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Ask Slashdot: Tablets For Papers; Are We There Yet?
An anonymous reader writes "When I was younger, engineering and science offices didn't have computers yet. It was the tradition: Piled Higher and Deeper desks, and overloaded bookcases. I ended up doing other things, and haven't been in a regular office for a couple of decades. Now I'm older, spending a lot more time with the screen, and finding my aging butt and back aren't as pliable for the long hours of reading papers. And while looking at rather expensive chairs, etc for a solution, what I'm remembering is we used to be able to lean back, feet up, while reading the stapled print-outs — makes a change from hunched-over writing and typing. So I'm what wondering is this: Are We There Yet with tablets? You guys would know — What makes a good tablet for reading, sorting, annotating, and searching PDFs, etc? Hardware and software — what tablets have gotten this really right?"
n/t.
Works well for me. I just stuff PDFs into my dropbox folder on my desktop, and read em on the iPad. Makes for a happy combination. There is also an Android tablet in the house, works about as well. Seems like a solved problem from my perspective. I never print anything for reading any more...
I work in industrial applications. I don't know if it's the industry or mechanical engineers, but there's a lot of databooks (Omega, Allen Bradley), backup CDs (!) piled high in the same building, etc.. I remember this was the same in 1995. Maybe instead of CDs we had tapes in 95.
Mostly random stuff.
iPad 8 will be perfect for you.
But you won't be able to decide what to read: Apple will decide for you.
For a good reading experience you want a large (screen size) and thick (battery size) tablet, which is going to be too heavy to hold comfortably for long periods of time.
Pure readers with e-ink screens of course are lighter (and cheaper) than tablets with comparable run times, but then you lose all the other applications, tablets bring. Personally I've got both but would kill for usable (and affordable) holographic screens. Until then the answer to the headline's question is: No.
Obligatory link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines
The iPad has several good PDF reader apps, including some that do annotating. There are a few free PDF readers like BlueFire, but the best one that I've seen is a $5 one called Goodreader for iPad. With the advent of free online storage like DropBox, SkyDrive, or Box, you can put your PDFs online and just download them when you want to read them. I'm sure some of the better Android tablets will also do a pretty good job as a PDF reader, but I haven't gotten my hands on a Galaxy, XyBoard, or Nexus to play with them.
My Sysadmin Blog
Can't speak for others.
I can't say what is right, but, having finished a masters in law via distance learning, with all my reading done on my iPad, I could recommend this as a solution. iAnnotate worked incredibly well for me, as a tool for reading and annotating PDF documents, which I then synchronised back to the server so they were available for access, including the notes, on my computers for actually writing things up. I'm now testing an iPad Mini, to see whether that offers a better experience — the lower quality screen is bugging me at the moment, but I do like the lighter weight.
I found the backlit screen irritating at first, but considered it a necessary evil for the benefit of having the annotation functionality, which my previous eReaders did not have. I bought a Kindle a couple of months ago for reading fiction, and found I really struggled with it — I'd rather read on the iPad (via iBooks, usually via DeDRM and Calibre). Perhaps oddly, I find I read much faster on the iPad than on the Kindle, without a noticeable impact on understanding — I wonder if this is due to me being able to scan large blocks of text quite quickly on the iPad but not on the Kindle for some reason. Suffice to say, having been really looking forward to a Kindle — going back to an eReader, having previously have a COOL-ER and a Sony PRS-505 — I was disappointed. My wife, on the other hand, hates reading from a tablet, and carries her Kindle pretty much everywhere.
Been using them since Kindergarten.
My wife is finishing up her PhD in a biological science field. A couple years ago she was carrying like 70+ printed out papers around with her so she could reference them when writing at home or at a coffee shop. She got an original iPad and started using GoodReader and said it changed the game completely for her. She's on an iPad 3 now but the effect is the same.
