On: Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads

[allegory]

I disagree. They're easier to annotate on a computer.

Then again I still use hard copies when they're not extortionately priced and postits for markup.

[mercer → allegory]

I agree with the both of you! I prefer reading on my iPad, but I was often annoyed at how annotations were either stuck on the thing, or harder to make.

GoodReader (iOS) is decent for making and syncing pdf annotations. It's still not as easy as a laptop, but sometimes the benefit of reading on an iPad is worth it for me.

For epub files, however , I almost always exclusively use my iPad. There's an app called Marvin that allows you to instantly select (or select + highlight) a sentence, and grow the selection with one tap. I find that almost more convenient than my laptop. It also syncs with Calibre, although that can take a bit of work to set up properly.

[WalterBright → allegory]

Fair enough, though I pretty much never annotate books.

Taking notes on a computer has never worked for me, either. I take notes on paper, then later scan them in.

When I help someone with a math/electronics/physics problem, I also use a yellow pad & pen. I cannot see any advantage to using a computer.

For writing significant text, though, it's a computer all the way.

[allegory → WalterBright]

I do the same actually. Can't beat a pencil and cheap HP AIO printer/scanner. I tend to annotate errors in books more than anything - it seems recently that publishers have lost the ability to review books...