Unless you’ve been living under a rock, surely you’ve heard at least something about Apple’s new gadget, the iPad.  While the new tablet device seems pretty cool, I still haven’t made up my mind whether or not there is a real functional use for this type of device, at least as it applies to how I currently consume my digital media.

Here’s one great example:

I love to read.  Lately it’s been biographies, fiction by authors such as Michael Connelley and John Grisham, and just about any book that’s been made into a motion picture.  Except there is one major problem.  Between running my photography business, and keeping up with newborn and toddler age sons, finding time to read is a bit more of a challenge than it was before we had a family.

First it was books on tape, then CD, then my iPod, and now the iPhone.  Audio books from places like Audible.com have made it easier than ever for me to “read” while in the car running errands, walking the dog, riding my bike, running at the gym, or even folding laundry.  As long as I am doing something that really doesn’t require a whole lot of brain power, audio books have become a great tool when it comes to multi tasking!  At one point I actually had more GB of audiobooks on my phone than I did music!

Except there is one limitation…..

Occasionally I actually find myself with the kids in bed, nothing on TV, and nothing else to do.  I actually get a bit jealous when I look over at my wife sitting on the couch or in bed reading her book before going to bed.  I can always pop on my headset and start listening to whatever I’m currently “reading,” however it feels very unnatural to simply sit on the couch and stare at the wall or the ceiling while listening to the recording.  Same thing goes for traveling.  I just can’t seem to listen to an audiobook on an airplane.  It feels too unnatural to sit in the seat staring at the back of the headrest in front of me, no matter how wrapped up in the recording I might be.  It’s those times that I really wish I could pick up where I left off on the audio book with the real thing.

I find it really ironic that something which allows me to multi task very well, is actually a very poor option without some other menial task to occupy just enough of my visual consciousness while still allowing me to think about the words being spoken in my headset.

A Possible Solution?

So along comes the Kindle/Kindle2 from Amazon, along with other E-Readers from the likes of Sony, and Barnes & Noble.  At first I thought the idea is really cool.  Great for travelers, very “green” product in the sense that  you don’t have to buy, store, and eventually dispose of hardcover or paper-back books.  But unfortunately I haven’t seen an e-reader yet that is also a multi-media type device that would also cover the audio end of my literary needs.

Fast forward to earlier this year when Apple unveiled the iPad, and touted it as a revolutionary rich digital media content provider, that will change the way you experience your movies, music, web surfing, newspapers, books, pictures, etc…..  At first I was very intrigued because not only does the iPad come loaded with the ever-present iTunes and iPod player software, Apple has now launched an e-book store to go along with the iPad.

So here’s the question that I haven’t been able to find an answer to yet (and yes, I’m too lazy to go to the Apple store to check one of these bad-boys out for myself.  Maybe I’m afraid I wont’ be able to resist and just buy the damn thing!);  If you purchase an audiobook either from iTunes or from a site like Audible.com, and you also purchase the e-book (assuming they are both the complete, unabridged versions of the original), can the device sync the two versions?  In other words, if you start reading the e-book, read the first 45 pages, is there a way to then begin listening to the audio version, starting on page 46?

I’ll admit that this might not be an application that applies to a large segment of the market.  A lot of hardcore readers simply don’t like audiobooks, and likewise a lot of people I know who prefer audiobooks just don’t like to read physical text.

If you know of a solution, please drop me a line.  There are a couple of other things I’d love for the iPad to be able to do that would have me waiting outside for the Apple store to open up, but for now I’m still struggling with the real benefits of one of the hottest and coolest gadgets of the year.