I got her old iPad when she upgraded and I loaded literally a couple thousand papers and other documents I've saved over the years (mostly IEEE and ACM papers and a ton of standards documents I reference for work), luckily all already organized. GoodReader will let you load things and keep whatever directory/folder organization you have. It's great!
Things have gotten better; but I'd say that we aren't there yet.
E-ink has gotten good enough for light reading of anything that reflows adequately(and cheap enough that there is little risk in giving it a shot); but the refresh rate and available panel sizes and resolutions still make serious PDF crunching rather ugly.
The newer iPads have the resolution and speed to do PDFs justice; but capacitive touchscreens aren't exactly god's gift to stylus-based annotation. Yeah, they sell capacitive styluses; but it isn't exactly a Wacom...
"Traditional" tablet PCs had the Wacom pen input for annotation; but some mixture of technical limitations and PC OEM tastelessness always made them slower, clunkier, and more tethered to their AC adapter than was ever entirely comfortable.
If I had the cash, and really wanted to get away from the 'just-a-decent-laser-printer' solution, I'd strongly consider a portrait-oriented Cintiq display mounted on an ergotron-style floating arm. A Cintiq 22 or 24 is far too heavy to treat like a tablet; but the arm should give it effectively zero weight, and you'll get reasonably high resolution and excellent pen input.
Or any e-reader tablet that uses e-ink (unlike kindle fires). I find that it's just as easy to read as print without the eyestrain that comes from reading LCD screens. Also the battery on those things are AMAZING. I rarely have to charge mine more than once per month.
There is another way: a standing table. If you can have a normal table and a standing table, and a normal notebook, you're done.
LCD screen tablets == eyestrain after a long reading period. If you do not read for long periods of time, perhaps a 10" would work for you.
E-Ink screens are too small and/or too slow to render a typical journal article well.
For long hours of reading, I have to suggest a tablet with e-ink. But since everyone is different, you should try them out in the stores first.
/., but I really enjoy it. Since it's e-ink, the interface is slower and less responsive, but you get used to it. I look at a computer screen all day, so it's nice to read on a device that reflects light similar to paper rather than another screen shining it at me. I can read for noticeably longer with less eye strain.
I personally own a nook touch, which is probably the least liked tablet on
The upsides are of course built-in dictionary, highlighting, bookmarking, notes, etc. The dictionary and bookmarks are really the best part. The downsides are no built-in browser (does kindle have one?) -- so can't search wikipedia and/or another dictionary site -- and none of the apps or eye candy and the small size. Solely for reading, e-ink versions reign supreme in my opinion. If you don't think reading will be the primary focus, then of course go for iPad or an Android tablet with HD.
The G
I am frequently checking the state of tablet technology to do paper annotation. I write and annotate documents a lot. And any interface which is not paper and pencil like is typically useless to me. So all the tablet tend to be terrible on their own. I had a look at those stylus for ipad, that's better but still not enough. It is too imprecise which prevent proper annotation and drawings
Though, Itried a galaxy note (the phone one) with the spen, and that was a very convenient device to annotate a document. Except it is phone size so it is too small for real life use. The tablet version should be perfect. If you want to annotate stuff, you should check it out and see if it works for you.
Ignore the people suggesting iPads
There's always a trade-off — for me, I'd rather ensure I was reading in good lighting conditions, and reading for reduced periods and taking regular breaks, but with the ability to make annotations and the like easily, than to be able to read for considerable periods and lack that support. Without annotating, I'd end up reading things multiple times, which wouldn't work so well.
(I really, really wanted to use an eInk reader for studying, having loved reading fiction on them, but I found that they just did not work for me, hence getting the iPad. Now, having got myself a Kindle for my leisure reading, I find I struggle to read on it, and would rather read on a tablet screen, as I find reading far faster. Two and a bit years ago, before having used a tablet for all the reading for a reading-heavy course, I would have pushed an eReader too — having seen what worked for me, I've got a slightly different view.)
