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05.26.10 First Impressions Of Financial Times For The IPad  By
Neville HobsonFor much of the past week, I've been lucky enough to have had my hands on an iPad, thanks to 33 Digital, the FT's PR agency. I was trying out the Financial Times iPad Edition, an app the FT made available in the iTunes App Store on May 14 and formally launched on May 17. The Financial Times iPad Edition is free - just download it from the App Store and install it. It's in the US, UK and many other country-stores. Using it is free until the end of July - that's over two months from now - thanks to sponsorship from Swiss watch maker Hublot. The price of such freedom is Hublot ads sprinkled around the app (making the iPad version a little reminiscent of the printed paper version with its ads). After that, access will be under the terms of the FT's iPad access model. It was the first time I've spent more than just a few minutes with an iPad: I actually had this FT test iPad - a 32-gig wifi model the FT acquired in the US - for a little over three days before a courier picked it up on Friday afternoon and it went to a journalist reviewer. It's amazing how quickly you get into a habit-of-use with an iPad. Maybe it was because of the FT focus, I'm not sure, but I found myself very easily getting used to firing up the iPad in the kitchen in the early morning as I made a pot of tea, and starting to read the FT as I waited the five minutes or so for the tea to mash. It's a very different experience to doing a similar thing with my 16"-widescreen laptop, or more likely, with the iPhone(using the FT iPhone app) or HTC Desire(accessing the FT mobile website) and their tiny (by comparison) screens. The iPad screen - not far off the dimensions of an A4 sheet of paper- is perfect for reading online newspapers. Books, too for that matter, comparable with (perhaps superior to) a Kindleor other e-reader. Reading the FT in usual portrait mode is a natural experience. The screen shows a huge amount of content, avoiding constant scrolling. You can get a good sense of that in this Animoto video on YouTubeI made from the photos and screenshots I took of the FT iPad. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology. Neville is a UK-based communicator, blogger and podcaster. He helps companies use effective communication to achieve their business goals. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: NevilleHobson.com. |
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