C O L U M N S

One of the promises of computers has been that they will replace paper. We're not there yet, but the Tablet PC is definitely bringing that closer to reality. My Tablet PC works really well for reading books, magazines, and newspapers in digital format. I'm able to read a novel, the latest edition of a travel guide, a newspaper such as the New York Times, or catch up on the latest geeky news in InfoWorld, all from the comfort of my bed or living room.

Reading a book or periodical on a Tablet PC is a vastly better experience than trying to read a book or magazine on your desktop or laptop computer. The form factor makes it more portable, but also allows you to read in a more natural way. You can move the tablet computer just as you do when you're reading a book, greatly reducing the strain caused by trying to read from a fixed screen. The keys on the side of my Fujitsu Stylistic ST4000 Tablet PC really help, too, giving me page up/down and line up/down right under my thumb.

There are three different types of media you can read on your Tablet PC over and above the usual white papers and other PC documents:

Each type of media has somewhat different reading requirements and there are different software programs, called readers, to support the different media. In this column, I'll look at each of the different readers for the Tablet PC, explain how to use them, and point out their differences. You'll find out where to get a Tablet PC reader, what kind of content is available for them, and where to go to find that content.

Electronic Book Readers

The electronic book or eBook has struggled to take hold. Dedicated eBook readers, which are specialized hardware for reading electronic books, have not proved as successful as hoped. And many people read eBooks on a standard multipurpose computer. However, it's much more comfortable to read eBooks on a tablet computer. Three different software programs support eBooks on the Tablet PC, as given below:

Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader, and Palm Reader. Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC is an enhanced version of Microsoft Reader that takes advantage of the unique capabilities of Tablet PC.

Tablet PC

Microsoft Reader is available for all Windows computers, including Pocket PCs and a specially-optimized version for the Tablet PC. The software is free but requires activation.

Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC is the most flexible of the three eBook reading programs I've used and has the best-looking interface. Books can generally be downloaded up to four times on a single purchase, giving you a fallback position in the event of a crash or other lost copy of the book. Purchased books can generally only be read by the person who purchased them ó they are know as Owner Exclusive books, but can be read on more than a single computer, as long as the same person is reading it. So I can read a book on either of my Tablet PCs, as long as I'm logged on as myself. If you're using Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC, you can annotate your book with ink or text, highlight passages, and place bookmarks so you can move around easily.

There are currently tens of thousands of paid and free eBooks available from Powells.com for Microsoft Reader. It's easy to download an eBook. I use this procedure with Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC:

1. Open Internet Explorer and navigate to the site you're getting your book from.

2. Find a book you want to read. If it's a free book, there will be a link to download. If it's a commercial book, you'll need to go through the usual purchase process, and then a link to download the book will be provided.

3. After you download the book, Microsoft Reader starts automatically, and the book will be added to your library.

You can easily add the ability to convert a document into Microsoft Reader format from within Microsoft Word by downloading and installing the Read in Microsoft Reader add-in.

Newspaper Reader

Newspapers are another source of reading material for the Tablet PC. I get the New York Times electronic version from NewsStand.com. I really like this format, because I never have time to read a regular newspaper any more, and this lets me carry it around with me until I'm done with it.

NewsStand.com allows you to download any copy of the newspaper onto any computer you happen to be working on, which is a great convenience. You can even download the same issue multiple times, for an additional fee. Once downloaded, the newspaper can only be read on the computer it was downloaded to and generally expires in 21 days. Highlighting, annotating, and bookmarks are not an option with the NewsStand reader, which is Adobe Acrobat-based, nor can you copy text to the clipboard.

Magazine Reader

Designed for magazines and other rich media content, the Zinio reader fully supports ink annotations when run on a Tablet PC, as well as text annotations and highlighting. Magazines can be read from more than one computer by simply copying them to the other computer (or keeping them on a networked drive), but are only viewable by the original purchaser. Also, ink annotations can only be viewed on a Tablet PC, unfortunately.

Limitations

What are the current limitations of electronic reading on the Tablet PC? Probably the biggest limitation at this point is the screen size and the nature of current LCD screens. Current LCD screens were designed for a typical landscape orientation and because of pixel placement and orientation don't do nearly as well in a portrait orientation.

And my older eyes would be happier with a somewhat larger screen as well, especially one with a higher resolution. I think a 768 x 1024 resolution is simply the minimum that makes reading workable. As we see new screens coming into the PC market, the reading experience will definitely improve from the increased resolution.

The other limitation is the weight (and sometimes the heat) of the typical PC. Although most tablet computers are substantially lighter and thinner than a conventional laptop, they still need to go on a bit of a diet for me to want to spend several hours using one as a book.

And, finally, the issues of usage rights. This is a tough one. I absolutely understand the need for limiting the use of content that has been downloaded, but there needs to be a bit more flexibility, in my opinion. If I buy a book, I can read it wherever I happen to be and even lend it to a friend to read. I think there needs to be a mechanism for Lending a digital book in the same way. And this is especially true of magazines. I often want to highlight an article in a technical publication and pass it on to colleagues and other members of my team, and that's not easily possible. And I'm not likely to be sending my Tablet PC on a round through the inter-office mail system any time soon.

The Tablet PC makes the whole experience of reading in a digital format better than I've ever found it to be on a desktop or laptop computer. For our upcoming vacation, we'll be taking several books with us on the Tablet PC, both pleasure reading and travel specific.

Charlie Russel is an information technology consultant, having years of systems administration experience with a specialty in combined Windows and UNIX networks. Charlie is the author of several books for IT professionals.

By Charlie Russel