iPad, Kindle, etc, for code review?

[mrbearx1]

Hello everyone,
First post here, but have reviewed posts for several years now. . . great forum.

I am in the process of upgrading some of my reference manuals and code books and am curious if any of you use tablets for electronic versions of your reference material/books? If so, which tablet(s) do you prefer? The iPad has all the bells and whistles, but is expensive. My Wife has a Kindle, which is not as fancy, but works for her. Any opinions you can share?

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[SteelPE]

I don't know how people could possibly uses electronic references. Sticking fingers in-between pages and flipping back and forth is something that I do constantly. Looking at papers online drives me nuts because I can't easily flip back and forth. Of course I have the same opinion about shop drawings.... but companies use software to mark up the electronic version of the drawings vs printing and marking them up the old fashion way. I imagine you could get used to it though.

 

[BadgerPE]

When we updated to the 2009 IBC, we got the electronic/hard copy combo package. The hard copies are awesome like SteelPE mentioned because for some of us, looking at a hard copy just makes more sense.

However, a nice feature of the electronic PDF version is being able to search the document using the CTRL + F keyboard function. This saves a lot of time trying to figure out where something is located. A word of caution about the IBC codes though. They can only be installed on two computers unless more licenses are purchased. They have been a lot of trouble for our company and we have since given up on using them.

 

[Ron]

All of my codes and standards are in electronic versions where available. This allows great portability and searching as noted; however, there can be some drawbacks to using electronic versions. Here are a few of the problems I've run into....

1. As software readers and access controls change, the code providers don't support later versions. I've had two problems with that....the first was that one of my major code versions from over 10 years ago can only be used on one of my old laptop computers because the reader software is no longer supported by its producer and it won't work on any operating system newer than Windows XP.
2. Many code and standards providers use protected PDF's to deliver the code or standard. This is fine except when verification requires connecting to the internet to open your code or standard. A pain in the ass when you are in someone else's office and can't establish an internet connection.
3. Several different protected PDF systems are available and some are not so reliable, particularly when porting to other computers.

 

[mrbearx1]

Thanks for the information everyone. I have had electronic, (.pdf), copies in the past for my computer, and I agree, there were some limitations when compared to the hard copies. My wife was reading a magazine on her Kindle and it was very slick how she could flip the pages with her finger, as well as navigating around. I was hoping that maybe some of that nice user interface was leaking its way into our reference industry, but that doesn't sound like the case. I operate out of two offices, (same city), and would really like to have all/most of my reference manuals in a simple to use, yet portable format...the new tablets sure seem like a prefect fit . . . hopefully, they'll change here before too long.

Cheers.

 

[Ron]

mrbearx1...my wife has had multiple Kindle readers....she is an avid reader and has thus far read thousands of books on Kindle. I have a Kindle "app" on my PC that allows me to read Kindle books; however, I don't know how many codes are in Kindle format. I know that numerous textbooks are available on Kindle. I have purchased a couple of textbooks for Kindle, but they are not searchable in the same manner as a PDF.

One other problem with tablets is the limited storage capability. For the ones that have USB or SD disk capability, that should not be an issue as those can be transferred from your PC. For others such as an iPad, there's limited capability to access those from your tablet. For those, I would suggest storing them on a cloud service and accessing that way. Even that proves to be challenging at time. I have an iPad and it is slow to load large files, but great for most other things. I have a PC tablet and it handles large files ok, just a bit slower than my PC.

 

[ACtrafficengr]

I can't put my finger on it, but I read somewhere that bridge inspectors find them useful, rather than having to climb down the ladder to check a reference, they can have all their manuals with them.

I've also read that people tend to retain more when reading a book than reading an electronic file. Pluses and minuses, like anything else.

 

[fegenbush]

Ron,

The Kindle and most other tablets/readers can open standard pdf files. I know that many standards are available in pdf format from the publisher, but there may be some sort of encryption (or Digital Rights Management, DRM) that prevents their use so your experience may vary.

 

[mrbearx1]

Thanks again for all the replies. I did see that the IBC 2012 has a "Kindle version," but am not sure of its formatting and functionality, though. I find it interesting that the different codes and reference materials offer .pdf formats, yet do not provide any further information describing the product. You would think they would be taking advantage of the tablets and writing apps for their material, that take advantage of the technology . . . that's what I was hoping for, anyway.

Cheers.

 

[Ron]

Fegenbush....I routinely open PDF on all my tablets; however, the large, access controlled and encrypted PDF's are sometimes a problem since they have to be "installed" on a device and that is not usually possible on a tablet...particularly iPad. As noted, APPS need to be developed for these items to assist with tablet use and portability. For now, most of my files are unprotected PDF's and I keep them on a cloud service and accessible.