Who has time to read?

Like many people, about several months ago I began looking into the e-book solutions on the market or coming soon. It's difficult in our 'buy now and buy again later with new features' culture to wait for quality products and make an informed decision, but I held out and with a little experience I'm now able to reflect on this experience.

I'll start my saying I'm not much of a book nerd, I think I read more than a lot of people (more recently), but I also do a lot of audiobooks. As a result, I don't buy paper as much so I have to constantly decide what I'm going to read and what I'm going to listen too. So my purchases of e-books may be less than those of others.

The contenders:
Kindle 2
Nook
iPad

First I tried a friend's Kindle 2 and it was pretty much what people had been saying since the first version released. Great product, nice screen, light, etc. I like the chiclet design, and being linked to the Amazon store, but the keyboard is unnecessary for me, and the navigation buttons are a little backwards. Unfortunately, you can't try a Kindle in a store before you buy it, so you'd have to try a friend's like I did. All things considered though, this would have been an impulse buy for me months ago, but I wanted to wait.

The nook was the device I tried most recently while at a B&N. Very similar to the Kindle, differences being a small LCD touch screen for various controls and navigation, it feels a little thicker, and the screen may be a little smaller. Overall very nice, but there are some gaffs. I don't think cramming in a lot of extra features on an e-Ink screen is appropriate. Sudoku and chess are nice features, but the control interface and screen refresh is jarring. I don't remember if the Kindle suffers from similar feature creep.

Finally, the device I bought, the iPad. This may be a little skewed because I was going to buy a new computer anyway and this device satisfies most of my computing and reading needs. I read through the free iBooks book and with the color images it certainly provides an experience that the previous devices cannot yet provide. Also, I've been reading a real book in the Kindle app, and I've really been enjoying that. As reported elsewhere, the device is a little heavy to not rest it when reading and the screen reflects everything. However, with all the extra features (browser, apps, etc) I think this device provides the best balance in what i could use in my life.

What would be optimal?
If you didn't want a multipurpose device and only wanted eBooks, I think the Kindle is the best choice (maybe wait to see what v3 offers). Some of the features of the Nook could be integrated though, like the slick design and smaller form factor. Duct taping lots of games and features onto a reading devices should only be done if they can be done well though.

I think most people will settle on a desktop/laptop with Kindle/Nook combination. Where people like me, who have a place where the iPad fits into their lifestyle will settle on that and only get another device to be an exclusive reading device if they are book nerds. The Kindle/Kindle app makes this a great solution though.

One problem persists though...
I really really like having a library so I can look at my bookshelf and find something cool. I like looking at other people's libraries. I like letting other people see my library. These devices don't allow that in the same way and I hope we come up with some solutions to this because a lot of book recommendation systems I've looked at so far suck.

Attn: App Developers

If you develop an app with versions for both the iPhone and iPad and you do not release them as a universal app in the App Store you are a dick. There, I said it. That could have just been a tweet.

Oh, you want to know why? Here's why:

Your Excuse
"The new versions require additional work to design and implement, so you deserve more money."

I agree 100% that you deserve more money for your work, its only fair that you get paid for your work. In my opinion though, what you should do is create a universal app for sale at a higher price.

"But if someone only owns an iPhone they wont want to pay twice the price!"

Good point, but think of it like this, if the user needs an app for their phone they'll buy it, no matter what. It's a need. And if they end up with a number of apps that have all this extra functionality that they aren't using, they may be prompted to buy an iPad to get the most for their money. That means they now own 2 devices and will probably buy even more apps, including yours. This is good for Apple, it's good for the developer community, and it's good for the users.

Alternative
If you think some feature in the iPad version should cost more that it does for the iPhone, then you're probably right. Some iPad versions of iPhone apps get more features, or polish, or a redesign, and that warrants a new price tag. However, in-app-purchase is another option to enable the more robust feature set. For example, I would buy more mini-games or a graphics pack for Plants vs Zombies, but that isn't offered. Instead I now have an amazing iPad version and an iPhone version that pales in comparison, not because it's bad, but because the experience is so much better on the iPad.

Consider
If your users (your fans, the mavens who get others to buy your app) buy both versions (as fans are wont to do) they now have to manage both apps in iTunes. Great, you just gave them a chore, because if they don't manage it they will get both versions synced to their iPhones automatically.

Apps from developers that get it

• Instapaper
  
• Simplenote (Used to cost money, can pay to disable ads)
  
• Strategery
• TouchPad

Apps from developers that don't get it

• Plants vs Zombies
  
• Flight Control
• Fieldrunners
• NetNewsWire
• FingerPiano

Great apps are few and far between. If you write an app that is worth buying don't sully my experience with it.

Full disclosure: I write simple apps mostly for fun in my free time. My next app uses iPad specific APIs and will release iPad only. However, if the APIs are ever supported on the iPhone, the first update will make it a universal app with support for both devices.

New Hosting

If you are reading this, then Multiple Entendre has completed it's transition to Blogger. Previously, the site was hosted by GoDaddy, but I don't feel that I was using enough of the features offered there (and posting enough) to warrant the cost and complexity of managing my own Word Press blog. All content should have been successfully imported and all code is now hosted on my page on GitHub.

I did my best to match the previous URL format for pages, but I'm sure some links will be dead so update your links if necessary.

Also, comments are now off. It's not that I was getting spam or that I don't love you. I just don't want to moderate and contacting me via email, Twitter, or GitHub PM is a more effective way to get my attention.

Hide Google Buzz

Like many of you, I already have Facebook and Twitter accounts, so I don't see the need for Google Buzz, at least not the current version. It's a privacy nightmare, so I started looking for a way to hide it...