On Monday, 28th February 2011 at 12:53:42 (GMT -0800), Ricky Wong wrote:
You know, even Stanza gives me the option to use "plain black" as my background colour... but pure black was too bleak even for my taste. ;-) As you can see from the screenshot: http://aboq.org/misc/GutMagic-iPad.png I purposefully chose a background texture (called "Red Satin" in Stanza) instead of a solid-colour background.
It's interesting that you choose a background like that because I always thought feature is too "gimmicky". Any reason why you pick a background like that rather one that is cleaner and easier on the readability? Is it more "fun" or have the background image match the right book topic etc...?
I don't find solid-black to be "cleaner" or "easier" on readability. Not at all. If it was, I would have chosen it over the "Red Satin" texture. Like I said, I simply found solid-colour backgrounds too boring, so I chose a textured one. And as you saw in the "day" Stanza screenshot ( http://aboq.org/misc/GutMagic-iPad-day.png ), I did the same thing there, choosing a textured, wood-imitating background. For me, it increases the pleasure and enjoyment of reading. Should I attempt to psychoanalyze myself, I could say that "Red Satin" is pleasant because it reminds me of little flames of fire in the night, which (the fire) suggests *passion*, and I find reading to be a *passionate* affair. ;-) And, for the daily texture, the wood reminds me of nature (in pleasant contrast to the electronic device displaying it), and I also find reading to be a *natural* affair. :-) On Monday, 28th February 2011 at 16:19:29 (GMT -0500 EST), Marcello Perathoner wrote:
the iPhone's inferior LCD screen.
A hahahahah! Marcello, you never actually laid eyes on an iPhone 4, right? It's the best screen ever employed on a mobile device, that much is clear and the common consensus among experts and lay folks alike. And yep, even plain-text looks astonishing on the "Retina" display, particularly on Stanza's daily screen ( http://aboq.org/misc/GutMagic-iPhone-day.png ) with letters that are breath-takingly razor-sharp.
I also have an iPad. It is way too heavy to hold
It's not. Particularly not while using it in bed! Because then, of course, it partly rests on (for example) the bed-sheet or your chest, so that your hands don't feel the iPad's weight at all. Similarly, when I use the iPad while sitting in an armchair, I always have it propped up against something (chair arm, leg), not to mention the dedicated iPad stand I also have.
the Nexus is very easy to hold in one hand.
But it's useless for long-term reading due to the tiny screen.
The screen of the iPad is too big.
Not at all: 9.7 inches is exactly right; not too big, not too small. For example, I would definitely find the 7-inch screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab too small. Not to mention the iPhone or Nexus One -- good enough for short-term reading "on the run", but not for serious reading.
To achieve a comfortable line length you have to either use a huge font or huge margins.
Not at all. As the screenshot shows: http://aboq.org/misc/GutMagic-iPad.png , the letters are *not* huge, and the margins are *narrow*. It's exactly ideal! (Only in Stanza, though; like I said, the iBooks and Kindle apps are deficient in forcing wide margins onto the users.) I also own both the small Kindle and Kindle DX (which is the iPad's size), and I definitely prefer reading on the Kindle DX at home, due to the larger dimensions. (The small Kindle is more suited for carrying around.)
you can turn pages with the volume keys.
Totally useless! Give Stanza a try, Marcello, and you'll see you can flip pages in Stanza by lightly tapping and/or (!) mini-swiping *any* part of the iPad's/iPhone's screen. That way of turning pages is *way* superior over fumbling for volume keys.
It wont fall out of your hand like the iPhone if you try to hold and swipe with one hand.
Marcello, you *don't* need to swipe at all while using Stanza on the iPhone or iPad. All you need is a light tap (tapping the left side of the screen turns to the preceding page, and tapping the right side turns to the next page). A light tap is at *any* time easily possible with your thumb while you're effortlessly holding the iPhone with only one of your hands. Turning pages in Stanza on the iPhone/iPad is *phenomenally* easy precisely because it requires no hardware buttons. *Any* part of the screen will do to turn pages in Stanza -- while hardware buttons only are available on one of the device's 4 sides, which makes turning page far more difficult (unless you force yourself to hold the device in the same way all the time, which would be a nuisance). In fact, this is a huge benefit of the iPhone/iPad over the Kindle: I can turn pages very easily in Stanza, while it's a lot more uncomfortable turning pages on the Kindles, due to the hardware buttons available only in a specific "corner" of the device.
Then tell those `Android users´ you heard moaning that Aldiko is every bit as good as Stanza
Nope, it apparently isn't, because that's exactly what those users were saying: "We only have Aldiko on Android, but it can't compete with Stanza. Please give us Stanza for Android!" I'm sure you can easily google that debate for ya. :-P
You can read DRMed epubs on Aldiko, you cannot on Stanza.
Of course you can, after you spend 2 seconds with the fine drag-and-drop utility called DeDrm.
In a few months it will be way ahead of the unmaintained Stanza.
Stanza was last updated a few days ago, like I reported. The above is only your prediction, Marcello, but based on the collection of absurdly biased statements you've just made in your post, it's hard to put much credence in your predictions. :-) -- Yours, Alex. www.aboq.org [processed by "The Bat!", Version 4.2.10.12]