Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs

PDF. ePub. Kindle. iBooks. eBooks. Nook. eInk. Web Browser. Laptop. Audiobooks. For over 10 years, I have been trying to move to an all-electronic workflow for reading and consuming books, especially technical books. It started when I was a consultant traveling in planes to a variety of locations all over the US and internationally. Even when I was working locally, I had a 3+ hour commute daily for a number of years.

One of the first things I did was switch to listening to audiobooks (via Audible) for my long daily commute via car. It not only kept me more alert, but I was able to read 3-4 unabridged books a month while I drove. But I also had to carry around a work and a personal computer on the plane. With that plus a week’s worth of clothes and other project support files, it didn’t leave much room for printed books. I was often reading 4-5 different books or using them as references at any given time. I also wanted to take them back and forth with me, since I would be working often when I was back home, several states away.

Something had to be done. I was sick of buying multiple copies of large, expensive technical books (often for $40 – $50 each, and over 500 pages each) to keep at the client location and home, and I couldn’t schlep them back and forth all the time. Plus, technology books quickly become obsolete as technology advances. I had a huge library of books sitting at my house taking up space that I no longer read.

So, one of my first big moves was to start looking for books in PDF or some other electronic format. One of the first technology publishing companies to make books available in electronic format was O’Reilly. They had a set of excellent CD Bookshelf series that were a set of books in HTML format on CDs. O’Reilly then pioneered Safari Books Online, which was the bulk of their books (and now many other publishers) online in HTML format. You could also download PDF chapters of books as well, in addition to full-text searching. But I wanted to be able to take books with me, but in electronic format as well. Sometimes I didn’t have an outside Internet connection at client sites.

Along came the Pragmatic Programmers who started printing new books in PDF format without DRM. O’Reilly quickly joined in, and other tech publishers, including Manning, now support PDF, ePub, and Mobipocket format. Now I can read most of my books on a variety of eBook devices. Having ePub and Mobipocket formats allow me to read technical eBooks on small eBook devices such as the Kindle, Nook, or Sony Readers. However, some publishers only have books in PDF format. PDFs are essentially “images” in that they mimic a printed page. Sure, some devices have experimental reflow support to allow you to view the text content on smaller devices, but it’s still a suboptimal experience.

So last year, when Amazon announced the Kindle DX, I thought it would be a perfect solution for me. The ability to read eBooks and PDF files natively had me hoping that it would be the only eReader I would need. In practice, however, the PDF reading experience was not very good. PDF files have margins (for printing) and the book content itself was too small. When the iPad was announced, I immediately knew that it could solve an issue that is extremely important to me: being able to read technical eBooks and PDF files.

If at all possible, I read my tech books in ePub format. This allows me to use a variety of reading devices, but also change font sizes and even fonts, depending on the device. I was delighted to see that the iBooks app natively supported ePub books from one’s personal library in addition to the books available in the iBookstore. Simply import the ePub files into iTunes and they show up under the Books section of iTunes and you manage it like any other iTunes content. You can choose to put all or selected ePub books on your iPad.

Here are just two pages of my list of ePub books (from O’Reilly and the Pragmatic Programmers) in the iBooks application:

So how do the actual books look in the iBooks application? GREAT. I see full color, can resize text, quickly jump anywhere in a book from the table of contents, and even add bookmarks. Unlike a regular book I would read for pleasure, with tech books, I often have to quickly skim to find what I’m looking for. With an eInk screen, this isn’t possible due to the delay in page turning. In the iBooks app, however, I can quickly skim pages visually and find exactly what I want by turning pages as quick as I want. The iBooks application is beautiful, stable, and a seamless reading experience. Bookmarks show up as a highlighted section of a page:

(The highlighted title is because this page has been bookmarked)

So for my ePub books, I’m in love with iBooks and it will be my go to device for reading those books. Now what about PDF files? The iPad has a large enough screen that PDF files are very readable. As I mentioned in How To View PDF Files on an iPad, GoodReader allows me to view PDFs natively on the iPad:

It’s sort of hard to just show you a screenshot of what a PDF looks like full-screen with no frame of reference. So how about a side-by-side shot? The following images are of Painting the Web, by Shelley Powers, published by O’Reilly Media.

