6 ms·

I think the "kindle is awesome" crowd are people who use a reader to read novels. The Kindle is simply almost identical to the experience reading a printed boo

I think the "kindle is awesome" crowd are people who use a reader to read novels. The Kindle is simply almost identical to the experience reading a printed book. However good the iPad is as a reader, it is not even close to the same as a printed book mainly because of the backlight.

mortenjorck 16y ago
Is the backlight actually all that much of a differentiator? It seems like it should be, but apart from the greater uniformity of a backlight, what are the practical differences? This question of emissive versus reflective light is itself a fuzzy distinction because, with an LCD, you're seeing light bounced through the diffuser behind the liquid crystal, not directly from the CCFL or LED. There is, however, a surprisingly major difference (at least to me) which is highlighted by this microscope comparison: Dot pitch. The iPad's IPS panel has a pretty average dot pitch, but I was surprised to see that the Kindle's e-ink display has essentially none. Even though the eye compensates for dot pitch, I have to wonder if that still might make a difference.
- jpdbaugh 16y ago
  I am not sure if there is that much of a practical difference between having a backlight or not. As someone who reads a lot of fiction though the Kindle experience feels exactly like a paperback with the added bonus of a dictionary and notes. The iPad may be better for some people but it is not the same thing as reading a printed book like the Kindle is.
andrewljohnson 16y ago
In a study by useit (Nielsen's group), they found reading the Kindle is slower than reading the iPad is slower than reading a book. So, to say that using a Kindle is more like reading a book than an iPad strikes me as bogus. I don't understand how a backlight or not decides an item's bookishness. Certainly, neither has pages.
- jpdbaugh 16y ago
  Have you actually used a Kindle or another device with an e-ink display? It is uncanny how simliar it is to paper. It literally looks like a piece of paper morphs into new page when change page. It is really out of this world. Anyway, there are many reasons why the Kindle is more like reading a real book besides the display that looks identical to a piece of printed paper. First of all, neither books nor the Kindle have a backlight which does, in fact, make the Kindle more simliar to a book than an iPad despite its lack of pages... You can read a Kindle on the beach or on a deck in the brightest sunlight you can imagine and the screen will just look better. The same goes for a real book. Just try that with iPad with a backlight and you will see a difference there. Also, due to the lack of backlight the Kindle is much better suited for reading before sleep just like a real book. The backlight of a computer monitor is the reason computer people struggle with falling asleep. A good fiction paper back is the best sleeping pill in the world and you just can't get that effect with a backlight screen. Finally, just look the article we are commenting on. Do you not notice how similar the Kindle character is to the newspaper, magazine, and book characters at 400x? I would dare sare it is sharper.
  - sshumaker 16y ago
    Yes, except when I flip pages in a book, they change rather rapidly. I don't have to wait for a second or two per page turn. This delay actually completely kills the Kindle reading experience. I've only read 2 books on my Kindle, but have read over a dozen since getting my iPad.
    - wazoox 16y ago
      I got used to hit the "next page" button when reaching the middle of last line, which makes the screen flash at the exact moment when your eyes run back to the top of the page (you have enough time to read about a half-line after pushing the button). Actually I even sometimes hit the button when I'd like instead to re-read a sentence on the current page :)
      - WarDekar 16y ago
gte910h 16y ago
And I use my iPad to read novels....I enjoy the backlight actually.
WarDekar 16y ago
I use my Kindle to read all sorts of non-fiction works (I very rarely read novels). I'm not sure why everyone assumes it's only fiction readers that would care- there are plenty of non-fiction books that aren't reference books. I find it much preferable to read over the iPad, for all the standard reasons (glare, eye strain, etc.) I also find highlighting to be much preferable on the Kindle (maybe Amazon has updated their iPad app, but the version I have won't let you highlight across page boundaries) as well as going to footnotes and back. Of course I do a lot of my Kindle reading outside (at the pool, at the park, whatever) so that plays a major factor as well, it's like I don't want to use my iPad unless it's dark (this applies to more than just reading) because I hate seeing reflections. The only times I really use the iPad in place of the Kindle is when I'm in a dark place (I've used it quite a bit outside at the hot tub at night), and I use the iPad for Instapaper usually instead of the Kindle. Another reason I prefer longer reading (which Instapaper doesn't really fall under, while articles are usually longer form it's not like it's a book) on the Kindle is because with the iPad I find that I'll be too easily tempted to press Home and mess around with something else (I realize this is my own fault and not necessarily a fault of the iPad, but it's something that I'm sure other dual-owners have experienced).
- tristan_juricek 16y ago
  > with the iPad I find that I'll be too easily tempted to press Home and mess around ... Yes, how many times have I earmarked papers only to find myself web surfing or playing games? gah...

