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Anyone who reads technical (programming, web design, etc) ebooks come in here

M

macDonalds

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 8, 2007
448
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One of the main draws of the iPad for me was the ability to read ebooks. However, I'm struggling to figure out which format/platform I should stick with. Since I'm a Web Developer - I mostly read technical, reference-type books.

Goodreader/PDF's?
iBooks/epub?
Kindle/mobi?

Which are you using and why?
 
I am in the same boat. Haven't decided which to stick with because Kindle isn't much if at all cheaper than physical books. iBookstore doesn't have much in the way of technical books at all that I have seen and I have not enjoyed using goodreader for pdfs because it just seems a little slow.
 
hakuryuu said:
I am in the same boat. Haven't decided which to stick with because Kindle isn't much if at all cheaper than physical books. iBookstore doesn't have much in the way of technical books at all that I have seen and I have not enjoyed using goodreader for pdfs because it just seems a little slow.
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The good thing about iBooks is that it uses epub so you don't have to buy from their store. I have successfully moved over non-drm'd epub books to iBooks, which makes it appealing. On the other hand, pdf's still seem superior for technical documentation -- format-wise. Too bad iBooks can't do pdf's too.
 
I'm currently sticking to Goodreader/PDF's since most of my Cisco docmention is in PDF format. I have tried unsuccessfully to convert my Cisco PDF's to ePUB's. many times diagrams or entier pages are duplicated/trpiled/quadrupled in the conversion.

I just don't have time to go and try to fix it. Therefore, I'm just sticking to PDF's for the time being.
 
Not sure why you are trying to pick one app/format. Kindle and iBooks apps are free, Goodreader is only 99cents. Just get all three apps, and use whichever app best fits the format you are trying to read. PDF is going to be the best format for technical manuals for the near future, but when you want to relax with a novel, then go to iBooks or Kindle, whichever fits your preference.
 
Night Spring said:
Not sure why you are trying to pick one app/format. Kindle and iBooks apps are free, Goodreader is only 99cents. Just get all three apps, and use whichever app best fits the format you are trying to read. PDF is going to be the best format for technical manuals for the near future, but when you want to relax with a novel, then go to iBooks or Kindle, whichever fits your preference.
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Eh, I'm kind of picky. I need to have one app to handle my technical documentation, rather then switch between three different apps.

I'm leaning towards pdf at this point...
 
I do programming and it's really a matter of opinion or which YOU prefer. I honestly don't really use any of them, iBooks I have messed with a little and kindle. But you need to decide which works for you in all honesty. Try them all and go from there, that's what most programmers do anyways.
 
I use all 3. I have some books in ePub, some in Kindle, and some in PDF. I can switch from one book in Kindle to another in iBooks about as fast as I can switch between two books in the same app. As for technical books I can add notes and bookmarks in Kindle books. I can only make bookmarks in iBooks (where I have some books from Pragmattic Programmer). If iBooks doesn't add a feature for annotations, then I will abandon using it.
 
RaceTripper said:
I want to do away with all my printed tech books. They always end being where I am not when I need them.
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I totally agree with you. To have all my Cisco Press books with me everywhere would be icing on the cake. I'm just having trouble double dipping on some of them. The free ones in PDF are fine for now.
 
So after O'Reilly's crazy ebook deal today, I'm back on the epub format. I much prefer the iBooks app to Kindle or Goodreader.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
 
macDonalds said:
So after O'Reilly's crazy ebook deal today, I'm back on the epub format. I much prefer the iBooks app to Kindle or Goodreader.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. Just saved $30 on JavaScript Definitive Guide. :)

Apparently, it's not limited to one order. I followed up with an order for Learning Python and got it for $10 as well. The problem is their servers are getting hammered and I can't download my books yet.
 
Good Reader seems to choke on some of my manuals.

Mostly its MS stuff and some higher end ProSafe products but it pauses and is jumping flipping through.

However the image rendering seems to be better and more info on the page.

I just picked up a manual on SilverStripe a PHP CMS that we might start developing for on Kindle. It's not bad to read on but I'd much prefer a PDF.
 
RaceTripper said:
Thanks for the heads up. Just saved $30 on JavaScript Definitive Guide. :)

Apparently, it's not limited to one order. I followed up with an order for Learning Python and got it for $10 as well. The problem is their servers are getting hammered and I can't download my books yet.
Click to expand...

Ha! I got that book too.

The servers are bogged down big time.
 
Hammie said:
Thanks for the tip!

I just got a few that I had paper copies of now I can carry them around with no problem.

Very cool!
Click to expand...

If your paper copies are the latest edition, you can register them at members.oreilly.com and then purchase the ebooks for $4.99 each.
 
Hammie said:
My UNIX version is two versions old. It did not have an option to upgrade for $4.99. They wanted $27.99 for it.
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Yeah, I have a few older ones too (unix, Perl, etc).

I can still only download one of four books I ordered.
 
RaceTripper said:
Yeah, I have a few older ones too (unix, Perl, etc).

I can still only download one of four books I ordered.
Click to expand...

NOne of mine are available yet. The order is noted as BOOKED and shipping is PENDING. :confused:

I hope they will be there when I wake up tomorrow.

EDIT: My order now says ready for download, but still no books in my electronic media section. I'll just check in the morning.
 
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