Mobility Mind

From Treo to iPhone : changing content consumption

I wrote a version of this post about a week ago, but Wordpress somehow ate it. Long time readers of Treo Today know that I am a big fan of ebooks, and read (or used to read) a lot of ebooks on my Treo. Since getting my iPhone, I have been more an audio and video consumer than a reader of ebooks.

One obvious reason is the current lack of a proper way to read ebooks on the iPhone. There’s a decent ebook reader (Books.app) but it’s not that easy to get the ebooks on the iPhone. You can also forget about commercial ebooks today. With the iPhone SDK (software development kit) now available, I know that by the latter half of this year, we would have native ebook readers. I know for a fact that my favourite ebook retailer is currently looking into this.

The other reason for my decreased ebook reading, is simply that the iPhone is so good with audio and video. With six generations of iPods as experience, the iPhone really is the best iPod ever. It’s incredibly easy to browse my library, to listen to music (or audiobooks, or podcasts) and to view video (movies, TV shows, video podcasts).

The iTunes Store is fantastic. I like the seamless integration with the iPhone. From search, to discovery, to purchase and down to the file transfer, it’s a great experience. The iTunes Store has won me over with its Free Tuesday promotion. Every Tuesday, they offer free music and episodes of TV shows. It’s been a good way for me to discover new TV series like New Amsterdam and Canterbury’s Law. Technically, the iTunes Store is not available outside of a few countries, but there are ways to get around this.

Until July comes around, I guess I’d have to be content with audio and video as the main media for my iPhone. I’m not complaining — there’s so much to listen and to watch!