mortenjorck 16y ago

Is the backlight actually all that much of a differentiator? It seems like it should be, but apart from the greater uniformity of a backlight, what are the practical differences? This question of emissive versus reflective light is itself a fuzzy distinction because, with an LCD, you're seeing light bounced through the diffuser behind the liquid crystal, not directly from the CCFL or LED. There is, however, a surprisingly major difference (at least to me) which is highlighted by this microscope comparison: Dot pitch. The iPad's IPS panel has a pretty average dot pitch, but I was surprised to see that the Kindle's e-ink display has essentially none. Even though the eye compensates for dot pitch, I have to wonder if that still might make a difference.

jpdbaugh 16y ago
I am not sure if there is that much of a practical difference between having a backlight or not. As someone who reads a lot of fiction though the Kindle experience feels exactly like a paperback with the added bonus of a dictionary and notes. The iPad may be better for some people but it is not the same thing as reading a printed book like the Kindle is.

andrewljohnson 16y ago

In a study by useit (Nielsen's group), they found reading the Kindle is slower than reading the iPad is slower than reading a book. So, to say that using a Kindle is more like reading a book than an iPad strikes me as bogus. I don't understand how a backlight or not decides an item's bookishness. Certainly, neither has pages.

jpdbaugh 16y ago
Have you actually used a Kindle or another device with an e-ink display? It is uncanny how simliar it is to paper. It literally looks like a piece of paper morphs into new page when change page. It is really out of this world. Anyway, there are many reasons why the Kindle is more like reading a real book besides the display that looks identical to a piece of printed paper. First of all, neither books nor the Kindle have a backlight which does, in fact, make the Kindle more simliar to a book than an iPad despite its lack of pages... You can read a Kindle on the beach or on a deck in the brightest sunlight you can imagine and the screen will just look better. The same goes for a real book. Just try that with iPad with a backlight and you will see a difference there. Also, due to the lack of backlight the Kindle is much better suited for reading before sleep just like a real book. The backlight of a computer monitor is the reason computer people struggle with falling asleep. A good fiction paper back is the best sleeping pill in the world and you just can't get that effect with a backlight screen. Finally, just look the article we are commenting on. Do you not notice how similar the Kindle character is to the newspaper, magazine, and book characters at 400x? I would dare sare it is sharper.
- sshumaker 16y ago
  Yes, except when I flip pages in a book, they change rather rapidly. I don't have to wait for a second or two per page turn. This delay actually completely kills the Kindle reading experience. I've only read 2 books on my Kindle, but have read over a dozen since getting my iPad.
  - wazoox 16y ago
    I got used to hit the "next page" button when reaching the middle of last line, which makes the screen flash at the exact moment when your eyes run back to the top of the page (you have enough time to read about a half-line after pushing the button). Actually I even sometimes hit the button when I'd like instead to re-read a sentence on the current page :)
    - WarDekar 16y ago

gte910h 16y ago

And I use my iPad to read novels....I enjoy the backlight actually.

WarDekar 16y ago

I use my Kindle to read all sorts of non-fiction works (I very rarely read novels). I'm not sure why everyone assumes it's only fiction readers that would care- there are plenty of non-fiction books that aren't reference books. I find it much preferable to read over the iPad, for all the standard reasons (glare, eye strain, etc.) I also find highlighting to be much preferable on the Kindle (maybe Amazon has updated their iPad app, but the version I have won't let you highlight across page boundaries) as well as going to footnotes and back. Of course I do a lot of my Kindle reading outside (at the pool, at the park, whatever) so that plays a major factor as well, it's like I don't want to use my iPad unless it's dark (this applies to more than just reading) because I hate seeing reflections. The only times I really use the iPad in place of the Kindle is when I'm in a dark place (I've used it quite a bit outside at the hot tub at night), and I use the iPad for Instapaper usually instead of the Kindle. Another reason I prefer longer reading (which Instapaper doesn't really fall under, while articles are usually longer form it's not like it's a book) on the Kindle is because with the iPad I find that I'll be too easily tempted to press Home and mess around with something else (I realize this is my own fault and not necessarily a fault of the iPad, but it's something that I'm sure other dual-owners have experienced).

tristan_juricek 16y ago
> with the iPad I find that I'll be too easily tempted to press Home and mess around ... Yes, how many times have I earmarked papers only to find myself web surfing or playing games? gah...