iPad Closing in on Kindle in eReader Ownership

[litchie]

From the first day I bought ipad, kindle dx has been forgotten.

The eink technology is cool, but Kindle dx reading experience is not good at all. because when you are reading you are supposed to turn pages as well. And page turn is painfully slow and flashy.

Also dx is quite expensive comparing to what it can do. Had ipad come out 1 year earlier, I wouldn't give dx a thought.

Edit: but I do prefer kindle app over iBooks.

 

[aristotle]

Not true.

As I said, I have both. After I got the iPad, I read on it exclusively for over a month, about an hour - hour and a half per day. I definitely noticed eyestrain and fuzzier vision, particularly when driving at night, so I gave up reading books on it.

It's a fact, not propaganda. I don't particularly care if you believe it or not, or if your coke-bottles don't bother you.

You read for an hour and a half straight? No wonder you had vision problems. The reason why reading on LCD monitor does not cause as much strain is that you are not constantly starring at it and not reading anywhere as much text on it.

People who work on computers take breaks and look away from their monitor throughout the day even when they are at their desk. They also have sufficient lighting.

Also, was the iPad the main source of light? Again, that is a stupid thing to do. Ambient lighting and taking breaks is key to maintaining good eye health.

Did you try an anti-glare screen cover? Do you wear glasses? Are they anti-reflective or not? Glare can have a negative effect on your eyes.

 

[Xavier]

Can you really compare a Computer Pad to a simpler book reader?

This is exactly what I was thinking...

The iPad can do so much more than a "book reader." Not exactly a realistic comparison.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

not sure who they polled in this survey but my iPad is horrible to read on, especially outside in natural daylight... the iPad can't hang with a dedicated eReader whether it be kindle, nook, whatever..

 

[TMay]

Survery WRT eReader purchase

This is exactly what I was thinking...

The iPad can do so much more than a "book reader." Not exactly a realistic comparison.

"Based on the survey, Apple appears poised to continue to make gains on the Kindle, with 42% of respondents looking to purchase an eReader over the next 90 days planning to buy an iPad, while only 33% plan to purchase a Kindle."

If a potential eReader purchase goes to an iPad at a 4/3 rate over Kindle, then it is a lost opportunity for Kindle. At the same time and for all kinds of other reasons, iPad sales overall dwarf Kindle sales. I would expect this to hold true for Android tablets as they appear.

There isn't anything in the article about the iPad being better than the Kindle for reading, but it does appear that the iPad is predominantly good enough as an eReader and at a rate that exceeds kindle buyers.

 

[aaarrrgggh]

Ebooks still overpriced...

I had a long flight and loaded up the iPad with a couple books. Really they are insanely priced. They need to get closer to $3 for impulse buys for older books; $10-12 is just a complete joke. The e-reading experience is just awful in my humble opinion, and pricing needs to reflect this and appeal to convenience.

The other ebook I bought was a complete disappointment; the only value of buying it would be to share it on to a friend. Hopefully reality will set in some day, and pricing will target mass-market and not just book lovers.

 

[macUser2007]

You read for an hour and a half straight? No wonder you had vision problems. The reason why reading on LCD monitor does not cause as much strain is that you are not constantly starring at it and not reading anywhere as much text on it.

People who work on computers take breaks and look away from their monitor throughout the day even when they are at their desk. ...

Did you try an anti-glare screen cover? Do you wear glasses? Are they anti-reflective or not? Glare can have a negative effect on your eyes.

You must not do much book reading....

Yes, I read for an hour or more straight sometimes. Most normal readers do it with paper books or with Kindles. At least most readers not afflicted with ADD.

That's why I said earlier that reading a book on a tablet is a very different experience than working on a computer monitor all day, which is what I do as well.

Backlit LCD tablets are not well suited for people who actually read books regularly.

As I said, I have experience with both. You don't even seem to be a reader.

 

[reactions]

I had a long flight and loaded up the iPad with a couple books. Really they are insanely priced. They need to get closer to $3 for impulse buys for older books; $10-12 is just a complete joke. The e-reading experience is just awful in my humble opinion, and pricing needs to reflect this and appeal to convenience.

The other ebook I bought was a complete disappointment; the only value of buying it would be to share it on to a friend. Hopefully reality will set in some day, and pricing will target mass-market and not just book lovers.

eh there are other means my friend

 

[RMo]

Then when you go to the beach to read, grab that Kindle. And when you read in bed at night 365 nights a year, use the iPad.

