back to article How to... read comics on the iPad

E-book reader, portable telly, digital newspaper, big-screen games console, movie player - the iPad all of these incredibly well. It's also a darn fine comic viewer, its richly coloured, bright 1024 x 768 screen ideal for presenting sequential art. Love comics? Here's Reg Hardware's quick guide to enjoying them on your iPad. …

COMMENTS

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  1. Michael Habel
    Alert

    Super, bu can I use it at School

    So nice to that the Max-ipad can do ~so~ much.

    But can I use Word (or at least some other Word Processor then) with a Styles to take shorthand notes during Lecture time?

    This is about the only thing that would actually concern my interests, for the rest of it I can use my Year old Laptop.

    Which is what I actually plan to do any way....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yes, you can

      @Michael Habel: "But can I use Word (or at least some other Word Processor then) with a Styles to take shorthand notes during Lecture time?"

      Yes, take a look at Pages for iPad (part of Apple's iWork suite).

      1. Michael Habel

        Re: Yes you can; Ughh no you can't

        1) The iPad's screen is capacitive so it'll only work for Fingers only.

        2) Yeah there's some kind of "Pen" for the iPad (Pogo Stylus), but from what I gather this thing is like a supper inch thick Marker instead of a fine tipped Pen. So as to react to the iPad's Screen.

        3) The iPad DOESN'T have any ~Handwriting~ recognition Software (AS STANDARD!).

        There may or may not be with time some 3'erd Party Software to address this.

        But if Points 1 and 2 can not or will not improve then I don't need it.

    2. Michael Habel
      FAIL

      Having googled this topic

      that would be a no then....

      so.....

      I guess that'll be an Eee T91 for me then...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Google harder, chum.

        Pages is a more than adequate word processor for the iPad.

        No need to go down the cheap and nasty plastic netbook route.

      2. Giles Jones Gold badge

        Eh?

        He mentioned you can using the iWork suite which comes with the iPad.

        It was completely redesigned for a touch user interface by Apple. If you use Word on a tablet PC then it will be awful to use since the head of the Office team at Microsoft refused to redesign the user interface for touchscreens as he "doesn't like them".

        Needless to say if you want a touch screen device with a decent office suite the iPad is the best, the battery life is good and it will switch on instantly.

        Have a read:

        http://www.macworld.com/article/145941/2010/01/iwork_ipad.html

        1. AF
          FAIL

          Didn't anyone read the question?

          First off, iWork does not come with the iPad. They're seperate apps you need to pay for and download from the App site. iWork doesn't come with Macs, either.

          But even if it did, that wouldn't help the OP, because his actual question was "Can I use the iPad with a stylus* to take shorthand notes?" which is quite different.

          Apart from the fact the OP made a typo (* he wrote Styles instad of stylus), no-one actually bothered to address his question. It's possible that iJot might be of some use, but at the moment that seems to be the only stenography-capable app available. If that's the main sue the OP would put the iPad to, then he's better off going elsewhere, and checking back in a year to see if anyone has made an app he'd find useful.

  2. Annihilator

    The point of comic books

    Odd, I was under the impression that the joy of comic books and graphic novels was 50% in the reading, 50% in the owning of them.

    I suppose this is useful for reading the ones you'll never own, or are too scared to open!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shame about the poor value

    Shame that marvel's offering is so half-hearted, their digital comics unlimited subscription service is a lot better value.

    1. Mike Flugennock
      Grenade

      Shame, also...

      ...that the App Store is ready to censor cartoonists on a whim.

      I've noticed that all the titles shown are apparently "acceptable" -- Marvel, DC, and the like. Am I correct assuming that I won't be able to get hold of Möbius, Cheech Wizard, Den, or the Furry Freak Brothers through the App Store?

      Fsck you, Steve. I mean, I loves me some MacOS, and I've been using it for over twenty years, but, fsck you, Steve.

  4. jake Silver badge

    So, basically ...

    ... what you are saying is that iThingies are toys for children?

    I can live with that.

  5. Mark R W
    Thumb Up

    Comic Zeal is well worth the cash

    Great comic reader and friendly devs seem open to suggestions.

  6. John Tserkezis

    50-year-old Digital comic for sale!

    All bits daisy fresh, just like brand new!

    What? Not interested in digital copies anymore?

    Well, that's the arse fall out of that market.

  7. jzedward

    Use iBooks

    I have comiczeal4 and recommend it, but if you have some cbz's and want a free solution download calibre and create an epub file and transfer it to iBooks in iTunes (sorry for swearing, apple's own virus...)

    Works great

  8. Andus McCoatover

    Kerpow??

    Don't ya mean...

    "Holy Broken Apps"?

    (Oh, and a quick 'flash' of the eeepc girl...OK, maybe not.)

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Another sad day for childhoods, artists, the printing industry etc.

    Whole point of comics was sitting reading them as a boy, having them in your hand on paper. Turning the page with excitement. Storing them in a box under the bed to read again later, when now they are just a file in a folder to be clicked on (battery permitting).

    Well it was for me. I don't want to have to spend £500 and sign up to the jobsian nightmare to collect them. Which will happen when people not longer print them.

    Can't wait for the electricty provision problems to start around 2012 - 2015.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      OK

      Ironic that you are using a website to protest about the printed word? Surely you'd prefer a printed edition of the reg, to which you can then write a letter in to have added to the comments section?

      I love owning books, shelves full of books at home, but comics are nothing more than newspapers for kids, that's all they were and are. I used to own bucket loads of Beano's but I got rid of them as I got older. I don't store every newspaper I read these days, I hardly ever pick one up these days preferring to read news online, quicker, easier and greener. Granted I still own books, but I have cut down the cycle of waste that is newspapers and magazines by getting the electronic versions where possible and often not bothering if none is available.

  10. Doug Glass
    Go

    And It's Great For ...

    .... reading medical journals and the like to find all about new procedures.

  11. AF

    For someone who isn't a comics fan, it's pretty good

    I never got into comics when I was a kid - well, apart from The Beano - so I've never "got" the appeal of them.

    However, having enjoyed the Iron Man fillums, I gave the Marvel app a go on my iPhone and tried out the free Iron Man comics, and was pleasantly surprised. The way the app guides you through the story - panning and zooming on each frame - makes the reading experience so much better than just a flat paper comic. With a paper comic, the whole page is right there in front of you - it's easy to accidentally spot what's happening to the main character three panels down, before you've even read the current panel, thus ruining any suspense; with the app, you get to appreciate each panel before moving on. There's a greater sense of suspense and anticipation; much like with reading a book. In fact, I'd liken the Marvel app to a cross between reading a book and watching a movie. I really didn't expect it to be much cop on such a small screen, but it worked just fine.

    It would have been nice to see the article go into the actual reading experience of each app a bit more; does the DC app work like that as well?

    Also, weirdly, there are plenty of recent Iron Man comics in the Marvel app - up to 2008 - and also other series as well, like Wolverine. Not sure why the authow would say there aren't (and they were there at the beginning of May).

    Anyway, just like book fans who want the "feel" of a book will never buy into E-readers, comic fans will never switch over to reading on an iPad.

    But for anyone else who just wants to read a story, and doesn't care about having actual paper to worry about, then reading comics on an iPhone or iPad is actually quite a pleasant experience. And you don't even have to go into a comic book store to buy the next issue!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    apparently...

    ... it's almost as good as the paper version!

  13. Daniel Harris 1

    title

    I've never been a fan of comics really. So this doesn't apply to me. Looks similar to the app on the Sony PSP for reading comics but with a decent sized screen.

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