by Malena Lott

If anything can make reading cool and get people talking about what they are reading, it’s the iPad. With gorgeous design and built-in buzz, the iPad may be one way to get infrequent readers reading again. Sure, book nerds like me may use it primarily for reading books, but I’m hoping that people who haven’t read a book in years will find it so simple and sexy to order and read books on the device, that reading will go up. What do you think?

It may be a plaything, but movies and music and games aren’t what excites me the most about the iPad. No doubt, I’m thrilled about the iBook above all else that the iPad masterpiece can do. Sure, I’ll use the web and e-mail and that alone will make the device productive for me, but what I really want to do is to start an impressive digital library to match the 3,000 plus real books we own. (This is what happens when two book lovers marry each other and then produce children who must also have books.)Thanks to Skype, you can make calls on the iPad, too.

With reports that Apple sold 300,000 iPads over the weekend and that 250,000 books were downloaded onto the device, I’m a happy camper. If I hear exactly what was downloaded, I’ll let you know. If you have one and downloaded a book, let me know what it is.

Until I get my hands on one this week, I’ll leave you with a few comments on the iBook on the iPad.

“And of course, if the iPad was just for books, it would be revolutionary. And it is. While I don’t own a Kindle, I’ve played with one before, I’ve even tried Barnes and Nobles’ Nook, I’ve read books on my iPhone, and I’ve read books the traditional way. It’s a whole new reading experience that nothing else comes close to.” – Craig Kanally, HuffPo

“As a leading entry into the e-book 2.0 sweepstakes, the iPad will have to wean people off dedicated devices and entice paper-lovers with its wiles, which include carrying your reading library around with you like you do your music, and adding to it on an impulse.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/the-ipad-arrives-the-wait-is-over-and-wasnt-bad/#ixzz0kGM8IkMX

A little calmer, I remind Jobs that at the product launch of the iPad in January, he had stood in front of two street signs, one reading “Liberal Arts,” the other “Technology.” “This is where I have always seen Apple,” he told the audience, “at the intersection of the Liberal Arts and Technology.”
I suggest there’s a bit more to it than that; surely Apple stands at the intersection of liberal arts, technology and commerce? “Sure, what we do has to make commercial sense,” Jobs concedes, “but it’s never the starting point. We start with the product and the user experience. You seen an iBook yet?” His pleasure in showing me the Winnie the Pooh iBook bundled with every iPad is unaffected and engaging. He demonstrates how the case can be used as a lectern and as a stand. “I think the experience of using an iPad is going to be profound for many people,” he says. “I really do. Genuinely profound.” –

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976935-4,00.html#ixzz0kGNtZvMz