source: Zhao !
When it comes to pitting Amazon’s Kindle against Apple’s iPad, it’s hard for me to characterize them as anything other than good, better, best. I’ve had my Kindle for a little over a year and my iPad for about a month, and I still love them both. I think they’re very different pieces of technology, and there are advantages to using each of them.
Kindle
Good:
- The Kindle is light, portable and easy to carry.
- Although some people complain that the screen doesn’t have touch capability, I like that the page doesn’t accidentally get turned every time my kids jostle me or bump the screen.
- You’re not likely to get distracted by email, Twitter, Facebook or a multitude of games while using your Kindle, which may increase your reading time and quality.
Better:
- Because the Kindle is a single-function device, you’re not likely to feel like you need to delete books to make room for other apps, like you might with the iPad, so you can keep your entire library — including bookmarks, highlights and notes — in one place.
- A 6″ Kindle is decidedly easier to hold one-handed. I would guess that the larger one is probably about the same as the iPad.
Best:
- The Kindle’s e-ink technology eliminates glare and reduces eye strain
- $139 for the WiFi version is a pretty unbeatable price.
- The Kindle app for the iPad doesn’t allow you to categorize or organize your books like the actual Kindle does, which is a definite drawback as you build your collection.
iPad
Good:
- Do more with a single device. The iPad is great for travel so that you don’t have to haul a laptop and electronic book reader with you.
Better:
- The iPad’s backlit screen makes nighttime reading so much more enjoyable. I’ve tried multiple Kindle lights, and I find them awkward. With my iPad, I read more at night.
- The iPad allows you to turn the page much more quickly, without the brief delay you experience with the Kindle
Best:
- View your books as graphic thumbnails that feature each book’s cover on a single page rather than multiple pages with lists of titles. If you have a large library, this makes scrolling through books much more fun.
Conclusion
For avid readers, I recommend the Kindle. It’s better for your eyes, less expensive and is a better platform for someone who just wants to focus on the book they’re reading and build a library of digital books.
For techno geeks and casual readers, the iPad may prove to be a better investment, both in terms of utility and simplifying, since you can do much more with a single device.
Do you have a Kindle or iPad? What other features do you think set the two apart?
