March 30, 2010
6 Different Reasons for Owning “Instapaper Pro” vs. “Instapaper Free”

Instapaper Pro or Instapaper Free?

Pro vs. Free

(Image via Instapaper)

Here are my reasons for buying Instapaper Pro:

  1. Pagination and Tilt scrolling

    • This is a killer feature that I wish was a system default. Apple should swoop up the idea (after compensating the creator of course)

  2. Article capacity on device

    • I like to star items, organize them in folders, and re-read different lengthy articles. Having access to only 10 items, in the free version, is not enough.

  3. Folders

    • I have a folder for “Education”, “General News”, “Technology”, and “Misc.” If I think that I will share an article at a later time I either “star” it or place it into one of the folders listed above. Most articles are “archived” once I finish reading them.

  4. Remembers your position

    • This is excellent for when I am reading lengthy articles. I can hop between different pieces and consistently return to where I was last reading.

  5. In-app, offline dictionary

    • This little nugget of goodness is quite useful for looking up the meaning of a word while reading. There is no need to exit out and use another application.

  6. Dark-background mode

    • I happen to like dark backgrounds. I wish Reeder and Tweetie had options for the same thing.

Here is an overview video that shows off the features listed above…

9:57am | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/484217436/instapaper-pro
FILED UNDER: instapaper app reading
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March 1, 2010
Read Across America Day: All “Dr. Seuss” Applications on Sale

In celebration of Theodor Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) birthday, and Read Across America Day, all Dr. Seuss iPhone applications are on sale for $0.99. This is a great deal considering the eBook applications normally are $3.99, the Dr. Seuss camera apps are normally $2.99, and the Grinchmas! game is normally $1.99.

Here are the 6 applications for sale:

(Links open in iTunes)

Check out “The Cat in the Hat” in action below:

9:28pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/421071361/read-across-america-day-all-dr-seuss-applications
FILED UNDER: iphone dr. seuss learning reading kids
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February 24, 2010
U. releases Kindle pilot data - The Daily Princetonian

Despite the Kindle’s environmental friendliness, users said they often found its design ill-suited for class readings. Students and faculty participating in the program said it was difficult to highlight and annotate PDF files and to use the folder structure intended to organize documents, according to University surveys. The inability to quickly navigate between documents and view two or more documents at the same time also frustrated users.

The challenges that these students and professors had with the Kindle, in its current form, will hopefully change when the iPad comes out. In college I was lucky enough to have professors that accessed different types of literature/articles and made sure to provide access to these documents in PDF form. Most I never printed out. All of them I did highlight and annotate on my computer. I hope that the iPad will replicate this experience.

12:25pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/409338590/u-releases-kindle-pilot-data-the-daily-princetonian
FILED UNDER: kindle ipad learning reading education
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