[fantasyfan]

I first got an iPod touch and last summer, an iPad. The iPad has many virtues as a general device for reading e-books. There are a huge number of Apps for reading available--for me the main ones would be Stanza, iBooks, and the Kindle App. Of these, I make most use of the first and third and between the two I can read material in epub, azw, and mobi. iBooks offers good pdf support too. Stanza offers a beautiful customizable screen and easy access to a large number of sources for books both for sale and free. The font choice is also much greater than on any other reader I have seen. I have read a great deal on the iPad and it is a good experience.

Just this month I received a Kindle 3. Quite honestly, I found it marvelous to use. The screen using e-ink technology is very easy on the eyes. I did find that long stints of reading on an iPad did create a certain amount of eyestrain. The Kindle is far more effective when read in natural light--but you do need light. Unlike the iPad the Kindle has no backlight to enable reading in the dark or lowlight conditions. The Kindle's monochrome screen is fine for print and for black and white illustrations. It is very light, easy to handle, and portable. I would never take my iPad on holiday; it is too expensive and delicate a machine. Further, the Kindle Battery life is extraordinary. Without wi-fi, one can go a month between charges. All-in-all, I now use the Kindle for most of my reading. I imagine most of the points I make here would apply to almost any other e-ink reader.

I wouldn't dismiss the iPad though. Its ability to use colour means that material which uses colour illustrations can be seen as intended {e.g. the Rackham illustrations to Alice in Wonderland.} Manga is certainly more effective and easier to read on the iPad.The size of the screen makes surfing the web and reading newspapers much more practical. In moderately muted lighting conditions in a home environment the beautiful iPad screen comes into its own.

But a really important point to make is that comparing or contrasting the standard e-ink reader and the iPad is rather like comparing apples with oranges. With the The iPad, Apple have created a wonderful and powerful media retrieval device and I love it! I use mine for films, web browsing, games, and--as a good subsidiary e-reader. My Kindle is an excellent dedicated e-reader the function of which is simply to read e-books, and if all I wish to do is read that's what I usually use and for that purpose, I think it does its job very well indeed.