I got my new iPad a week ago and while I have some plans for some intensive use coming up, I’ve been fiddling with it over the past few days and discovering uses for it. Aside from the fact that it takes ‘keeping in touch’ to a whole new level (clarity of FaceTime, Skype is incredible), the biggest plus has been something else.
Two nights ago, I was hoping to do ten minutes of reading before going off to sleep. I wanted to read something light but didn’t have any ‘light’ books. So, I clicked on my iPad and searched for the Kindle app. Kindle app unavailable in Singapore. Alright, iBooks then. Within a few seconds, I was looking at the iBooks store and voila! I had access to an incredible number of free books – Classics like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Sherlock Holmes and many more.
A couple of touches later, I was lying down comfortably reading ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’. I’ve been reading the book over the past couple of days and am into my 3rd story. I absolutely love the reading experience on the iPad.
Technology has gotten a lot of flak from the media for apparently destroying the younger generation’s love for books. I find that to be a funny accusation. In the last five years alone, I have read more books thanks to Audible apps on my phones than I’ve probably read in all my previous years put together. And I can only see this increasing thanks to the iPad.
At the end of the day, my guess is that youngsters imitate their elders and role models. If we spend all our time on our gadgets on Facebook and Angry Birds, it’s unfair if we expect them to be any different. And if that’s the case, let’s stop pointing our fingers at technology and look within.
Free books on the iBooks store, for me, was an invitation to read. Maybe I’m being naive here but I don’t know of many other generations that had such frictionless access to great stuff for free. The question, as always, is whether we put it to good use because technology, like all other things, is what we make of it..
It is a wonderful time to be alive.
A Learning a Day 