iPad vs. Kindle DX Graphite

[leebase]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I know that personally, being able to read in bed in the dark is much more useful than being able to read outside in sunlight.

Me too. While I certainly would LIKE to be able to read in full sun light, it's a FAR minor condition to me than reading in low or even no light. My wife is very happy since I started reading ebooks on my iPhone/iPad and no longer need to have a light on at night.

Also, I personally don't like to sit out in the sun. And if I'm playing at the beach, I'm playing at the beach. The iPad is fine in the shade and the iPhone is even better.

Lee

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leebase

Me too. While I certainly would LIKE to be able to read in full sun light, it's a FAR minor condition to me than reading in low or even no light. My wife is very happy since I started reading ebooks on my iPhone/iPad and no longer need to have a light on at night.

Also, I personally don't like to sit out in the sun. And if I'm playing at the beach, I'm playing at the beach. The iPad is fine in the shade and the iPhone is even better.

Lee

Your wife should be yelling at you to turn the damned iPad off as it's too bright.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Your wife should be yelling at you to turn the damned iPad off as it's too bright.

But it's NOT too bright. I read in night mode, white on black and turned way down. Very comfortable on the eyes.

Lee

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by leebase

But it's NOT too bright. I read in night mode, white on black and turned way down. Very comfortable on the eyes.

Lee

This old argument again. Good on you guys and girls who can read on back-lit screens.
I had been doing it 10 years ago before e-Ink came out. There is no way I'd go back to it. For me, it doesn't matter how many bells and whistles you put on it - it's still back lit. You may as well ask me to buy that $20 gizmo and read off my plasma tv set!
As that old saying goes - "You can't put a shine on a turd".

Peace, out.

[Talldog]

Originally Posted by leebase

But it's NOT too bright. I read in night mode, white on black and turned way down. Very comfortable on the eyes.

Lee

I was reading somewhere recently that reading in the dark on a backlit screen really isn't hard on the eyes, but it can cause sleep disorders because it fools your brain into thinking it's daytime, or something like that.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Talldog

I was reading somewhere recently that reading in the dark on a backlit screen really isn't hard on the eyes, but it can cause sleep disorders because it fools your brain into thinking it's daytime, or something like that.

Your eyes can't tell if a light is "back lit" or reflective. Light is light. Eyestrain is caused by the light being too bright or dim compared to the ambient light. Reflective light is always in balance.

As for the sleep study. It was a study on LIGHT -- not backlit screens. ANY light has the same effect. If you read with a kindle, and have a light on so you can read -- it's the same. Same as having a tv on.

But I still read at night before falling asleep. Been doing it all my life.

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by m-reader

This old argument again. Good on you guys and girls who can read on back-lit screens.
I had been doing it 10 years ago before e-Ink came out. There is no way I'd go back to it. For me, it doesn't matter how many bells and whistles you put on it - it's still back lit. You may as well ask me to buy that $20 gizmo and read off my plasma tv set!
As that old saying goes - "You can't put a shine on a turd".

Peace, out.

Sucks to be you. I'm one of those who can't play first person shooter video games. They make me sick as a dog in about 5min. Motion sickness.

But at least I can realize that not everybody reacts the same way as I do.

No one is lying to you. The vast majority of folks are having no problems reading on their ipads. Just like there are SOME folks who can't stand reading on eink screens.

Lee

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by leebase

Sucks to be you. I'm one of those who can't play first person shooter video games. They make me sick as a dog in about 5min. Motion sickness.

But at least I can realize that not everybody reacts the same way as I do.

No one is lying to you. The vast majority of folks are having no problems reading on their ipads. Just like there are SOME folks who can't stand reading on eink screens.

Lee

The word is still out on who is the majority. 13 million e-ink readers will be sold this year. From my personal experience those who prefer extended reading on e-ink are a vast majority. Many settle for a multifunction because reading is not really important to them.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The word is still out on who is the majority. 13 million e-ink readers will be sold this year.

I own an eInk reader. I bought it because it was the only device that would give me acceptable battery life for reading, not because I didn't like LCD screens. I read on LCD before eInk and I'm reading on LCD after eInk.

From my personal experience those who prefer extended reading on e-ink are a vast majority. Many settle for a multifunction because reading is not really important to them.

