4 ms·

Will the iPad Kill Reading?

9 points by mikek 17y ago

blahedo 17y ago
Depressing but insightful article. But perhaps a bit premature; the e-ink folks are presumably still researching better techniques, and someday we'll almost certainly have e-ink that works in colour (in a CMY space, no less!) and with update times well south of a tenth of a second, and then you can have your cake and eat it too---at least on the readability part. The distraction part of the argument I don't really have a response to, alas.
- nir 17y ago
  The experience he describes of reading the NYT on the iPad is just like reading it online, they way most NYT readers consume it now. For that matter, it's like reading the paper NYT in a room that has a TV on. Yet, reading is still alive. So we live in an ADD culture. We've been living in it at least since the invention of the Remote. The iPad is completely meaningless in that sense, even if it will manage to become more than a true-believer product.
- tjpick 17y ago
  For colour e-ink follow http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=mirasol+qualcomm http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=mirasol+qualcomm I've been pretty disappointed with mainstream media ignoring the not-e-ink problem with the iPad.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
ajg1977 17y ago
My experience is quite the opposite. Unless it's in a darkened room, where the glow really does cause eyestrain, I've found reading on the ipad to be surprisingly pleasant. In landscape mode it feels "odd", but in portrait I find the device becomes as invisible as the kindle after a few pages despite, having an LCD screen. Not at all what I expected. With the instapaper app installed I find the ipad is actually the superior reading device. Before leaving work I'll fire up instapaper and download all the articles I've marked during the day to read on the commute home. After they're finished i flip over to the kindle app and continue with whatever book I'm on. I've loved my V1 kindle since it was released, but aside from heading to the beach or on some really really long trip I can't imagine a reason to use it over the iPad. Like I said, not at all what i expected.
- TomOfTTB 17y ago
  Studies have shown that at least 10% of people don't suffer from eye strain when staring at LCD screens for long stretches of time: http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm So you're probably one of the lucky ones. But for those who aren't the Kindle is a significantly better choice for long term reading.
- silencio 17y ago
  I've actually found the opposite to be true - reading on the iPad is atrocious in bright light because of the glare (probably would be alleviated with an antiglare screen protector), while pleasant on the kindle. I like the slight glow and lack of a need of external light convenient in near darkness. Overall I end up reading a lot more than I normally would regardless of the device, mostly because I have some combination of {kindle|iPhone|iPad} with me while I don't often like to carry around books for weight and inconvenience stuffing into my purse. I daresay the convenience of my iPhone was what prompted me to really start reading a lot daily, whereas before I wasn't such an avid casual reader because I always found something else to do. My kindle then made it a little more convenient to read newer mainstream books, and then the iPad made reading all sorts of books possible. While eink is convenient and vastly superior for outdoor reading, the benefit of a full color display means there is so much more to read now that needed a higher resolution and/or color display (see: many textbooks, graphic novels), not that it's only for games or whatever else I want to do. If I decide to go check my email and play We Rule instead of reading, blame my ADD, not the device.
stuartjmoore 17y ago
I think the iPad (at least iBooks) is best for people who have no interest in investing the time in perusing book stores or buying a device just to read books. But now that something you wanted has a nice book reader inside of it, you might as well check out a copy (maybe just a the sample) of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

9 points by mikek 17y ago

Depressing but insightful article. But perhaps a bit premature; the e-ink folks are presumably still researching better techniques, and someday we'll almost certainly have e-ink that works in colour (in a CMY space, no less!) and with update times well south of a tenth of a second, and then you can have your cake and eat it too---at least on the readability part. The distraction part of the argument I don't really have a response to, alas.

nir 17y ago
The experience he describes of reading the NYT on the iPad is just like reading it online, they way most NYT readers consume it now. For that matter, it's like reading the paper NYT in a room that has a TV on. Yet, reading is still alive. So we live in an ADD culture. We've been living in it at least since the invention of the Remote. The iPad is completely meaningless in that sense, even if it will manage to become more than a true-believer product.
tjpick 17y ago
For colour e-ink follow http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=mirasol+qualcomm http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=mirasol+qualcomm I've been pretty disappointed with mainstream media ignoring the not-e-ink problem with the iPad.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

ajg1977 17y ago

My experience is quite the opposite. Unless it's in a darkened room, where the glow really does cause eyestrain, I've found reading on the ipad to be surprisingly pleasant. In landscape mode it feels "odd", but in portrait I find the device becomes as invisible as the kindle after a few pages despite, having an LCD screen. Not at all what I expected. With the instapaper app installed I find the ipad is actually the superior reading device. Before leaving work I'll fire up instapaper and download all the articles I've marked during the day to read on the commute home. After they're finished i flip over to the kindle app and continue with whatever book I'm on. I've loved my V1 kindle since it was released, but aside from heading to the beach or on some really really long trip I can't imagine a reason to use it over the iPad. Like I said, not at all what i expected.

TomOfTTB 17y ago
Studies have shown that at least 10% of people don't suffer from eye strain when staring at LCD screens for long stretches of time: http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm So you're probably one of the lucky ones. But for those who aren't the Kindle is a significantly better choice for long term reading.
silencio 17y ago
I've actually found the opposite to be true - reading on the iPad is atrocious in bright light because of the glare (probably would be alleviated with an antiglare screen protector), while pleasant on the kindle. I like the slight glow and lack of a need of external light convenient in near darkness. Overall I end up reading a lot more than I normally would regardless of the device, mostly because I have some combination of {kindle|iPhone|iPad} with me while I don't often like to carry around books for weight and inconvenience stuffing into my purse. I daresay the convenience of my iPhone was what prompted me to really start reading a lot daily, whereas before I wasn't such an avid casual reader because I always found something else to do. My kindle then made it a little more convenient to read newer mainstream books, and then the iPad made reading all sorts of books possible. While eink is convenient and vastly superior for outdoor reading, the benefit of a full color display means there is so much more to read now that needed a higher resolution and/or color display (see: many textbooks, graphic novels), not that it's only for games or whatever else I want to do. If I decide to go check my email and play We Rule instead of reading, blame my ADD, not the device.

stuartjmoore 17y ago

I think the iPad (at least iBooks) is best for people who have no interest in investing the time in perusing book stores or buying a device just to read books. But now that something you wanted has a nice book reader inside of it, you might as well check out a copy (maybe just a the sample) of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.