And now, for a brief detour from the usual entrepreneurship and business-oriented posts, for my other love… Apple.

I rarely if ever need provocation to proclaim my love for Apple products. Indeed, if you so much as double-take me while I’m on my iThing, I’ll be happy to rattle off the 723 reasons you should buy one. Nonetheless, a lot of my friends and family members have expressed surprise as how happily I opt to read on my iPad. In fact, I have put off a number of books I want to read, until such time as they are available digitally. Why is this?

1. I can fall asleep with my iPad without consequence. On the contrary, I can shut the lights off and continue to read, which helps the unwinding process.
2. Privacy. When I read a book with an embarrassingly cliché title (Here’s looking at you, Think & Grow Rich), I don’t really want to hear about it from passers-by.
3. No break-in Period. I hate opening a new book and cracking the spine. The force with which the pages clap back together shouts “I’m happier on the shelf.”
4. Dog ears. Annoying. I much prefer digital bookmarking. Also, no paper cuts, if that’s a problem for you.
5. Price. Once you get over the price of the device itself (non-issue, because it is a full-fledged laptop replacement), books are actually cheaper.
6. Light weight & small size. Anyone who has been in an academic environment in the last 20 years can tell you; carrying a bunch of books is tiresome and back-breaking. I’m not going to go so far as to propose electronic readers as the solution to bad posture in children – but it’s a good start.
7. Easy to turn pages. Ever rest a heavy book on your stomach, only to have to lift it to turn the pages? Yeah. Annoying.
8. Visible in any light. No dorky reading lights or eye-straining necessary.
9. Links in the text. Reading is so much more rewarding when you can fact-check and detail-dive with minimal effort. Kudos to authors like Tim Ferriss for including interesting links to further reading right in their footnotes.
10. Quick access to reference materials (and ADD indulgence). “What does that word mean?” “I don’t understand that reference?” etc.
11. Easier to highlight and take notes. I’m beating a dead horse here, but if you saw how many highlighters and how much wrist pain I went through in college, you would understand.
12. Screenshots to send to friends. So you read an interesting paragraph in a paper book. You want to share just that paragraph with a friend who might enjoy it. How do you do it? Scan and email? Camera phone photo? On the iPad, you can just take a screen shot and email it. Easy.
13. Instant access to books. Literally instant. You tell me about a book I would enjoy, I download it on my iPhone, it’s on my iPad that very evening before I go to bed. Love that.
14. Smug factor. Ok, I’ll admit it, I also like sitting in public places with my lime green smart cover. Shoot me.

Thanks for reading!
JL