Focusing on the existing structure of papers, PDFs and the like restricts our vision. We should be asking ourselves what is the best way to communicate information, and then figure out what devices can enable that.
I'd suggest that you look at several of the eReaders out there.
My local Staples has the Kindle and B&N has the Nook. For reading, I prefer the matte screen with eInk. A lot stress on the eyes. Added bonus is the longer battery life than the full color versions. And cheap as heck.
My Motorola Android Razr Maxx makes a good portable eReader as well, but for eBooks only. Not so much on PDFs which don't resize well..
Personally, I can't stand extensive reading on the iPad, although my daughter did get a piece of software for writing screen plays, forgot the name, but it does make the screen a bit easier to take.
Every major tablet OS has the right tools for doing this. I would suggest getting a tablet with a keyboard (like the MS Surface or ASUS Transformer Pad), or getting a 10 inch tablet with a bluetooth keyboard.
I think I'm officially a geezer (past 60) and I'm spending Saturday afternoon in the lab taking notes on a 10" Galaxy Note, and while theDUT temperature stabilizes I'm catching Lagrange and checking /. All that said, I still ease my old eyes by killing trees for large schematics. Don't knock 300 dpi on 22"x17"
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
I still like paper. But I was mocked just the other day by a co-worker for drawing a diagram by hand with a pen and ink, no less. I may be a dinosaur.
What sort of papers are we talking about?
Newspapers? You can already get most respected newspapers in an app, or ebook format.
Papers please? For keeping official documents on, like an electronic green card - I doubt the red states would accept it yet.
But the other sort of paper - if your sitting in the bathroom reading on your tablet and you find theres no toilet paper - well i don't think your tablet will do a good job of wiping your arse...
Right now he's reading things on a desktop...which likely has an LCD display. This would, in my book, nullify most arguments against LCD display tablets. No, they aren't perfect, but they're no worse than the alternative. Maybe the new wave of Win8 tablets would be good? Alot of them have active stylus inpt capabilities. I use a Dell Latitude ST for all of my ME classwork. All of my textbooks are on it. I use OneNote for assignments. It works very well, even with Windows 7, which is not a very touch-friendly OS.
Most e-readers allow annotations, including kindles.
For keeping a collection of papers, Mendeley is great! It's possible to annotate the papers with notes and a yellow marker. The yellow marker can behave a little bit erratic at times though -- Xournal behaves better in that regard, but it doesn't keep track of a collection of papers.
The best tablet IMO is a Thinkpad X230t (t for tablet): you can use it as a regular laptop to do real work, but fold it over and with its pen, you have the ideal user interface to take notes just as you would on paper. I still regret that I chickened out a few years ago and bought a "regular" Thinkpad X201 instead of a X201t...
The angry man always thinks he can do more than he can. -- Albertano of Brescia
Most e-readers allow annotations, including kindles.
From memory — it was some time since I checked, and perhaps a software update has improved things — some basic annotation was possible on the Kindle, but it was not at all easy, particularly to type anything of more than a few words. I'll see if things have improved — thanks for the heads-up.
My company makes software for allied health professionals, and a large number of our customers are chiropractors. They are starting to use tablets quite extensively for recording their medical notes, so I am perfectly positioned to offer a slightly tangential response. Full disclosure: I am not a chiropractor - I've just worked with thousands of them, so I know a bit about spines and posture.
Subby, you mentioned that your back isn't what it used to be. This is an important factor.
During our lab trials of tablets, we received a lot of feedback about the ergonomics of tablets - and one tester actually had to be excused from testing after a measly 15 minutes due to neck pain developing. Here's the problem:
- A tablet has a very small screen. Don't let anybody trick you into thinking that a 10.1" screen is big. Its not. You have to hold the tablet quite close to your face to be able to read it comfortably.
- Even the lightest tablets still have significant weight. You can safely anticipate that your tablet will weigh about a kilogram.