And how many of the 13 million do you have personal experience with?

[murraypaul]

As an aside, the overwhelming success of the Wii came as a huge shock to fans of the XBox and PlayStation systems. How could people be buying this silly little populist device that wasn't anywhere near as good for gaming?
They comforted themselves by decided that the Wii was just for 'casual' gamers, and 'real' gamers would still prefer the 'serious' systems.
Cross out gamers and write in readers and that is exactly the defensive response being seen to the success of the iPad.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

As an aside, the overwhelming success of the Wii came as a huge shock to fans of the XBox and PlayStation systems. How could people be buying this silly little populist device that wasn't anywhere near as good for gaming?
They comforted themselves by decided that the Wii was just for 'casual' gamers, and 'real' gamers would still prefer the 'serious' systems.
Cross out gamers and write in readers and that is exactly the defensive response being seen to the success of the iPad.

Very true. All I can report is my own personal experience, which is that, since buying the iPad, my eInk readers have been gathering dust on the shelf. And I get the impression that I'm not alone in that.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

As an aside, the overwhelming success of the Wii came as a huge shock to fans of the XBox and PlayStation systems. How could people be buying this silly little populist device that wasn't anywhere near as good for gaming?
They comforted themselves by decided that the Wii was just for 'casual' gamers, and 'real' gamers would still prefer the 'serious' systems.
Cross out gamers and write in readers and that is exactly the defensive response being seen to the success of the iPad.

But still, last month XBox has been the most sold unit. If you'd use this analogy, sales figures of iPad and, let's say, Kindle DX, would be relatively close. I don't think, that's the case.
And in your analogy, XBox has been the real surprise. Sony and Nintendo had been well established in video games for decades. XBox had been the underdog and no one took them seriously. For maybe 3 years everybody had been joking about Microsoft. Well, with 80% profit decline (at some stage), I guess Sony isn't joking anymore.

Personally, I'm totally relaxed, whatever may happen.
I couldn't do with iPad as my sole unit. I already have to charge the battery at least once per day. My ePaper readers I have to charge maybe once per week. If I'd add reading to my iPad activities, I'd have to charge even more often.
But this would be easy to solve. Today I have 2 units with me. A few days ago, it has been iPad and Kindle DX Graphite.
Would ePaper units disappear, in the worst case scenario I'd have to take 2 iPads. Or I'd have to find a solution for exchanging the battery.
I can read on iPad without any problems. I don't care about ePaper, LCD or whatever. I've read on far "worse" displays: Pocket PCs, Palm Pilots, BlackBerrys, iPhone, ...
For me, it's really all about conserving the battery. When on a trip, I don't have time to charge any unit for hours. And I don't want to carry external battery packs with me.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I couldn't do with iPad as my sole unit. I already have to charge the battery at least once per day.

Presumably that's with intensive internet use? I find that, with WiFi and 3G turned off, an hour's reading drains the battery by perhaps 2%. I recharge my iPad perhaps once a week, at which point the battery charge is generally around 30-40%.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Presumably that's with intensive internet use? I find that, with WiFi and 3G turned off, an hour's reading drains the battery by perhaps 2%. I recharge my iPad perhaps once a week, at which point the battery charge is generally around 30-40%.

90% internet use. I've got WiFi always on. I'm perfectly fine (well, it always could be more) with iPad's battery duration. My UMPC, with the same usage pattern, was doing maybe 5 hours.
But I wouldn't want to add reading (*) to iPad, as the battery would drain even faster (even if it's only 2% per hour).

(*) That's reading eBooks. Of course "internet" means reading as well.

[Talldog]

Originally Posted by leebase

Your eyes can't tell if a light is "back lit" or reflective. Light is light. Eyestrain is caused by the light being too bright or dim compared to the ambient light. Reflective light is always in balance.

As for the sleep study. It was a study on LIGHT -- not backlit screens. ANY light has the same effect. If you read with a kindle, and have a light on so you can read -- it's the same. Same as having a tv on.

But I still read at night before falling asleep. Been doing it all my life.

Lee

No, what I was reading was specifically about backlit screens because they're held so close to your face.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36828043...h_and_gadgets/