Readers & Tablets, some empirical thoughts

[Kumabjorn]

I got my first e-Reader, a Kindle 2 a little more than three years ago, and my latest tablet yesterday. I thought I'd share what I have experienced over these years, maybe it can help someone considering buying a device, maybe others will chime in with their own thoughts.

My first purchase was a Kindle 2nd generation. It had 3G and that was waay cool back in 2010. I didn't have it more than a few weeks, just after I received it Amazon released the 3rd generation, it came in grey, was smaller, had a better screen and was a lot cheaper. I had just joined this community, all excited to learn more about these e-Readers. The first thing I learned was that Amazon has a no questions asked 30 day return policy, hence I got a new Kindle and some money to buy books with.

As far as I was concerned it had only one drawback, something that few owners would even consider. There weren't any books available in Japanese for it. So when I went to Japan the year after, I wanted to find an e-Reader that would handle books in Japanese. My choice was a Sony PRS-350 silver grey. Loaded it up with books while in Japan and brought it back to Sweden with me. What I learned was that the screen was very, very sensitive. It broke in the bag on the airplane. So if you have one of those devices and you plan on flying, be sure to have it protected and keep it with you at all times.

I was back in Japan again six months later, and you have to give kudos to Japanese service, they exchanged it for a new device. I was so heppy I bought a Sony T-1, because it had WiFi and would connect to the Sony Book Store in Japan even if I was in Sweden. It was now possible for me to buy Japanese books while still in Sweden. Joy of joys. The T-1 also came with built in dictionaries (no Japanese - English though, but the other way and Japanese - Japanese are available) so when I encountered difficult words or difficult Kanji I could look them up instantly.

In the meantime Amazon had started developing Kindle applications, I downloaded one for Windows and suddenly annotations were a lot easier than on the Kindle. Unfortunately, they didn't sync up in the beginning, this is less of a problem now, but it still malfunctions or has severe delays at times.

Amazon also developed an app for that new phone OS known as Android. Well, I tried it on an HTC Desire, and yes I could read on the bus. It was actually kind of cool to use my phone as a book reader, I noticed the people around me trying to steal a glance over my shoulder, and although the Desire was by no means a bad device, the screen was small and the constant page changes depleted the battery. While truly cool, in reality it was underwhelming and underpowered.

Then they started coming out with tablets. I got m grubby little hands on a ViewSonic (I don't think they are even in the market anymore). Now this was useful. Reading in bed without any lights on, letting it play music in the background while Mitch Rapp was shooting terrorists in the Middle East. Life was good. But, after a while you begin to realize that it was a bit on the heavy side. I switched between left and right hand a lot. Like very 10 minutes or less, especially after 30 - 40 minutes of reading.

The Desire got a little long in the tooth and I was offered a Galaxy Note at a price that was difficult to refuse. This device is actually a very, very good e-Reader. It is small enough that it doesn't require any form of adapted holding, even in small hands you can squeeze it in between your thumb and the rest of the fingers, you can even get around the screen and tap forward a page. The Kindle app, and ePub apps are now sophisticated enough that syncing and annotations are a hitch. Screen resolution is also so good that I can use reasonably small fonts and get in a lot of text in such a small form factor.

My next device was actually two. A Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and a Kindle 4th generation (NT). The Kindle has the same screen as the 3rd generation but the smaller form factor and the clever page forward buttons makes it a much more comfortable e-Reader, however, the lack of keyboard makes it a PITA for annotations. Personally, I think Amazon went a bit too far in compromises to get to the smaller form factor. A pull out keyboard, at least as an option for a more expensive device, would have been nice. The Tab 2 7.0 was pretty much the perfect e-Reader for bedside reading. The screen, even with today's standard, still stands up well enough that your eyes don't get tired, and it is very light and can be held with one hand. A somewhat smaller bezel and I could perceivably tap forward, now it is more of an adventure.