(A printed version of Painting the Web, next to the PDF version in GoodReader on the iPad)

So you can see that from a printed book perspective, the PDF on the iPad looks great. It has very good color and is approximately the same size. For reference, I have a standard letter size piece of paper (8.5″ x 11″) under the iPad.

How about in comparison to an actual printed PDF? Since a letter-sized page is larger than the physical printed book from O’Reilly, what does that look like?

The two photos above show you the printed book next to the ePub version in iBooks. The iPad is excellent for technical books, in ePub format on the iBook application or in PDF format in GoodReader. Both types are equally readable and I don’t feel that the screen is cramped compared to a printed book or printed document on letter-sized paper.

The following two images show Painting the Web in GoodReader in PDF format with and without navigation controls and the third image shows it in ePub format in the iBooks application.

Conclusion

All I can say is that reading technical books and other eBooks on the iPad FAR exceeded my expectations. I can read all of my books (PDF or ePub) easily and the size is just perfect for it. Page turns are fast and responsive, and once I’m in a book (which I can get to quickly), the interface totally melts away and all I see is the content. I hope that this gives others enough of an idea of what books look like on the iPad and how excellent the experience can be.

I have a few additional images of a variety of books in the iBooks application, as well as in GoodReader, along with all other images in the review.

About the Author

Gear Diary Staff

Gear Diary was founded on September 30, 2006, with the goal to create a website that would not easily be labeled. Everyone who is part of Gear Diary is a professional who uses technology in their work and daily lives. On this site, we share our enthusiasm while exploring the gear we use — the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable. Our hope is that Gear Diary visitors find this site to be a welcoming, friendly, and accessible place to learn about and discuss interesting topics — and not only those that are tech-related! Gear Diary is a place to discover and explore all kinds of new gear, including smartphones, computers, kitchen gadgets, Toys, EDC, camping gear, or even your next new car! You can follow us on Twitter @GearDiarySite.

73 Comments on "Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs"

davisesq212 | April 13, 2010 at 3:08 pm |

RT @geardiary: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 3:10 pm |

My latest @geardiarysite post: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs – http://bit.ly/9fIoAP
McGeneral | April 13, 2010 at 3:22 pm |

gbmiii [ff] – Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://ow.ly/173NPQ
topsy_top20k | April 13, 2010 at 3:22 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://goo.gl/fb/PhnLG
George McClellan | April 13, 2010 at 3:22 pm |

gbmiii [ff] – Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://ow.ly/173NPR
Bruce Keener | April 13, 2010 at 3:25 pm |

RT @geardiary: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF … a really super article by @trhall
Judie Lipsett | April 13, 2010 at 3:27 pm |

RT @keener: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF … a really super article by @trhall
Bruce Keener | April 13, 2010 at 3:30 pm |

Thomas, what a fantastic review my friend. You know what a book hound I am and I have been wondering how good the iPad would be as an ebook reader. Thanks for showing me that it would suit all of my needs far better than I expected.

Great article.
Guyver's Tech Help | April 13, 2010 at 3:32 pm |

#Tech Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs …: O'Reilly quickly joined in, and other te… http://bit.ly/91z2SO
Breaking Gadget News | April 13, 2010 at 3:35 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/bhAxuU via http://topicfire.com/Gadget
Apple Core: News! | April 13, 2010 at 3:39 pm |

geardiary: Books on iPad: Comparing Printed Page to ePub and PDFs – http://bit.ly/9MWd7t
Judie Lipsett | April 13, 2010 at 3:42 pm |

Amazing writeup! Thank you Thomas!! :-))
Hugo Londoño | April 13, 2010 at 5:38 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/c2rFzp
?? | April 13, 2010 at 5:58 pm |

? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
lee hyo sik(???) | April 13, 2010 at 6:04 pm |

???????? !RT @Premist: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
Randy Murray | April 13, 2010 at 6:20 pm |

RT @geardiary: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF
mk0506 | April 13, 2010 at 6:30 pm |

?? ?? ?? RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
??(joone) | April 13, 2010 at 6:33 pm |

???? RT @Premist ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
Chul Kwon, Kang | April 13, 2010 at 6:34 pm |

RT ? ???? ?? @Premist ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
??? KraZYeom | April 13, 2010 at 6:39 pm |

