Travel ebooks

I asked a similar question yesterday: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/60818/rs-guidebooks-kindle-editions.html I just dowloaded Rick Steves Paris 2011 and Florence 2011 on my Droid using the Amazon Kindle app. I've skimmed through the books and think they are great so far. The maps first show in full (very small), then you choose the section to zoom in on, so they are separated on different pages, but once zoomed in, are very easy to read. I love how the table of contents and other parts are hyperlinked so they take you to the right section.

For travel ebooks that often contain many illustrations the iPad is the way I prefer. The Kindle is good for non illustrated texts but illustrations and maps are so important in travel guides. The fact that the ipad can hold eBooks from Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble Nook and Google Books makes it the Jack of All Trades. Also you can take notes and edit text documents, view PDFs and so so many other things with the iPad. I can access my own google maps on it that I have annotated. Plus of course you can send email and access the internet it's the ultimate carry along. I don't intend to be strolling the streets of Europe with the iPad under my nose but I may throw it in my backpack sometimes or just research from the hotel and send info to my iPhone.

it's ok to bring an ipod so you can read and take pics. i think ipad is an overkill and i have seen people reading ipad as they walk around sites and talking loudly about what they read on it - very silly.

Technology doesn't make people rude, if they were doing that with an ipad they'd just as likely do it with a paper book. I agree the ipod isn't really viable, I was asking if any of the major travel guides have a ebook version that's useable in that format while travelling. ipad was the least desirable alternative as it's the bulkiest and the most expensive but it's also the only one i've seen with a screen capable of any real graphics.

Thanks Laurel, Carroll, and Jaime!!! When I figure out where the next trip will take me, I will take the plunge and purchase a RS guidebook for Kindle and check it out. Knowing about the Table of Contents, hyperlinks, and the fact that I can zoom in on maps is very reassuring. I really wish the Amazon page would show a few pages of examples a la "Search Inside"...but you've done that for me! The main thing about ANY guidebook - paper or ebook - is to be very familiar with it in the first place. Too many people start reading their guidebooks on the flight over...then complain they "never" could find anything while out-and-about and how badly organized the book is LOL! Art, if belly-ing up for 3 or 4 iPads would be easier, let me know. I'll even kick in for shipping; that's the kind of girl I am ;-)

Eileen you made a very good observation about planning: You have to start early and do it often! I know my guidebooks backwards and forwards, and I have countless "Favorites" for my trip so I can look up things quickly on my Netbook while traveling as well as here at home. I also have options listed in my basic plan in case something goes awry, like oh, THE WEATHER! Nothing like planning a day of hiking and having a deluge. Got to know what else you might find interesting! One real example: we were going to go to Piazza San Marco our first morning in Venice, but Acqua Alta hit. We were actually in the square when the siren went off at 0800 and we could see water starting to slosh up in the drains. I "knew" from planning that we could have a great morning going out to Cannaregio where AA doesn't hit as high. When we returned to San Marco in the afternoon, the tourists and the AA had dispersed. Our feet barely touched water all day, but we sure heard complaints from others who were not aware you can actually find interesting sights elsewhere in Venice!

BINGO, Laurel!!! "I hated (Paris/Florence/Bruges/European trains/Italians) because the (___) was (closed/raining/husband sick, didn't know what to do by myself/rude/gave my reservation away)!!!" Do a little research, have some back-up plans. If everything in Paris requiring staff suddenly closed because they went on strike (I know - CRAZY idea), there's approximately 314 gillion other things to do. Or, you can rant about how rude the French are, nobody would help, 'nothing' to do, etc. If your hotel room has been given away and it's festival time, do you know the surrounding towns and how to find the timetables for getting there and looking for a room? The offer is still good, Art - I'm happy to pay the shipping charges for our new iPads if you'll order in bulk; I'm sure they'll offer a substantial discount...I'd love to present an iPad to my husband for Valentine's Day. Of course, the card would read: Love, Art...

Laurel and Eileen You two are priceless!!! What we need is the Generic Moan Release. Peaple can have their moan, they feel better and it is just taken up into the ether and dissipates. It then reminds others to read first, then plan. Too many think that they ask one question, barrel around like rockets and when it all goes phut! they look for somebody to blame...

I said I wouldn't spend the money for an iPad but once I learned all the things it could do I took the plunge. I wouldn't travel without it! I don't carry it around during the day I too send anything I need to my iPhone. My first trip to Europe I traveled with 3 guidebooks, France, Paris & Spain. Now it's all on my iPad. I also took 3 books to read and had to find an English bookstore in Barcelona to buy another because I finished the ones I took. Now - all on the iPad. I love technology! I don't need books or a computer, just the iPad.