This is a great idea. I can't tell much from the image you provided about how the code samples are distinguished from the rest of the text. Usually you want code samples in a slightly different font - say a monospaced font - from the rest of your text. And then there's the problem of line wrapping in code samples - in an indentation-sensitive language like Python, that could be more of a problem but even in cases where it doesn't mislead the reader about the way the language works, it could be unsightly. Perhaps you haven't gotten that far yet or someone else will improve upon it and contribute the patches back to you. Great start, though. I was resolute about not getting an iPad but this is the first really good argument I've seen in its favor.

The code is monospaced, but the books are just XHTML and CSS, so I'll be improving the style. I just wanted to get this out for everyone!

Look again. There is a code sample in that screenshot and it is in a monospaced font. There is an example of line wrapping and it seems to be distinguishable from a newline.

Great idea! It looks like I'll be spending a couple hours tomorrow getting the Poignant Guide up and running on my iPad :)

It seems like the Internet has killed the reference book format for a lot of programming subjects. Now okay, it's also killed the market, and that's not coming back, but the format can still be useful. Especially for the iPad, which in my opinion is a lot better suited for reference books than the traditional e-ink readers.

E-ink readers are already 'traditional'? I'd say they're cutting edge, and that LCD is the 'traditional' variety.

E-ink uses a very small fraction of the power of a backlit LCD and is a much newer technology.

Yeah, it seems funny, doesn't it? As a display technology E-ink is innovative, no doubt. But from the content perspective the E-ink paradigm has always been traditional. That is, E-ink is an innovation in the context of the display (in sunlight, on paper, everywhere), not the content.

How about we just rewrite the format/style/design of ruby docs to be something more readable in the first place?

Or you know, actually document shit beyond "the source code".

(I'm totally grabbing this, fyi)

I think reference and other kinds of docs will be one way in which the iPad will work better than a netbook for a lot of the power user crowd. Having docs on the netbook isn't quite the same thing.

I think this is the first time I've seen "Internet pad".

I'm hoping ePub comes to replace many uses of PDF, like this. Having support in browsers makes sense, since it's basically HTML.