[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Skip Wyona

Nothing like opening opening a can of worms. Every device can cause eye strain, even a book, because the cause is reading position, lighting, and intensity of concentration. Ask an eye specialist. That is the conclusion of the research I looked into about the issue.

All of this research misses the point so much that it is useless. There is a medical condition called "eyestrain," recognized by ophthamologists, with specific symptoms. Let's call it "medical eyestrain." I am happy to agree that reading LCDs doesn't cause medical eyestrain. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a less pleasant experience than reading on e-ink; it only means that the difference isn't due to medical eyestrain. It may be due to the fact that LCDs are more visually distracting, or have more glare, or for any number of reasons.

If I injure myself running and complain of a sprained ankle, a physician may examine it and determine that it is not sprained. That doesn't mean that it isn't injured; it simply means that the cause of the injury isn't a sprain.

All other opinions are purely subjective based on reader experience.

And thus are valid for the readers in question. Pain and taste are also subjective, but that doesn't make them invalid factors in determining what to do or what to eat.

The real issue, I believe is that book reading devices can not do all reading tasks equally. It is obvious to me that e-ink readers like the Kindle and Nook are best for reading text and are the best substitute for the typical book. However if you are reading anything with illustrations, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, picture books, etc, an LCD screen based device like the iPad is better.

This is reasonable. I don't read much on my iPad, but I do use if for a lot of other tasks.

So the conclusion? Own both if you can afford it but don't toss out your paper based books which is still the best 'device' for reading.

There is no best device for reading. There are a bundle of advantages and disadvantages to paper, e-ink, and LCD. Which device is "best" depends on an individualized weighing of the advantages and the disadvantages. For many people an e-ink reader is vastly superior to paper because the advantages of paper do not matter very much to them, while the advantages of e-ink (especially the ability to change font sizes) matter quite a lot.

What I intend to do is buy both an e-ink reader and an iPad.
BTW, I am 68 years old and an avid reader, perhaps a lot more than the average joe because it was a requirement of my professional life for over 30 years.

This should cover your bases. MR is not filled with average joes. :-)