- When you hold a kilogram weight up in front of your face, it distorts your body's centre of balance. In order to compensate, your body transfers weight either resulting in you leaning backwards, or sticking your backside out. Either of these are posturally abnormal positions. For the first 5 minutes, no problems - but for extended periods, this can (and likely will) result in back pain, neck pain and headaches. Over weeks and months, it will damage your spine.
- The alternative is to sit in a relaxed position and hold the device in your lap. Sounds good until you realise that your entire body is falling into a C shape (when seen from the side). This is also an abnormal position for the spine - and creates the same problems. We see a lot of x-rays of children who spent excessive time with the iPod/PST/handheld device in their lap - their spine is worse than that of a 40 year old.
In the end, we published an official white paper advising our customers that A) tablets work fine; the technology is sound and reasonably mature; B) we DO NOT recommend that they use them.
imho we ARE there.
I initially tried out a Lenovo Thinkpad tablet but the n-trig based pen system wasn't responsive enough. I've since switched to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and it is AMAZING. My wife uses it to take notes, lecture from, annotate, email etc etc. Between S-Pen, Kno and other pen aware apps, this tablet fills all of our needs. She works in neuroscience for a university and in a lab and reads and annotates on many papers on her Note 10.1.
I'd strongly recommend you check it out.
Regards,
Anonymous
http://www.squidoo.com/walkingwhileworking
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
I use Kindle to read papers in .pdf format. It works pretty damn well if you ask me. ,but all that means is *take off glasses*
Sure, the font can be a bit small
The IEEE standard for papers is still a two-column format, and the paper is only downloadable in PDF, so the first problem is that the paper is completely unreadable on anything other than your printed paper. PDF sucks, and therefore Kindle, ipad, etc. will all suck. This is totally fixable but I haven't seen an application yet that does it.
Other problem is that I like to literally draw on papers as I read them... to check the math, to call attention to something, etc. Nothing I have seen has as simple and easy to use of an interface as a pen and paper. Relatedly, when I desire to draw up a schematic or other technical drawing documentation, I have found that trying to do it on a computer is so complicated that it ruins my train of thought. It's not hard, per se, but compared with a marker on a whiteboard it sucks. Take a cell-phone-camera picture afterwards and it's preserved and digitized for ever.
Perhaps if Windows 8 takes off, and touch screens become the norm for all computers, and we can get rid of this ridiculous abstraction of a "mouse", we'll be able to accomplish more of these tasks on a computer. Still, for brainstorming or putting simple thoughts to paper, I don't know if I can see a future use case where the tablet takes over from pen and paper/whiteboard and marker. Unless doing it on a tablet adds something, it's just not worth it.
Just my $0.55 (US inflation, 1774-2008, for $0.02)
Or at least afford one each for the minimum number of pages you'll want open, all run from the same account at the same time!
There is no doubt that e-readers have made carrying large quantities of documentation around with you much, MUCH easier. What is tougher to do is manage your library. Fortunately, someone has already made tremendous strides to resolve that issue.
calibre provides a great way to organize your library of e-books and online periodicals in conjunction with the tablet or e-reader of your choice. The website has a highlights video which does a good job of covering what calibre is capable of.
At this point, calibre provides automatic download scheduling for almost 1,400 online magazines. More are added by users of calibre all the time. A sampling that might be of interest to academics include "Journal of Hospital Medicine", "Journal of Nephrology", "Microwaves and RF", "Scientific American", etc.
Once you've added a book (or collection of books) to your library, calibre provides plenty of tools to categorize it by subject, author, publisher, and just about anything else you care to name.
