When it comes to covering technology, there are some things that I just assume everyone knows, and don’t even bother explaining them. It’s something we nerds need to learn, that not everyone is like us. In fact, we’re more unlike them than they are unlike us.

Every time there’s an Instapaper update, and we cover it, we do so assuming that everyone knows what it’s all about. After several comments and emails, I’ve come to realise that not everyone ‘gets’ Instapaper. In an effort to bring everyone to speed, here’s what Instapaper means to me, and why you must start using it if you aren’t already.

At any given part of the day, unless I’m doing something specific, I’m using my Mac (and now my iPad) to weed through Internet. Twitter, facebook, Tumblr, news sites. The Internet is a busy place, and there’s no time to stop. Especially stop and read a 3000 word article. Not while people are pinging you on chat, or someone mentions you on Twitter, or a friend pops in unannounced. It has become very apparent, that we need some quiet reading time. Those times when we’re not stressed, when there are no disturbances, when you’re sitting back rather than pushing forward. Instapaper, is that.

Instapaper adds a little bookmarklet to your Safari bookmarks bar. It could be anywhere, really. Come across something you think you might be interested in reading, just hit the “Read Later” bookmarklet, and the article is instantly added to your Instapaper queue. Upon launching the Instapaper app on your iPhone or iPad, the articles will be pulled down, ready for reading.

Instapaper keeps things quiet. None of the formatting from the website remains. Every article you read looks exactly the same as the other — optimised for reading.

Instapaper makes a great companion when you have nothing to do. Imagine all those pockets of whitespace, waiting for something to happen. At a bus stop, waiting at the doctor’s office, in the bathroom (*ahem*). Instapaper also takes over when you just want to read. Unlike on the desktop, the iPhone and iPad give you a focussed, distraction-free environment — push notifications aside — which allow you to indulge in long form reading, rather than hurrying through something. The longer the article, the better. Instapaper is especially good when going to bed, when you’ve just about exhausted the websites you would want to surf, say what you had to on Twitter, and just wanted to catch up on those interesting reads you’ve collected over the last few days. I got a chance to ask Marco Arment, developer of Instapaper, about his reading habits. “I get nearly all of my reading done in two places: on the train during my commute (iPhone), and for a little while in bed at night before going to sleep (iPad)”, he said.

Instapaper is not about urgency, and its design philosophy speaks about its intended use. There are no unread counts, anywhere. You don’t have to read something now, if you don’t want to. It will always be there, and that’s okay. Just flick through the list, which can go as long as you want, and pick something you like. If you start reading an article, and find that you aren’t in the mood for that kind of article, Instapaper will remember your position in that article the next time you open it. Heck, the new Instapaper even syncs your position across your devices.

A lot of people give up on Instapaper within a day or two of trying it. Usually downloading the free app as a means for testing the waters. If there’s one thing about Instapaper, is that it’s a habit. You’ve got to get yourself addicted to it for it to make any sense. Without articles in your queue you’re basically staring at an empty list. A lot of people are like this because a lot of people don’t read long articles on the web anymore. You’ve got to train yourself into finding long articles, and marking them for reading later.

But what if you don’t have the time to scourge the Internet in search of things to read? Developer Marco Arment curates a list of some of the most amazing long form articles on the web, in a service called Gimme Something To Read. Arment also has a list of suggested long form reading services, which when subscribed to, automatically download fresh reads. Says Arment, “As I branched out beyond web early adopters, I had to address the problem that not everyone browses the internet throughout the day and lives in a feed reader. Not everyone finds enough content on their own. The selections in the Recommended Sites and the Editor’s Picks (from Give Me Something To Read) serve dual purposes: they give people content when they run out, and they set the tone for the kind of content that Instapaper is intended for.”

And, if you have friends using Instapaper, you can subscribe to their starred articles, and have those trickle down as well. My Instapaper app is a reading feast. Unfortunately, the sharing feature isn’t popular as it should be so it’s hard to find good sources. “I had assumed that it would be used more, but in practice, Instapaper’s customers just aren’t very social with it”, says Arment. If you’re interested in amazing technology related reads, I’d highly recommend you add ‘marco’, ‘shawnblanc’, ‘brandonpittman@gmail.com’, and my personal shares, at ‘aayush’.

To my surprise, Instapaper is a universal app, so if you had previously purchased the $4.99 iPhone version, the iPad version came free. I asked Marco why he didn’t charge separately for the iPad app, since he’s essentially giving away something new, for free. “Over 99% of iPhone and iPad owners aren’t Instapaper customers yet. Reaching new customers is therefore much more important, and much more potentially lucrative, than trying to extract more money out of existing customers. My customers are my biggest fans, and if I keep them happy, they advertise my product to potential new customers. I’d rather they recommend Instapaper to friends than give me another few dollars. I also get to reap the benefits of having a single, combined app in the App Store rankings and management interface.”

[tweetmeme]Without Instapaper, my iPhone and iPad experience would not be the same. It’s one of my most launched apps on the iPad and iPhone, second only to my twitter client and built in apps. If you haven’t already, you can start off with the free version (currently iPhone only), but I’d highly recommend the $4.99 Pro version (I cannot stress this enough, the Pro version makes a world of a difference).

Read it Later

Can’t avoid a mention for Read it Later. It’s an often asked question, as to which is better. While both fundamentally do the same thing—help you read long articles—they differ in their approach. For the longest time, I was in the Read it Later camp, as it sported a much better reading view, more features, and price. I think Instapaper has not just caught up with a strong featureset of its own, it exceeds Read it Later in readability and design. In my opinion, Read it Later sports too much UI chrome, is slower in interaction, doesn’t support inline graphics and has none of the subscription features. The difference is especially apparent when it comes to the iPad, as there’s a very clear difference in interactivity and readability, with Instapaper sporting much better typography and management. Both apps are $4.99 for their universal pro versions, and have free versions, though there is no Instapaper free for the iPad (yet).