????? ????? RT @_2c: RT ? ???? @Premist ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 6:48 pm |

RT @GearDiarySite: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://goo.gl/fb/PhnLG
?? | April 13, 2010 at 6:50 pm |

?? ??????? ??? ??? ???…..RT@Premist ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Eric Huh | April 13, 2010 at 6:53 pm |

? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins /via @Premist ????!! ? ????? ????.
Jang young jae | April 13, 2010 at 7:02 pm |

RT @death2life2: ?? ??????? ??? ??? ???…..RT@Premist ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 7:04 pm |

@Bruce Keener – Thanks! In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words. I think you would find the iPad very suitable for consuming content!
twin | April 13, 2010 at 7:05 pm |

RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
twin | April 13, 2010 at 7:07 pm |

??????(?) ? ?? ?? ?? ????.. RT @cookins ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 7:11 pm |

@OReillyMedia @TimOreilly Lots of your books showcased in my eBook/iPad article: http://bit.ly/9fIoAP Hope you don't mind! Love your stuff.
TongHyun Kim | April 13, 2010 at 7:24 pm |

??? ?? ???. IT????? ipad ???? ????? ?? RT http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
Bruce Wang | April 13, 2010 at 7:27 pm |

RT @crowdy: ??? ?? ???. IT????? ipad ???? ????? ?? RT http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk /via @cookins
techobsessed | April 13, 2010 at 8:46 pm |

Once DRM goes away I may buy more eBooks, but for now the printed word is transferrable to other owners, still decently prices and easily accessible at tens of thousands of bookstores.
allennoren | April 13, 2010 at 9:03 pm |

Fantastic write-up, Thomas. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I’ll be sharing it with my colleagues at O’Reilly. I too much prefer the iPad reading experience and will gladly forfeit the eink display for the added usability and web experience. I have a question for you, though. Many people have told me they prefer reading our ebooks on their workstation because of the ability to cut and paste code into a working window. The iPad is still a step away from most developers workspace, and I’m curious what you have to say about that.

Thanks. –Allen
??? (Bokyoon Kim) | April 13, 2010 at 9:21 pm |

???? e?? ??TV?? ??? ???? ???.. RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Malvin Latief | April 13, 2010 at 10:13 pm |

RT @geardiary: RT @keener: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF … a really super article by @trhall
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 10:32 pm |

The eBooks I’ve mentioned here by O’Reilly and Pragmatic Programmers don’t have DRM, which is great. Agree with you, though, on the eBook market in general. The move to electronic media makes sense for me. It isn’t right for everyone.
Thomas R. Hall | April 13, 2010 at 10:39 pm |

I can understand the copy/paste example situation. I think it depends on the person. I like the O’Reilly examples download site, where I can download all samples in a zip file. I use that sometimes when I want to copy code to test out. Also, though, I copy code via Safari Books Online or via the PDF on my desktop if needed. I store all of my books in ePub and PDF format on Dropbox so I have access everywhere. But I also love Bookworm to keep my ePub books viewable online in HTML format. Easy copy and paste and printing sections is easy as well. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!
internet | April 14, 2010 at 12:26 am |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs …: I had a huge library of books sitting at my ho… http://bit.ly/91z2SO
Thomas Meinike | April 14, 2010 at 12:39 am |

»Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs« – http://bit.ly/beSOgK
Mina Choi | April 14, 2010 at 12:46 am |

RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Outlier | April 14, 2010 at 12:48 am |

RT @flowerfor: RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
???? | April 14, 2010 at 12:50 am |

RT @SOCIOV: RT @flowerfor: RT @cookins: ? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?. http://twitpic.com/1fejz6 ? ?? ??? ???: http://bit.ly/9zoqqk
Simon Chappell | April 14, 2010 at 3:43 am |

Interesting read – Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/8XArIO by @trhall
Shelley Powers | April 14, 2010 at 7:28 am |

Comparison of my book Painting the Web, in print and on the iPad http://bit.ly/9qzkBK — iPad candy. via @simonstl
Norman Walsh | April 14, 2010 at 7:36 am |

Carrying a library like that around on a tablet is very appealing. But I think I can wait for the competition. http://bit.ly/9qzkBK
Adam Witwer | April 14, 2010 at 7:43 am |