So, once you've got your papers and periodicals organized in calibre, pulling them into your e-reader is simply a matter of plugging into a USB port on your desktop or laptop. If you want to grab something when you're away from your desk, there's a Web front end that's pretty serviceable, too.
calibre is licensed under GPLv3 and is supported under MS Windows, OS/X, and Linux. There's even a portable version for loading on a USB stick to make your library truly portable. :-)
BTW, the Grand Tour video was created when the current version of calibre was 0.8.0. Kovid Goyal has been conscientously providing updates every Friday for as long as I've been using his app. The current version is 0.9.8. I think he went from 0.8.0 to 0.8.78 before making the leap to 0.9.0. :-)
As to which e-reader to use? There are a huge number of tablets and dedicated devices out there these days, although even the dedicated ones have all pretty much morphed into tablets. My personal favorite is the Nook Color but I've found that it's underpowered to handle large PDFs with a lot of graphics. However, calibre provides a pretty decent conversion utility for PDF to EPUB. The Nook does a much better job of managing memory for the EPUB format, so the large PDFs aren't even that big a deal for me.
A4 size
at least 150dpi
daylight readable
a day or more battery life
robust but light
able to take annotations
minimal DRM sillyness
quick page turns
If you're used to the larger format of a newspaper or a 8.5x11 (or A4) report then the Surface is the right tablet for you. The Kindle and Nook are light but way too small for technical reading. Diagrams, illustrations and charts that fit well in a printed report would look miniscule on those readers. Even the iPad would be too small. Only the Surface is large enough to see the detail you need.
Paste buffer fail.
THIS is the link I thought I was posting -- https://play.google.com/store/search?q=repligo+reader&c=apps
Sorry, all.
Why not use a laptop, then you can sit back with your feet up on your desk? That's how I used to work in a development environment - I had a couple of multiprocessor Pentium Pros under my desk for running builds, but any coding, reading, or writing documentation was done on my laptop, sitting back comfortably with my laptop on my lap, then I'd check in the code, and move my build and SQL scripts over as needed.
Unprofessional? Perhaps, if you're a client-facing sales "engineer" or technical account manager, but not compared to engineers shooting nerf guns or having wadded-paper fights. :-)
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
I was not and am not an Apple Fanboy.
However, after an exhaustive search I've settled on:
iPad 2 WiFi 16 GB (cheapest available -- around $370 at Fry's)
Goodreader (Around $5 -- most definitely worth it)
Dropbox
Adonit Jot stylus (get the $30 version -- you don't need the pressure sensitive BlueTooth version for this). Do NOT get anything cheaper -- you can't write on the margins with your fingers or with cheaper styli.
I sync various folders of papers in dropbox, annotate them (usually with Dropbox and the stylus), and sync the back to my PC for printing and viewing with annotations.
I thought this would be a poor substitute, but it has the advantage over paper that you can zoom in on the figures.
The only thing I miss about paper is tearing a paper apart and looking at the references at the same time as the content as I read it. I usually have my laptop open for this purpose (opened to the end of the same paper) and to perform any fast googling necessary for comprehension of the paper.
Wha?? To me it's not even clear that this thing comes with an active digitizer. If it does then comparing stats to the Galaxy Note 10.1 which definitely comes with a digitizer it is woefully short with only a slightly smaller price tag. If Christmas prices hang around, it will actually be more expensive.
If you really really want eink at the cost of a lot of tablet functionality then this is the tablet for you. Otherwise...
Spent considerable time replying to your post so that others may perhaps see the logic of what I see, not to flame anyone. Hopefully someone will actually read this as it is how I perceive the discouraging state of high tech devices and literacy in general.
I do see a light at the end of the tunnel caused by the limited functionality of all in one products that pervades the current western world of high tech and manufactures sensibilities.
With e-ink devices it will come down in production costs and simplicity of design and use with a device that only does one thing and that is display text in PDF format or other e-ink active display formats. Otherwise e-readers would not be outselling tablets 2-1 the way they are...different market different needs.
NOT everyone in the world uses just iPads and tablets, in fact some people find them down right useless for reading, my wife has both and never uses the iPad for e-reading. But goes nowhere for any length of time without her Kobo.
