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So Apple launched the iPad to much fanfare in the US and so I picked one up for my parents who are in Australia, as the variable font size allows them to read books and newspapers much easily... However, it looks like Apple doesn't care too much for Australian customers.
When Apple first launched the iPad, I took it to be more of a new toy, a gimmick, just another gadget. However when my parents came to visit me in the US, they told me that they found newsprint and the writing in most books to be too small to read. After taking them to the Apple store to trial the iPad in New York, it seemed that it would be the perfect thing for them to use for reading. So forking out some cash, I picked up an Ipad and started setting it up for them.
As I mentioned, there were only two real uses that my parents I initially needed the iPad for: books and newspapers. Hence, I started looking for some books in Apple's bookstore and for some news apps in the Apple AppStore. The following describes the futile attempt in trying to find content for my parent's iPad.
First, the bookstore. When I first tried the bookstore in the Apple store, there were thousands of titles to buy. However, when I had set the iPad for an Australian iTunes account, it presented the Australian bookstore, which had free/public-domain books, of which only a handful were worth reading - the rest was a waste. So I looked for books to buy and guess what - there were none. Browsing the Apple Australia web site, it seems that Australian's will only be offered the free books. Hence, no real books will be available for the iPad.
Second, Australian news. Sure you can browse the websites of the newspapers, but I was looking for a news app for the iPad that could present the news effectively on the iPad... If you're in the US you have plenty of options, but for Australia - nothing! Maybe this will change in the future, but it is a real damn shame that Australians have very few options for content on the iPad and are, once again, treated like paupers by Apple. |
