$175 Book vs. $19.99 App: Trying Out Phaidon Design Classics for the iPad

The three-volume, four-ton Phaidon Design Classics can double as an end table, but aren't the most convenient design reference materials: That's why a slightly cheaper, smaller version was released last year. But do you need those 3,300 yellow-bound pages at all now that all 1,000 iconic design projects--from the paperclip to Lockheed's SR-71 Blackbird--have been packed into a tiny iPad app? We gave it a test drive.

The app may still be in its infancy since search and shuffle features were...