Quote:
Originally Posted by scottjl
All this talk about having blurry vision after staring at an iPad, or eBook or TV or computer or whatever. I'd be concerned about my eyes and off to see an optimist pretty quickly. Especially if I had a sensitivity to only one device but not others. But that's just me, I've had my eyes a good number of years and try to take care of them.
If the iPad caused such vision problems with the masses I think we'd be hearing about it on the news, but I haven't seen any reports of half a million people going blind.
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I appreciate the concern, but not sure it's relevant in this case.
I have regular checkups (not by an "optimist," but by a rather sour ophthalmologist), and my eyesight is perfect - I do not wear glasses. I also want to keep it this way, that's why I am careful about screens I use a lot and about good light.
As far as the "masses," they happily ruined their eyesight with the old green IBM monitors, old style fluorescent lights in libraries and offices, and cheap low-refresh CRTs. I doubt anyone but avid readers would worry too much about the iPad.
As I noted above, generally IPS is a particularly power-hungry technology. Here is a concise explanation from
mobileread:
"
* A TFT displays requires one transistor, which twists the crystal to create an image. With IPS, there are two transistors for every single pixel, one for each end. This doubles the power consumption of screen.
* Because more of the surface area of the screen is “covered” by images, a much more powerful backlight is required to shine through. And that means either more florescent tubes or much brighter ones."
Since Apple has been so focused on battery longevity, there is a good chance that the IPS technology used in the iPad is not the same as in Apple's 24" monitors. This may account for my different experience with the two screens.
It may also be that I hold the iPad closer than the normal distance from which I view a desktop monitor.
Whatever it is, it matters to me for long-term reading, and it was a negative for the iPad in my book.
And reading is the paramount reason for me to get a tablet. I'd love to be able to read full size PDFs of both magazines and books, in full color and with instant screen response. For this, I am willing and happy to spend the $$$.
The rest of the capabilities are gravy, but much less important - here is my reasoning:
-- Since I'd use a tablet mostly at home, I'd rather watch a movie on my 60" 16x9 plasma, with full surround sound, than on a 9" 4x3 screen with tinny speakers.
-- If I want to play a game, I'd rather play either on my Wii, or on a PC and a large screen.
-- If I want to browse the internet, I'd rather have a real browser, which can show me the real sites with Flash, rather than mobile versions, and I'd rather have a larger screen, so I don't have to zoom and scroll incessantly.
-- For travel, my Mac Book Pro fits my needs much better, and for a quick game or two on the plane, or to look up a restaurant, my iPhone is fine, and it fits in my pocket.
So, reading is the ONLY reason for me, personally, to get a tablet. And the
slight eye strain I experienced, and the too small screen (for PDFs), pushed my scale to the "No" side, as far as the iPad.
Your mileage, of course, may vary.