SmartGo Books

[smartgo]

I want to buy some of the books but don't know how to pay for it. Can I pay using iTunes gift card or do I need to use a credit/debit card?

As far as I know, you need an iTunes account. If you have an iTunes gift card, you should be able to use that to add credit to your account, and then use that account to purchase the book.

[kirkmc]

iI certainly don't want to rain on anyone's parade (although iApple people do tend to inspire such desires), and, as has been observed, iI am actually part of the parade and so am definitely not against e-books. But on behalf of not just iAndroid people but also people who don't even want to contemplate the latest gizmos, let me recall that I can remember when personal computers first became widespread (e.g. iTandy iTRS-80) and iIshi iPress were convinced their new iIshi iFormat was "the way iGo books were meant to be read".

They issued a series of discs with iGo iWorld commentaries that could be read on a computer. I also remember the excitement when a 1 iMB floppy came along. This was big news also for iGoGoD (even then we went with the flow). We could even get 300 games on a disk. iT iMark even managed to transcribe all the 800+ iGo iSeigen games then available (since copied many times without acknowledgement, thanks to the same technology).

iWe thought then that that was a lifetime's achievement. iSeveral lifetimes later, we see that computers and go are now indeed in a symbiotic relationship, but the iIshi format virtually disappeared, game commentaries on computers never really took off (iBob iMyers a few years ago tried a version with flashing stones and fancy arrows and even that didn't catch on), and of course the expected accompanying upsurge in people joining national associations (or go markets) never materialised. iThe reality was that, as ever, the iLaw of iUnintended iConsequences took over and the symbiosis took unexpected turns. iSome, such as the development of go servers, seem to be entirely benign. iI hope I can say the development of the iGoGoD database was also unexpected and benign.

iThe development of go e-books will, iI expect, take equally unexpected twists. iLooking back in ten years time, iI suspect iApple and iPad will just seem as inconsequential as iTandy, iRadio iShack and the iTRS-80 do now. iBut I was as bowled over by my iTRS-80 as iPad people are by their new toy, and iI hope they get as much pleasure as iI did. iStill, it might be as well to remember this is a public forum, and a little less hype might be more tasteful. iIt would surely be more rational.

iGrumpy

The Ishi format didn't disappear, it was replaced by the more flexible SGF. And it was just a format, not a display. What's new here is the way you can embed diagrams in a book, and move through those diagrams. In a perfect world, the pages of print books would allow that, and I'd predict that we may even see that one day. But don't confuse a way of encapsulating data (a format) with a way of presenting it.

[kirkmc]

Personally, I'd like to see the SmartGo program available for Mac OS. It's only on Windows® currently.

Ditto. And I'd like to see KGS for iOS as well. But we all know where that's going...

[imabuddha]

Personally, I'd like to see the SmartGo program available for Mac OS. It's only on Windows® currently.

Ditto. And I'd like to see KGS for iOS as well. But we all know where that's going...

Heh, I'd bet real money that SmartGo is released for Mac OS before KGS appears on iOS.

I would like to see both, although I've given up on KGS.

[Mivo]

Heh, I'd bet real money that SmartGo is released for Mac OS before KGS appears on iOS.

If you bet enough, wms might decide that he wants to win.

[quantumf]

I tried it on my iPod touch, and it worked amazingly well. However, I couldn't figure out what the icons on the left were supposed to do, if anything, I'm referring to the three dots and triangle. I couldn't readily find any help, either in the app, or on the smartgo website.

[imabuddha]

I tried it on my iPod touch, and it worked amazingly well. However, I couldn't figure out what the icons on the left were supposed to do, if anything, I'm referring to the three dots and triangle. I couldn't readily find any help, either in the app, or on the smartgo website.

I think you're talking about the icons that appear at the bottom left of a diagram when it's been tapped. Touching any of them and keeping your finger down allows you to navigate forwards or backwards through the moves by moving your finger right or left. It's an alternative to the automatic playback.

[Redbeard]

Heh, I'd bet real money that SmartGo is released for Mac OS before KGS appears on iOS supports Java.

Fixed that for you

[imabuddha]

Heh, I'd bet real money that SmartGo is released for Mac OS before KGS appears on iOS supports Java.

Fixed that for you

Just like Adobe Flash, iOS is better without it. Luckily for those who want either, there's Android.

[Redbeard]

Heh, I'd bet real money that SmartGo is released for Mac OS before KGS appears on iOS supports Java.

Fixed that for you

Just like Adobe Flash, iOS is better without it. Luckily for those who want either, there's Android.

That's all very good, but if there is no Java there is no KGS. I just want it clear that WMS is not keeping KGS off of iOS, Apple is.
Thankfully, it looks like SmartGo does not have that limitation, so the only thing holding it back from other platforms is time, effort, and marketplace. I'm looking forward to being able to run SmartGo Books on a non-Apple device someday.

[imabuddha]

That's all very good, but if there is no Java there is no KGS. I just want it clear that WMS is not keeping KGS off of iOS, Apple is.

This is a discussion for a different thread, but I'd say it goes both ways. Apple doesn't allow Java on iOS, but it is WMS who won't create a non-Java client nor allow anyone else to make a client.

[rubin427]

The SGF Kifu format that's used in SmartGo Books is a work in progress. I'm happy to share the current draft with prospective authors, but I foresee significant changes, so I'm not promoting this as a standard for now...

As a curious techie, I'll be looking forward to the day the format is made available (even if it's still draft).

increasingly off topic:

I assume that "sgf Kifu" can not be a proper subset of SGF. After all, we may well have things like Table of content and an index. There would likely be more than one gameinfo that could essentially be displayed arbitrarily.

But would the specification go so far as to allow the author to break content into logical pages, even if a particular viewer/device might render a logical page as one or more device pages? (I hope so).

CGoban and SGF are wonderful, but they are not what comes to mind when I imagine "go enabled word processor".

[smartgo]

I assume that "sgf Kifu" can not be a proper subset of SGF. After all, we may well have things like Table of content and an index. There would likely be more than one gameinfo that could essentially be displayed arbitrarily.

SGF Kifu is real SGF with a few custom properties and richer interpretation of comment text. SGF already allows collections (just concatenate multiple games into one file), and the table of contents is generated automatically. One of the goals was that you could create an SGF Kifu file in an existing SGF editor.

[lobotommy]

@smartgo
Thanks for this app! It is the best thing I installed on my iDevices since... SmartGo Kifu (& of course Panda-Testsuki, & GoGrinder, & Tygem app, & AlwaysOnPC fo KGS... )
SmartGo Books are just amazing. Looks simple & works great. Thanks again.

[shimari]

Lol, iWe is the funniest little new linguistic creation I have seen in a long time! It is worth noting that sgf format, which was created by Anders to begin with, has become ubiquitous. It is the preferred electronic format for reviewing, and recording games, and has become the standard. I think a great number of players study the electronic version of games, thanks to this format. That said, there is nothing like sitting down in front of your goban with a book, and playing an actual game out. Fairbairn's Kamakura is absolutely wonderful, and the feel of playing these games out with actual stones is something that virtual versions can never replace. The depth and richness of his historical narrative really adds to the experience too, and I just don't get that from a virtual version. This is not to undermine electronic records at all. I think both are wonderful tools, and serious players should make use of both of them. The speed of the electronic tools is a powerful asset too. Our contestants for the World Youth Go Championships played a game to decide our representative to the event on April 9th. I sent the game record to Feng Yun 9P a couple of days later. She thoroughly analyzed the game, and sent it back. It was distributed to 15,000 readers in the E-J yesterday - ten days after the game was played.