Ipad Apps: CourseSmart - Not so smart

Ok... so.. The first thing I tried to do this semester when I got my textbook list, was of course...download my textbooks on my e-reader.  I figured this wouldn't be a problem because I have the Nook  (B&N) app, and B&N offers most textbooks.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that B&N had recently devised the lovely brand new software for accessing their textbooks (called NOOKstudy).  I thought.. oh no problem, I'll just get the app and have even more features for studying than the standard Nook app.... WRONG!  Not only is this lovely program only accessible from a desktop or laptop, but B&N tied up all their textbooks so they can only be accessed through NOOKstudy! 


So now here I am.. days away from class and I can't get my textbooks!    OH  this was bad, very very bad.  So I went out on a hunt.  Thank you Amazon, I was able to get one of my textbooks easily through the Kindle app.  Another was available for download as a .pdf, no problem, I have multiple ways to view .pdfs on Ipad (including ones that allow for extensive highlighting and annotating).  But that last one was eluding me... I found it on the publishers website, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.  However, the publisher only allows you to rent the book for an exhorbitant price.   They don't tell you what format the text comes in though, so it's russian roulette with your wallet.  Will you or will you NOT be able to view it as a pdf?... from others experiences I have found you can't depend on that.  So with extensive searching I found that CourseSmart carries the book.  Also very expensive, and also just a rental, but the rental is available by semester rather than 2 OR 6 months (which is what Wadsworth offers).  So with little choice, I download the CourseSmart app and purchase the text.  I am presented with the choice of downloadable version or online version.  The online version is available from any of your computers upon login, but you can only do your work where there is wifi, so I went with the downloadable version.  This can only be read on the one device it's downloaded to, but since the whole point was to access it on my ipad, I didn't see a problem with that.


Ok.. So now I have the book.  Let's see if we can figure out how to read it... alright... 
Step 1: Log in (Hmmm curious, thought I only needed that for online, maybe just this first time...)
Step 2:  Open book.. waiting... waiting.. hmm.. that's pretty slow... 
Step 3: Turn the page, got it... loading loading... what the heck am I on the internet?
Step 4: Highlight... good luck with this one... there is a little tiny pencil button in the upper right.. click that... good.. ok.. now.. see that random square that appeared in the center of the screen?  Use a couple of fingers and spread that out over the text you want to highlight.  Not so easy eh?  NO... and not that clear either.  
Step 5: Once you've managed to highlight some text.. you can press it to send it to your email, or comment.  The comment is an ugly situation.. white on black right underneath the highlighted passage.  This covers the text below.  Oh... and in case you were going to try to highlight while zoomed in or in landscape mode, forget it.  Those features are disabled in both cases.  So you have to zoom all the way back out to tiny print, turn the ipad upright, and search the screen for your place in order to mess with the little square.
Step 6:  Looking for bookmarks... Alright so apparently if you go to the contents area and click bookmarks, you should see those.  Though after using the program for almost an entire semester I have yet to even figure out how to make a bookmark.  And all those comments and highlights show up nowhere.  So you have to remember where you wrote them.  EVERY basic ereader has a collection of these notes and highlights somewhere!  They also all have a search function, of which CourseSmart has none.  SO... you can't actually search your text for any specific passage or words.  Oh.. And no built in dictionary... 
Step 7: Reading your downloaded book sans internet connection.  Nope sorry.. so glad you paid the extra 10 bucks.  Can't be done.  I even went to the help on CourseSmarts website and got this: "No, you must have an internet connection to view your Online eTextbook or your Downloadable eTextbook. Viewing your eTextbooks offline is a feature that will be coming soon."  Fabulous... so you can't log in to read your downloaded textbook without internet access.  So doesn't that mean that the textbook is not downloaded, but really on the web just like the cheaper version?  So I basically paid an extra 10 dollars to have an online textbook I can't read from any location... great... 


Epic FAIL CourseSmart


Needless to say, I do not recommend CourSmart to any student.  You're better off actually buying the textbook.