Zite is one of the two best iPad apps for consuming aggregated content. (The other one is Flipboard). Zite pulls a plethora of sources into a single electronic magazine. It is easy to add additional sections by performing a search and finding a category. One starts the set-up by plugging in one's Google Reader account information. Google Reader has become the core choice for RSS feed subscriptions - it is used by many other feed-reading services and applications, including MobileRSS. It is excellent to see Zite updating itself, going out to the latest from many different sources and assembling what it finds in a pleasing magazine layout. When one touches an article within the layout, a window emerges that has extracted the text from the article's original source and displays it in an easy-to-read way, while the original article is still available if one swipes down. By isolating the text in an uncluttered way, one's text display preferences are maintained.
Zite will pull in more content while one is entering into a section, so it is a good idea to take it slow when one first moves into a section, to give time for the extra pages to be added. If one swipes too quickly through the articles, then one may be stopped after only two or three pages. It is best if 5 to 10 pages load. The newest articles are in the front. If an article has an associated photo or video, that displays inline in Zite. The turning of pages is very pleasing in Zite, as one swipes from right to left. The only thing in turning pages one has to worry about is that it is possible to open an article instead of swiping over top of it. One eventually learns how to swipe lightly and even to be careful where one does the swipe, so that the page is turned instead of an article opened.
It is best to use Zite in landscape mode, where the horizontal line is longest. This gives a panel in which one is asked questions about one is reading. The first question is whether you enjoyed reading the article. If you say yes, Zite tells you that it will show you more similar articles in future. Then one is asked about the source, whether you want more from the source in future. The author too. Then Zite shows you a list of keywords and for those that you want more from in future, you touch them and they darken (like the other questions). Then there is a sharing panel at the bottom, where you can share the article on Twitter or Facebook. Also, you have a choice to send the article to Instapaper for offline reading.
All of these selections make Zite the Pandora of content. The sense is that the application gets to know what you like and will bring you more of it in future. There is a seemingly endless trove of content in the world. Zite is like your own personal DJ of that content.
When one is done reading an article, one presses a close button in the upper left of the article window to close it and return to the pages that show multiple articles.
When I show my iPad to people, I often start with Zite to show them how wonderful the iPad is for the display and consumption of content. I love reading Zite. Every day, I add more categories, indicate more and more what I like, and feel that I am building my reading of things as of yet unwritten, but shaping the building of a personal magazine, one of my favorite ways of learning and reading.