if you wonder if the recent flurry between jim and michael needs to be read, let me save you the time and trouble... according to michael, who doesn't care about the format of the books just as long as he can get to the content inside, it's pretty easy to read e-books on the ipad, especially when one has an always-on connection to the web, in which case one can access many sites, using many viewer-programs, specifically including the native safari web-browser... according to jim, who wants his e-books in .epub or .mobi, getting e-books on the ipad can be a large pain in the ass... jim also complains about the closed nature of the ipad, and prefers his netbook, albeit hasn't reported on whether or not the added weight of the netbook hampers his use of the unit. much drama and misunderstandings and unaddressed points were also part of the recent exchange of e-mails, but i think i've boiled the important aspects. if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them... -bowerbird p.s. if anyone actually _owns_ an ipad, would you report in?