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jharker · 04-15-2010, 02:58 PM

It would be nice to keep this conversation on topic instead of discussing the definition of "trolling". With that in mind...

I'm think I'm in a good position to provide input on this topic. I don't own a Sony, but I bought a v1 iLiad way back when, and last year I bought a Kindle DX. I absolutely loved my Kindle and used it every day, mostly for reading public domain fiction (Charles Dickens rocks!). But a few days ago I broke down and got myself an iPad.

What do I think? I enjoyed the Kindle's e-ink screen: the low contrast didn't bother me and I liked the ability to read outdoors. But having said that, I don't actually read outdoors very often and I find that the iPad is perfectly readable 99% of the time. To me, the question of eyestrain is not very significant.

I think the more important question is software and functionality. Generally speaking, the iPad can do most of what my Kindle did: read and annotate books, dictionary lookup, etc. It can also read PDFs. And some iPad apps do support PDF annotation, which the Kindle lacked. So that's a plus. In addition, the web browsing experience (Flash issues aside) is MUCH easier and more satisfying on the iPad than the Kindle.

I was a big proponent of e-ink for a long time, but my opinion now is that the slow refresh rate is really holding it back. It's fine for reading fiction, but in my field (science) most interactions with literature are very dynamic. You want to highlight, annotate, flip quickly back and forth... these are all either difficult or impossible on an e-ink screen. From a reader's perspective, the iPad makes interaction with the text much easier.

I won't go into detailed drawbacks and limitations of the iPad, although there are several. My biggest problem is the difficulty of getting documents onto the device. Also, app sandboxing makes it hard or impossible to access the same documents from multiple apps.

So, am I happy with the iPad? Yes. My fiancee has inherited my Kindle and I now use the iPad exclusively. I think this hardware paradigm has undeniable benefits for readers. The software, though, could still use some improvement.

04-15-2010, 02:58 PM	#105
jharker Developer Posts: 345 Karma: 3473 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.	It would be nice to keep this conversation on topic instead of discussing the definition of "trolling". With that in mind... I'm think I'm in a good position to provide input on this topic. I don't own a Sony, but I bought a v1 iLiad way back when, and last year I bought a Kindle DX. I absolutely loved my Kindle and used it every day, mostly for reading public domain fiction (Charles Dickens rocks!). But a few days ago I broke down and got myself an iPad. What do I think? I enjoyed the Kindle's e-ink screen: the low contrast didn't bother me and I liked the ability to read outdoors. But having said that, I don't actually read outdoors very often and I find that the iPad is perfectly readable 99% of the time. To me, the question of eyestrain is not very significant. I think the more important question is software and functionality. Generally speaking, the iPad can do most of what my Kindle did: read and annotate books, dictionary lookup, etc. It can also read PDFs. And some iPad apps do support PDF annotation, which the Kindle lacked. So that's a plus. In addition, the web browsing experience (Flash issues aside) is MUCH easier and more satisfying on the iPad than the Kindle. I was a big proponent of e-ink for a long time, but my opinion now is that the slow refresh rate is really holding it back. It's fine for reading fiction, but in my field (science) most interactions with literature are very dynamic. You want to highlight, annotate, flip quickly back and forth... these are all either difficult or impossible on an e-ink screen. From a reader's perspective, the iPad makes interaction with the text much easier. I won't go into detailed drawbacks and limitations of the iPad, although there are several. My biggest problem is the difficulty of getting documents onto the device. Also, app sandboxing makes it hard or impossible to access the same documents from multiple apps. So, am I happy with the iPad? Yes. My fiancee has inherited my Kindle and I now use the iPad exclusively. I think this hardware paradigm has undeniable benefits for readers. The software, though, could still use some improvement. Last edited by jharker; 04-15-2010 at 03:01 PM.