The iPad is quickly becoming a preferred reading device and is changing the way we read websites, books, magazines, syndicated rss feeds – even newspapers.
Newspapers are a dying breed, and I find their gradual evolution into electronic media truly fascinating. Some international newspapers now offer iPad optimized versions of their newspapers as paid apps. But over here, we are limited to three other ways of accessing content electronically: 1) the web interface which omits advertisements and certain design cues which I find very enjoyable, colorful and help us get the important news first. 2) RSS feeds which can be a mess to sort through as there is no layout and no prioritizing. 3) PDF version which is an an exact replica of the printed edition.
Reading the PDF edition on the iPad is very enjoyable. This works easily with the iPad’s Safari browser but what makes the experience worthwhile is an app called GoodReader. This application is extremely fast at reading PDFs, it has double-tap to zoom functionality, and its built-in browser allows in-app downloading of PDFs. Using GoodReader, users browse a webpage and download the pdf in seconds. This is a time saver because the iOS still lacks a file system and copying files would otherwise require a wired connection to a PC.
Downloading page by page PDFs is cumbersome, but luckilly some Kuwaiti newspapers also allow users to download the entire day’s edition as one pdf file. Which means enjoying the full edition of the newspaper is almost too easy.
The below are a the steps involved in downloading today’s Alqabas edition. Alwatan works nicely too.
1) GoodReader interface. Click browse the web.
2) Enter URL of the newspaper. Click PDF button. Follow the Link.
3) Click download full newspaper copy. Download linked file.
4) Wait for download to complete.
5) Enjoying reading.
Check the screenshots below.