Going on the assumption that multipurpose consumer stuff is right for all people is just plane wrong.
Large e-ink readers with Wacom pen annotation capabilities will be cheaper if it does not connect to the net, no wifi to run down the battery and add cost, therefore boots almost instantly from cold, loads stuff through usb or card, does not rely upon the CLOUD, and is really portable.
The Wacom part is not even really that important in my case. I simply desire a decent size pdf capable e-ink device for my music stand. A device which currently does not exist.
No need whatsoever for expensive color gorilla glass amoled or retina displays (whatever the hell that is), as a matt finish screen with low level back lighting like the Kobo glo is ideal in low light situations like the stage and is far superior to read from than any glossy screen that reflects light. This also means no expensive gpu with 3d and 2d acceleration.
Need more reasons for this device, no facebook, no netflix, no poorly written xml interfaces to web applications, no problems with malware, no camera to add cost.
There is a huge unfilled market for specialized professional and student devices created from the best parts of a new technology.
And why even though they might be slightly more expensive at first, because of their need to be selectively marketed, could be extremely attractive to those who really would benefit from them.
Specialized devices for specialized purposes is the future. The current craze for all in one wonder devices like the iPad everything is just a passing fad that unfortunately does not do justice to what is really possible with things like e-ink and specialized tablet devices.
Trying to shoehorn Android, Window RT, and the iPads capabilities into the specialized device market is not going to cut it. In fact the all in wonder toys that are currently everywhere will almost do everything we speak of right now, but not one thing really well like displaying 8 1/2x 11 complicated sheet music, complicated cad diagrams, and huge amounts of text exactly the way only a real book easily can.
After all some of us do still actually read stuff other than colour comic books, web pages, tweets or the latest posts to a facebook page!
I truly hope that e-ink technology will eventually help replace the need for paper documents in the real world where people do study, work and teach literacy, mathematics, geometry, physics, all the other scientific arts.... and for me musical literacy.
By putting e-ink text books on the
I wouldn't be so sure about eyestrain being absolutely guaranteed, AC. I've stared a screens professionally since 91 and have read books on LCDs since they started showing up, on average a book every two weeks. I do adjust the backlight though.
I'd admit, the Palm III wasn't exactly equivalent of a thousand suns but the iPaq had a modern LCD.
Your comment prompts me to take another look. I'd looked at Papers, Sente and one other (I can't remember) for managing academic documents — thousands of them — but none worked very well for me. I wanted to have the software on multiple devices, and to be able to keep them in sync pretty effortlessly but without using a third party server. I wanted to be able to access the documents on my iPad, mark them up and have them synced back. I wanted the whole lot to be easily exportable to some common format, so that, if I didn't want to stick with the software forever, I could move easily.
I ended up with a directory hierarchy and owncloud, but I'll take another look, in case things have come on.
I like having the tablet on hand, since it is less intrusive in a meeting and in some cases more practical than a laptop. But the weight of all decent tablets is still too much to really recommend it for every case, even if you don't mind spending extra on an iPad. And the speed and software on eBook readers is still not quite there yet to recommend those at all, in my opinion. In terms of software I like Mantano Reader for Android (using it on a Motorola Xoom, which is nice, but heavy). But perhaps my main issue with any of these options is still the limited typing speed for annotations and notes. Perhaps Microsoft will manage to surprise us with something in the way of actual usable speech recognition on Surface?..
You're seeing quality-of-print issues: my typesetter friends sensitized me to things you can't see consciously affecting the reading experience. This, in part, motivates higher-quality displays like the retina, and subtle things like designing/adjusting the fonts for particular bit-densities in e-ink. Only a small amount is measurable without brain imaging (:-)). The easily measurable part is reading speed: 30% slower on a good digital screen than on analog paper.
davecb@spamcop.net
This is still needed as everything else is still a compromise for 'paper replacement'.