Then I got a Galaxy Note 10.1 a large size tablet. Well, obviously this is way too big for comfortable reading in portrait mode. But in landscape it isn't all that bad since the Kindle app now supports side by side pages. It is very much like reading a hard cover book and it has a giant battery so you never have to worry about charging it. Even if the battery is at 8% you can keep on reading for hours. Where it really shines though is for academic reading. When you need to annotate, send info to other apps, write down some thoughts or look up some reference, it is extremely versatile. Sure, the Adobe Reader app for Android is still lagging behind its Windows counterpart but it seems to be slowly getting there.

Finally I now have a Galaxy Note 8.0, this one is just a tad large for my tiny hands, I wish the bezel was half its present width on both sides, but for people with more normal hand sizes I imagine it won't be a problem. The Note 8, having a bigger screen, with the exception of the Note 10.1, is very comfortable to read on. It has a Reading Mode that seems to dim the light to a more pleasant tone and introduces some sort of font smoothing. This too will probably be used a lot for academic reading, primarily for Japanese books, they are usually published in a smaller size than Western pocket books, so after scanning something it comes out pretty much in real size on the Note 8. On the Note 10.1 it comes out enlarged and the fonts become sort of raggedy.

Why so many devices? Personally I would like to blame mgmueller, but I do know that I can only blame my self and my blatant case of devicecitis.

[tubemonkey]

...too many words - my poor monkey brain exploded

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

...and a Kindle 4th generation (NT). The Kindle has the same screen as the 3rd generation but the smaller form factor and the clever page forward buttons makes it a much more comfortable e-Reader, however, the lack of keyboard makes it a PITA for annotations. Personally, I think Amazon went a bit too far in compromises to get to the smaller form factor. A pull out keyboard, at least as an option for a more expensive device, would have been nice.

That's my favorite ereader; and I was glad Amazon ditched the keyboard. Unlike many members here, I treat my Kindle like a paperback. I only read books on it. I never underline, highlight, use the dictionary, make annotations, search for words, etc. So a smaller Kindle prompted me to replace my K3. If I could make only one change to it, I'd further shrink the size to fit in my shirt pocket. An eink Kindle the size of a Galaxy Player 5.0 would be perfect.

[Kumabjorn]

I can understand that. We all use them differently and have different needs. I hardly do any academic reading on the Kindles, that is mostly done in Adobe Reader on larger devices, including PCs in order to have the best annotation tools available. If the Kindle is used in lieu of paperbacks, then it should be one big screen with only page turn buttons, push both simultaneously when you want the Library/Home page.

[leebase]

My first ereader was my iPhone 3, then the original iPad. I always kind of thought I'd get around to getting a kindle when they got cheap enough. By the time they did, I just didn't see the need. I don't like to sit out in the open sun and read. I can read just fine outside if there is shade. Even that is so small a use case for me, it doesn't matter.

Right now I read on my iPhone 4S and iPad 3. My wife and daughter have iPad mini's and I find them to be a much better size for most reading of novels.

I'm reading Eric Flint's 1632 series (alternate history, sci-fi) and I find myself using the "look up a definition" of words quite a bit. So much better than a paper book. I really can't stand to read actual, physical books any more.

ebooks brought me back into reading. From maybe 2 or 3 books a year as an adult -- back to 50 or so (I know, it's nothing compared to many of you on this board).

[Jessica Lares]

After my Kindle Keyboard's screen exploded on one small section of the screen, I decided never to buy e-ink ever again.

I only read Kindle Singles, essays, and Readlists these days, Audible, while very expensive, has been my goto for any real reading/listening. So a reader is not really on my agenda anymore to begin with.

I don't know why you have so many tablets, either do I get why people bother upgrading every year. I've only had two. The Kindle Fire was given to my dad and he has it in his hands pretty much all day, he loves it. On the other hand, I hate my iPad Mini. It's too big, it requires more charging than the Fire ever did, and it's WAY too heavy. I carry it around everywhere, but I don't use it as much as I was using the Fire.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I don't know why you have so many tablets, either do I get why people bother upgrading every year.

