A lot of folks have been declaring the iPhone as a worthy eBook reader and to them, I say, “Go take a long walk off a short pier.” No, it does not compare to the Kindle or Sony eReader or anything else. It’s tiny, harsh on the eyes and just plain sucks.
With that being said, let’s check out ScrollMotion’s Daniel X: Alient Hunter, a graphic novel by James Patterson. I may be averse to regular books on the iPhone, but graphic novels aka comics are a different story. They’re quick reads and the artwork is generally good. Danny X is a fine story and I won’t go into detail on that because the synopsis on iTunes does an excellent job without giving anything away, but it’s a good read. But it’s not all peaches and cream. I have a major issue with Daniel X.
My issue is not with Mr. James Patterson, but with ScrollMotion. The automated “scrolling” from page to page moves at 100MPH or as slow as molasses. This might just be an isolated incident with this particular book, but it’s an irritating one. On the slowest speed, the book stutters between pages and even restarting my iPhone didn’t help. Anything above level 1 is just too fast.
If ScrollMotion can fix this then I would have zero qualms. If I’m going to shell out $9.99 then I expect to be able to read it comfortably.
Stuff like this is a work in progress still with the iPhone, so go into anything like this knowing that, and the irritation level will drop considerably.
Dear Peter,
Thanks for writing a review of our App Daniel X Alien Hunter. Sorry to hear that you had so much trouble with it.
The multi-speed auto-play fiction (that you discuss in your review) is actually only one way to read the book.
The alternate and more primary mode of view is to scroll forward and backward by moving your finger across the screen. This action allows the user to control the speed of the motion, while allowing the ability to read the text at their own pace, thus avoiding the problems that you focus on in your review.
Here is a video that shows how to use this functionality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUcoRzZA0Jw
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Josh Koppel
Founder: ScrollMotion