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iPad and PDFs don't go well together? Wha?!?

S

scootermaster

Platinum Member
So, the iPad will view PDFs. I know this because I played with one at the Apple store. What the iPad will NOT do, is allow you to save PDFs for offline viewing. So, your for offline PDF browsing seem to be:

1. Be connected to the internet. Open a safari link with a PDF. Leave it open. Pray it's still there when you need it (I've never figured out when Safari on my iPhone "times out", but I assume the iPad has a similar thing)

2. Email the PDF to yourself, and have that email downloaded already, and then browse offline (maybe?)

3. On a separate computer, download PDFs, convert to ebooks, sync with iTunes (best solution)

4. Punt?

But really...this is a huge oversight. I know the iPhone ecosystem doesn't have a user accessible file system, but it has sorta something like that; you can export files from Pages to a PDF. And get at it from "file sharing" (not sure what they meant by that). But there's no way of getting PDFs *IN* to the iPad. Unless I'm missing something.

Also, there's no annotation or highlight feature in the ebook reader or the PDF viewer. Apparently the Kindle app has these features. Do you need anything special to use the kindle app? Because that'd solve the problem, but for something as "Simple" as looking at a PDF offline, that's a pretty silly workflow for a $500 device (download PDF remotely, convert to eBook, sync with iPad, read with Kindle app).
 
If you have a MobileMe account, will it allow you to use your iDisk? Otherwise, yeah, the lack of a filesystem is a pretty serious drawback, IMO.
 
Nonsense. One of the top selling apps, goodreader, lets you do exactly that for 99c.

There's a few ways to get the PDFs onto the iPad, the easiest of which is via wifi through a desktop web browser. Hit a button in the app, and the ipad becomes a temporary web server, and you just navigate to it on your desktop, and click and upload a few files.

I've got about 20 huge PDFs that are mostly images, totaling about 1gb synced to my iPad for offline viewing.
 
Yeah, it should have been there out of the box, but a full featured reader is a single dollar. If you can afford the ipad, you can afford the app.

And I'm sure there will be a freebie version of some PDF reader, if there isn't already. The lanuch prices are a bit crazy on some software, but so was the launch of the iPhone. The downward pressure is going to take place just the same, and everything will be 99 cents in a few months, if not weeks.
 
BD2003 said:
Yeah, it should have been there out of the box, but a full featured reader is a single dollar. If you can afford the ipad, you can afford the app.
Click to expand...

Is this the Apple tax? $1 here, $1 there, no worries though man you spent $500 on the device surely you can spend an additional $1+$1+$5+$1+$1+$1+$1 until your needs are satisfied!

I don't blame Apple because people will pay it and they make more money. I'm just calling out the ridiculous assertion that just because someone dropped $500 (+tax in some places) on it they shouldn't have a problem dropping another $1 on something that should have been there out of the box.
 
Fingolfin269 said:
Is this the Apple tax? $1 here, $1 there, no worries though man you spent $500 on the device surely you can spend an additional $1+$1+$5+$1+$1+$1+$1 until your needs are satisfied!

I don't blame Apple because people will pay it and they make more money. I'm just calling out the ridiculous assertion that just because someone dropped $500 (+tax in some places) on it they shouldn't have a problem dropping another $1 on something that should have been there out of the box.
Click to expand...

More applications would be free if you didn't have to pay yearly to put apps on their appstore (or if you could use some kind of advanced mode to skip the app store)
 
The problem isn't that the iPad can't read PDFs, it's that there's no conventional file system with which to store and organize them. That's the underlying issue here...you need an app to do that, such as the photos or iPod app.

Click a PDF link or attachment and it views just fine. Most people don't care about PDFs. It's a niche customer that needs to carry around local copies of large PDFs.

So download the Goodreader app for $1, or wait for a free one...there are plenty on iPhone, and the there might be one already for ipad, but if there isn't, it's been out for what, three days?
 
What people fail to realize that this is still using the same iPhone OS, which never had an actual file system in the first place.

It shouldn't be called a computer, it should be called a 'mobile device'.
 
Ka0t1x said:
What people fail to realize that this is still using the same iPhone OS, which never had an actual file system in the first place.

It shouldn't be called a computer, it should be called a 'mobile device'.
Click to expand...

Except it's no more mobile than similar sized computers.
 
senseamp said:
Except it's no more mobile than similar sized computers.
Click to expand...

Except that I don't know of any other computers that have a 10 inch touchscreen, weigh a pound and a half, have a battery life of 10+ hours and on top of that, have an OS that's actually suited to that form factor.
 
BD2003 said:
Except that I don't know of any other computers that have a 10 inch touchscreen, weigh a pound and a half, have a battery life of 10+ hours and on top of that, have an OS that's actually suited to that form factor.
Click to expand...

1.5lb, 10+ inch tablet is not a 'mobile device,' unless you have 11 inch pockets.
It has same input method and OS as a mobile device, but it's not anymore mobile than a netbook. So basically you get the limitations of a mobile OS without getting the mobility benefit.
 
senseamp said:
1.5lb, 10+ inch tablet is not a 'mobile device,' unless you have 11 inch pockets.
It has same input method and OS as a mobile device, but it's not anymore mobile than a netbook. So basically you get the limitations of a mobile OS without getting the mobility benefit.
Click to expand...

Clearly, this is not the device for you.

But the OP should have no problems accomplishing what he is looking for. Ipad and PDF go very well together.
 
senseamp said:
1.5lb, 10+ inch tablet is not a 'mobile device,' unless you have 11 inch pockets.
It has same input method and OS as a mobile device, but it's not anymore mobile than a netbook. So basically you get the limitations of a mobile OS without getting the mobility benefit.
Click to expand...

Yeah its to big to be mobile, yet to small to be (for me) a laptop. I think its a cool thing, and hopefully inspires some better products.

but its to big to just pull out of pocket and use like an iphone. I just wouldnt use it enough to justify the purchase. And want a hdtv for my room, 32-40 inch which will be less than a ipad...
 
KeypoX said:
Yeah its to big to be mobile, yet to small to be (for me) a laptop. I think its a cool thing, and hopefully inspires some better products.

but its to big to just pull out of pocket and use like an iphone. I just wouldnt use it enough to justify the purchase. And want a hdtv for my room, 32-40 inch which will be less than a ipad...
Click to expand...

The problem isn't really the form factor, it's the price. It's not at a price where you can buy it without thinking about what else you can buy with that money. That more at the $200-300. Kind of like how it was hard for me to justify buying a PS3 until it was $300 when I already had a 360.

I think you certainly get your moneys worth for what you get today, but tech moves fast and prices are always dropping. It was an easy decision for me even at $500, because me and my fiancé share our computers, and we already have a desktop and laptop...so why buy another laptop? I certainly don't think it replaces the laptop or fills any particular void, nor do I care to pull it out of my pocket or even a backpack...this is a couch-puter, for browsing, reading, watching etc - no work can or should ever get done on this device if you own a laptop.
 
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