And yes, i know there s ONE vendor out there that is doing it ( Hanvon ) but we need it to be mainstream.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Why a tablet? Do you really want to spend all day holding the damned thing? Forget that.
Your problem is being hunched over the keyboard & mouse.
Your solution is to buy an Alphagrip:
http://http//www.alphagrips.com/
Then you can lift your screen to eye level, enlarge the fonts, and finally lean back just like in the old days, touch-typing away in full ergonomic comfort, just like I am now. I would _never_ go back to a crappy old qwerty board mate. Hell, just watch one of the typing demos and you'll get it:
http://www.alphagrips.com/typingdemo.html
No, I don't work for them, I just love the device. Oh, and comfort, I like that too.
Smile, breathe, and go slowly.
S
"We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code." Dave Clark, IETF
... is a tablet that let's me read PDFs in the same size as the 8.2x11 output I would normally read after it was printed. I would really love a tablet -- or a generic e-book reader -- with a bunch of storage to allow me to carry around all of the PDFs of manuals that I might need when working on a problem at a customer site without having to download something from the web/cloud (which might not be available after all; that's why I'm on-site: trying to fix a problem that might have taken the network down). Shrinking the page down to fit a 10-inch screen doesn't hack it. Making me scroll a viewing window around to view the page especially doesn't hack it. I don't need/want a built-in camera (which frankly can't even begin to compete with my DSLR with interchangeable lens) , photo editing, or a bunch of games, etc. Make the darned screen bigger!
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
I've used ezPDF reader with my Transformer Prime tablet for half a year now. It does the same tricks as iAnnotate for iPads. I use Zotero for document management (with the ZotFlie add-on), and Dropbox to sync the annotated PDFs between the tablet and my other computers. Works great. No going back to paper!
You like Apple and nice, clean UI's? I hate to break it to you, but memorizing 10 gestures and multi-key operations (e.g. option+click) is about as nice and clean as my compiz install that used no program menus nor icons. Apple gives me one button. I pressed on an iPhone because I wanted a menu, then the program that someone opened for me was gone. They wanted me to press imaginary buttons or play Pictionary to get where I wanted. HOW IS THAT CLEAN??!!! Apple either has the absolutely least intuitive UI I've ever seen, or I'm retarded to think a button on my UI should operate the running program. If you had listed something like the quality hardware, variety of shortcuts, consistent platform or the nice workflow (I suppose all the fanboys like it), then I could accept that or even agree with you.
Good open source has some of the best UI I've seen: Google Chrome is a release of the open source Chromium browser vs Safari looking like my browser from 2002 and Microsoft Internet Explorer being IE, OpenOffice had better menu arrangements than MS Office (pre-2007, who put format actions in multiple menus. haven't used newer versions much), the GIMP menu arrangment is easier to learn than Photoshop (counter complaints are from people already used to Photoshop), and the Pidgin (formerly GTK AIM, GAIM, Gaim, and gaim through various trademark issues and AOL bullying) UI beat the pants off of the standard AIM messenger (enough to be featured in Forbes). Ubuntu has some of the simplest & best software install/management software I've seen (unless clicking a single alert icon to update everything is too technical for you), where Microsoft has nothing I've seen. I think I heard Apple has something, but I don't expect it to be as flexible in adding 3rd party sources.
Before you get too out of sorts defending the UI on Reeder (a Google Reader client), you should know I've seen all of those UI elements in open source projects that predate Google Reader itself. Since you didn't say what project you're accusing of ripping off a UI and a quick search didn't reveal Reeder's age, how do you know Reeder didn't steal the exact UI from the other software? Based on the information you provided, you leave me with thinking you always assume the software was built in the order you find out about it, but I assume there's just some information missing.
I'm sick of snotty Apple fans who defend their brand and bash others without real information. As I've grown up, I've realized that every proprietary platform will burn me unless I keep giving them money over and over again for something I've already bought.