If only there were something that produced energy in the visible spectrum (let's call it "light") besides the LCD on an iPad that you could use to read the Kindle in bed!

But seriously, speaking of energy, I don't think I can use an iPad for a couple weeks without recharging like the Kindle, so that's another advantage in addition to the fact that many people find the more paper-like eInk experience more pleasant than a computer-like backlit LCD. But, of course, iPad has a more responsive screen and is capable of dispalying full color; thus, it may be more useful for things like magazines.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both, but I don't think you were giving the Kindle enough credit.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

Everyone I know that has a Kindle has tried and hates reading on an iPad. The iPad is one of the worst devices I've ever read on (the iPhone falls into this category as well).

I've owned an iPad on two separate occasions, and consequently sold an iPad twice. I've owned two Kindles with no intent to sell them.

In regard to any reasonable method of reading any type of content excluding forums or blogs: Kindle > iPad.

 

[Rychiar]

i dunno why anyone woulda wanna read on an ipad. thats a big bright screen with a low resolution that will ruin your eyes as pad as a computer. I read books to get away from the eyestrain i get all day working on a computer. I haven't bought an e-reader yet but i'm very tempted by the Nook. seems like the best one out there. Lately i tried reading on my iPhone 4 which if you makes the fonts large enough is even better than an ipad cus at least it has the crisp resolution and isn't blasting ya with as much light

 

[brofkand]

In other news, Chevy is closing in on Broyhill in seat ownership.

I get so tired of people comparing the iPad to the Kindle. They're totally different devices aimed at totally different sectors of the market. People that read buy Kindles, people that play Angry Birds buy iPads.

I tried to read a book on the iPad, but a combination of distraction from apps and the web and the LCD display and the size and weight make it a less than ideal device.

The Kindle weighs less than many paperbacks, and the display is quite literally amazing.

 

[brofkand]

If only there were something that produced energy in the visible spectrum (let's call it "light") besides the LCD on an iPad that you could use to read the Kindle in bed!

But seriously, speaking of energy, I don't think I can use an iPad for a couple weeks without recharging like the Kindle, so that's another advantage in addition to the fact that many people find the more paper-like eInk experience more pleasant than a computer-like backlit LCD. But, of course, iPad has a more responsive screen and is capable of dispalying full color; thus, it may be more useful for things like magazines.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both, but I don't think you were giving the Kindle enough credit.

Will the words of Faulkner or Steinbeck mean more in full color?

 

[misfit356tsw]

You must not do much book reading....

Yes, I read for an hour or more straight sometimes. Most normal readers do it with paper books or with Kindles. At least most readers not afflicted with ADD.

That's why I said earlier that reading a book on a tablet is a very different experience than working on a computer monitor all day, which is what I do as well.

Backlit LCD tablets are not well suited for people who actually read books regularly.

As I said, I have experience with both. You don't even seem to be a reader.

CVS, Computer Vision Syndrome. Partly due to lighting, glare, and the fact that letters on a computer screen are not as well defined as print.

http://www.aoa.org/x5253.xml

 

[misfit356tsw]

Honestly this article is nothing more than fanboy baiting. The Kindle is a wonderful single use device, made for avid readers who read for long periods at a time. The I Pad is a great multiuse device that does everything but my dishes. I would personally not read on the I Pad for longer than an hour but that is my personal preference. Both are great devices and both have done worlds of good for their consumers. Why can't people just let them coexist?

 

[Burger Thing]

How does the Kindle handle graphic intense pdf files? Honest question, as I have never used one. I bought a top of the line eBook reader from Sony last year, however, to read and study my company airplane manuals (format A5 pdf). To make it short: it was a disaster. The thing was unbearably slow and the zooming su##ed - plainly unusable.

The iPad may have not the highest resolution screen, but it handles the big pdf manuals much much better. The screen is big, the iPad is fast, you can make notes, zooming works and in between you can go online and browse the web, if you need another reference.

Of course, for reading 'plain' books, a dedicated ebook reader might be better, but it is also a one-trick pony. A lighter iPad, with a better screen resolution would be ideal, IMHO

in my view it is just another way for Apple fanboys to scream how great Apple is. They do not care what the facts really are.

Another "fanboy" rant. This sort of thing is usually just projection coming from someone who can't stand Apple and can't stand that other people do not agree.

I agree. But given the posting history of this kid, I wouldn't take him too seriously anyway. It is quantity over substance

 

[Skika]

iPad is the future!! I love how it is gaining popularity.