That makes two of us, I just can't stop myself. Probably shouldn't have stopped smoking, just replacing one addiction with another.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Probably shouldn't have stopped smoking, just replacing one addiction with another.

You should've taken up bananas

[cortman]

I had a Kindle 3rd gen with 3G and I really, really liked it. Unfortunately it went missing about 9 months ago, and I have since bought a Kobo Glo and a Kobo mini. I wind up using the mini mostly as my wife likes the Glo. Other than that, I have Mantano on my Galaxy S2, no tablets. I don't use any "ecosystem", I have a large collection of books offline.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

On the other hand, I hate my iPad Mini. It's too big, it requires more charging than the Fire ever did, and it's WAY too heavy. I carry it around everywhere, but I don't use it as much as I was using the Fire.

Just curios...did you have some kind of cover on the iPad mini? The Kinfoe Fire is 395g and the iPad mini is 308g...just about 1/4 lighter.

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

After my Kindle Keyboard's screen exploded on one small section of the screen, I decided never to buy e-ink ever again.

I suspect the issue is with the Kindle's design. I had two cracked screens in the course of a year with a Kindle 2i, yet my Kobo Touch has held up with a year and a half of use. This in spite of the fact that the Kindle was always in a case and the Kobo was not.

After cracking open the cases of both, the reason seems clear: the Kobo has a rigid frame while the Kindle had a more flexible support structure. The latter seems like a poor design decision for a screen with a thin glass substraight.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

My choice was a Sony PRS-350 silver grey. Loaded it up with books while in Japan and brought it back to Sweden with me. What I learned was that the screen was very, very sensitive. It broke in the bag on the airplane. So if you have one of those devices and you plan on flying, be sure to have it protected and keep it with you at all times.



Why so many devices? Personally I would like to blame mgmueller, but I do know that I can only blame my self and my blatant case of devicecitis.

I can only recommend "hard cases" for travel.
At the least, I use an old soft "medical case" with multiple layers of inserts (of what?? Guess!) old mouse pads cut to size for my venerable Kindle Keyboard 3G which is still as capable as it was the day I bought it, near the first day it became available.. My first eReader!

[frahse]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I suspect the issue is with the Kindle's design. I had two cracked screens in the course of a year with a Kindle 2i, yet my Kobo Touch has held up with a year and a half of use. This in spite of the fact that the Kindle was always in a case and the Kobo was not.

After cracking open the cases of both, the reason seems clear: the Kobo has a rigid frame while the Kindle had a more flexible support structure. The latter seems like a poor design decision for a screen with a thin glass substraight.

I hope the new flexible eInk screens take care of these problems.

Until then, we must ourselves, "take care."

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by frahse

I hope the new flexible eInk screens take care of these problems.

Until then, we must ourselves, "take care."

The point is, how much more would people pay for the "unbreakable" screen? I am sure device makers would want to charge a lot more for it. The only reason they make money at current prices is because people upgrade so often (unless they subsidize the reader with their store). You can't expect the perfect reader for US$60. Would people be willing to spend $150.- instead?

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The point is, how much more would people pay for the "unbreakable" screen? I am sure device makers would want to charge a lot more for it. The only reason they make money at current prices is because people upgrade so often (unless they subsidize the reader with their store). You can't expect the perfect reader for US$60. Would people be willing to spend $150.- instead?

It should allow for the development of smaller, lighter devices. People may pay more for that. It should reduce the failure rate of devices. People may pay more for that. It may reduce the support costs for the vendor as well, especially companies like Amazon who replace units with very few questions asked. That may make the company more willing to absorb the potential increased cost of the screen. It should reduce the manufacturing costs (at least outside of the screen) due to fewer materials, a lower part count, and a simplified manufacturing process. That may offset any potential increase in the cost of the screen.