Close look at reading EPUB/PDF on the iPad (using books from O'Reilly and Pragmatic) http://bit.ly/aKOdwj (via @allennoren). Nice details.
dino | April 14, 2010 at 8:18 am |

RT @geardiary: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF
carijansen | April 14, 2010 at 8:41 am |

Nice user-experience review by Thomas Hall: Books on iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub & PDFs. http://bit.ly/beSOgK
Jason Wilson | April 14, 2010 at 9:35 am |

Comparing books (print) to books (iPad). Good post by @trhall http://bit.ly/beSOgK
Garrett Hart | April 14, 2010 at 9:43 am |

RT @GearDiarySite: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://goo.gl/fb/PhnLG
Thomas R. Hall | April 14, 2010 at 10:13 am |

@pragdave Included some Prag book screenshots in article comparing printed books to iPad. Keep up the great content! http://bit.ly/9fIoAP
Yining | April 14, 2010 at 10:36 am |

??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
???? | April 14, 2010 at 10:52 am |

RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
number5 | April 14, 2010 at 10:54 am |

RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Dongsheng Cai | April 14, 2010 at 11:02 am |

RT @number5: RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
LEMONed ? | April 14, 2010 at 11:06 am |

RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Mac Slocum | April 14, 2010 at 11:08 am |

iPad's speed allows for book skimming. E-Ink lag can't handle that. Interesting point by @trhall http://bit.ly/cXGvCO #ipad #ipadorm
Ray | April 14, 2010 at 11:57 am |

RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Mike Livingston | April 14, 2010 at 12:02 pm |

RT @adamwitwer: Close look at reading EPUB/PDF on the iPad (using books from O'Reilly and Pragmatic) http://bit.ly/aKOdwj (via @allennor …
Eric Zhou | April 14, 2010 at 12:45 pm |

RT @yining: ??????????ipad???????? http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
?? | April 14, 2010 at 1:10 pm |

Bookmarked: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/91z2SO
f Marlon L G | April 14, 2010 at 1:54 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/beSOgK
LBSources | April 14, 2010 at 3:02 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs: http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Diana Passy | April 15, 2010 at 2:03 pm |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs – http://bit.ly/bOp8Ho (com fotos p/ comparação)
John Bond | April 15, 2010 at 2:58 pm |

Geek reading on the iPad. This guy gives the run-down… read on.

http://bit.ly/bghdn6
Paul Chester | April 15, 2010 at 2:58 pm |

RT @bostonmerlin – Geek reading on the iPad. This guy gives the run-down… read on. http://bit.ly/bghdn6
Andre Luckow | April 15, 2010 at 3:23 pm |

Thinking about getting an iPad as eReader: http://bit.ly/dh3qH5 – really looks like a great device for this purpose.
so_white | April 17, 2010 at 10:38 am |

http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs | Gear Diary
Justin Wilson | April 23, 2010 at 3:55 pm |

RT @geardiary: Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs http://bit.ly/9SG2JF
train_boy | April 27, 2010 at 7:56 pm |

http://tinyurl.com/y56u9hb
Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs | Gear Diary
(WWW.GEARDIARY.COM)
Ozgur Akan | May 2, 2010 at 12:35 am |

Reading books on iPad is an important question for a kindle dx user who is ready for a betrayal http://bit.ly/b335Kp
Stephen Ball | May 4, 2010 at 7:56 pm |

FYI, technical books on the iPad: http://www.geardiary.com/2010/04/13/books-on-the-ipad-comparing-the-printed-page-to-epub-and-pdfs/
Vijith Vijayan | August 14, 2010 at 8:44 am |

Books on the iPad: Comparing the Printed Page to ePub and PDFs #Apple iPad #Books and eBooks http://bit.ly/9SG2JF
hollowmn | September 30, 2011 at 5:08 pm |

Great info!
I do not own an iPad. I do have a Kindle.
On PC monitor/laptop … to reduce eye strain I change the default white page background to grey ( ditto strategy with my web browser. I’m a web designer, and for all the sites/pages I publ., my default page background hue is also grey). The Amazon Kindle uses the grey-page strategy, too.
Can you possibly post images of your iPad with a grey page background. Thx!

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