 

[ericinboston]

Can you really compare a Computer Pad to a simpler book reader?

exactly. My wife has both the latest Kindle and the iPad...she absolutely loves the Kindle (and she is an avid book reader) yet hates the iPad for reading...she states the iPad is simply "too bright" even with the brightness controls. She has a point...I've used the iPad and after about 30 minutes of staring at it while reading online articles or other types of reading, it burns my eyes just like if I were to stare at a computer screen AND READ. I'm not talking about surfing the web where your eyes are always wandering and/or may take a 1 second break to look away while a page loads...I'm talking about 100% non-stop staring at the screen reading sentence after sentence after sentence.

In my opinion, if you plop down $500+ for an iPad solely to read eBooks (or even read long passages of text such as an "article" or "book"), you've made a huge mistake.

 

[JAT]

There is definitely a major difference between reading on the iPad vs an eInk display with the benefit going to eInk for sure. As for the refresh, both the Kindle and Nook have received software updates that drastically improved the refresh time. Its less than half a second now.

When will people stop being intentionally uninformed? The difference between the 2 is lumens reaching your eye. That is it. Adjust lumens to a proper amount and it won't matter. (then we can go back to arguing about weight) Admittedly, Apple's iBook app doesn't appear to have the best brightness adjustments, at least not when I tried it a couple months ago. Other apps do.

 

[JAT]

Everyone I know that has a Kindle has tried and hates reading on an iPad. The iPad is one of the worst devices I've ever read on (the iPhone falls into this category as well).

I've owned an iPad on two separate occasions, and consequently sold an iPad twice. I've owned two Kindles with no intent to sell them.

In regard to any reasonable method of reading any type of content excluding forums or blogs: Kindle > iPad.

I find almost the opposite to be true. "Reasonable" my ass. I read on my iPod all the time. Every now and then I pick up a Kindle to try, half my family members seem to have one...just can't see the worship of these devices. So much easier to adjust the light in one small device in my hand than to adjust the surroundings of whatever room I happen to be in to fit the needs of a Kindle.

I've always hated the problem of lumen levels for reading, and I started reading when I was 4. (started hiding a flashlight in bed soon after that) Backlit screens for an ereader are exactly what I'd been wanting all my life, without knowing it til this decade.

Like I said above, maybe people should learn about something (like lumens) instead of just reading the latest tripe on a Kindle.

 

[ptsube]

What I got out of this:

7% of Kindle owners don't read eBooks on their device

Yeah, WTH?

 

[wirelessmacuser]

I would rather read books on my kindle than my iPad, lighter and I like the screen.

Precisely. As an eReader my new Kindle is far superior to my iPad. The iPad is superior to any tablet thus far, for what the iPad is capable of. Thus in my opinion they are two different devices not to be compared. However human nature is such that it's natural for people to make erroneous assumptions before using either, and decide accordingly.

The ideal scenario is to have both.

Experience has taught me this. That said, if one cannot afford both then the deciding factor should be based on ones desire to use a device limited to reading books, or purchase a more expensive multipurpose iPad.

 

[mattster16]

Kindle advantages:

1. eInk - I stare at LCD monitors all day, I don't need to read on one too. There is nothing as good as reading off a piece of paper, but the eInk is getting very close.
2. Weight - the iPad is heavy, much heavier than a paperback book. The Kindle is so light I can just throw it in my bag and take it wherever I go.
3. Battery Life - It is nice not having to remember to charge the Kindle over the course of a business trip.

I just don't like reading for long periods of time on my iPad. It I'm going to read for 30 min+ it has to be on the Kindle. The ability to read Amazon books on my other devices is nice though.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

...just can't see the worship of these devices.

You may not have been able to appreciate the advantage of Kindle if you're busy comparing it to an iPad. They're just too different. Here's an excerpt from a previously linked article. I've pointed out the major drawback to reading on a glossy display like Apple uses.

The most common symptoms associated with Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) are

eyestrain
headaches
blurred vision
dry eyes
neck and shoulder pain

These symptoms may be caused by:

poor lighting
--> glare on the computer screen <--
improper viewing distances
poor seating posture
uncorrected vision problems
a combination of these factors

Source http://is.gd/i1E2O

 

[*LTD*]

I don't get this. You can't count every iPad as an e-reader; especially if that is not the intended use of the device. If that's the case, all iPhones should be e-readers too...

iPhones do that too.

The iPad is great for a wide variety of activities, and reading is one of them.

You'll see more and more Kindles on eBay as the iPad takes over the eReader market completely.