditional e-ink displays. Color photos will actually be in color. Gaming magazines could actually integrate trailers and gameplay footage into the magazines.

 

[neomonkey]

that might be the seller to me being able to buy gaming mags and other things like that for a flat rate ( for each one i know ) since it wont have a web cam or usb port on it. plus my GF is in college and if she can get text books from the ibook store and not have to carry those 10lb books (4 books = 40lbs = a hurting back for her ) that is another seller to me

 

[wyneken]

Think about how cool sports magazines could be.