4 ms·

The thing is, nothing beats a tablet (well, I use an iPad) for reading. Instapaper (articles, news), iBooks (pdf, ebooks), Reeder (rss), Safari (everything els

by ihodes 16y ago

The thing is, nothing beats a tablet (well, I use an iPad) for reading. Instapaper (articles, news), iBooks (pdf, ebooks), Reeder (rss), Safari (everything else) are all excellent. I can't lay in bed with my laptop or desktop, nor does reading on my phone cut it. The Kindle is nice, but it's black and white, and for me the lack of backlight makes it harder to read (esp. since I'm reading at night, and don't want to have a light on). Not only is it the best way to read, but it also can handle emails (you get used to the keyboard quickly, just like people got used to touch-screen phone keyboards, but I can type at a reasonable speed on the iPad). And it can play games…and a lot more. So, I like it. I'll continue to buy tablets.

samtp 16y ago
Try reading an iPad outside, it sucks. The Kindle lets you read in some fresh air without squinting your eyes out.
- rkudeshi 16y ago
  I may not be representative of most people, but I rarely read outside. I find myself reading more on plains, trains, and at home curled up on a couch. Given that usage pattern, the glare makes little difference (but the iPad's increased utility makes it a worthwhile "upgrade").
  - glhaynes 16y ago
    It'd be nice for the iPad to be more readable outside, but it'd be even nicer IMO for the Kindle to be more readable in the dark/dim.
  - samtp 16y ago
    Living in South Carolina, it'll be 75-80 degrees F every day for the next few months. Not being able to read a book/magazine/blog.. outside would make me go a bit bonkers.
- othermaciej 16y ago
  People often say that, but I can read my iPad fine even in bright sunlight when I turn the brightness up. And I can also read it in the dark without an external light source.
fluidcruft 16y ago
In my opinion, the iPad basically wins by exploiting the niche of how dreadful reading on laptops has become since 4:3 screens were phased out. I hate widescreen.
bad_user 16y ago
My wife, a non-geek by all measures, uses her Acer netbook for browsing / reading or watching movies in bed. That netbook is not optimal for work either, but she can run Office on it, she can plug a real keyboard and a bigger monitor to it, and all the software she ever used is compatible with that netbook. iBooks? How about Windows Explorer + whatever PDF viewer you'd like? Laptops are big and heavy, but tablets compete with netbooks, not laptops. There's only one thing for which I'd prefer an iPad ... technical books. The Kindle is too small for that, and Kindle DX too expensive. But as soon as Amazon drops the price on DX, I'll buy one.
jules 16y ago
How is the ipad on the eyes? My eyes get tired from reading from a laptop screen at night. Is the ipad better?
- Herring 16y ago
  I find it easier on my eyes, but YMMV. http://imgur.com/jPXrT http://imgur.com/jPXrT
- verisimilitude 16y ago
  Consider color temperature when reading at night: http://stereopsis.com/flux/ http://stereopsis.com/flux/
  - idlewords 16y ago
    Consider your sanity when using flux. It has all kinds of weird interactions with other software (VMWare especially was unusable with Flux installed), and it's also very stupid about time zone changes. I ultimately ended up just uninstalling it out of frustration.
    - tremendo 16y ago
      Maybe Redshift will work better for you? http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/
- ihodes 16y ago
  To be honest, I can read on my laptop for a long, long time without my eyes getting sore. I do think the iPad is better on the eyes, though, as I have read books on the iPad in few sittings without problems. My parents also report no eye strain.
- epochwolf 16y ago
  iPad is definitely easier on the eyes. I can read continously for eight hours or more without eyestrain.
- ugh 16y ago
vacri 16y ago
esp. since I'm reading at night, and don't want to have a light on Eh? So... a tiny booklight integrated into the Kindle's cover counts as a 'light' and is therefore Not Good, but a sizeable screen that lights up your face and what's behind it is apparently Kudos Awesome?
Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
> the lack of backlight makes it harder to read (esp. since I'm reading at night, and don't want to have a light on You'll have to admit that this is a very particular use case though.

by ihodes 16y ago

samtp 16y ago

Try reading an iPad outside, it sucks. The Kindle lets you read in some fresh air without squinting your eyes out.

rkudeshi 16y ago
I may not be representative of most people, but I rarely read outside. I find myself reading more on plains, trains, and at home curled up on a couch. Given that usage pattern, the glare makes little difference (but the iPad's increased utility makes it a worthwhile "upgrade").
- glhaynes 16y ago
  It'd be nice for the iPad to be more readable outside, but it'd be even nicer IMO for the Kindle to be more readable in the dark/dim.
- samtp 16y ago
  Living in South Carolina, it'll be 75-80 degrees F every day for the next few months. Not being able to read a book/magazine/blog.. outside would make me go a bit bonkers.
othermaciej 16y ago
People often say that, but I can read my iPad fine even in bright sunlight when I turn the brightness up. And I can also read it in the dark without an external light source.

fluidcruft 16y ago

In my opinion, the iPad basically wins by exploiting the niche of how dreadful reading on laptops has become since 4:3 screens were phased out. I hate widescreen.

bad_user 16y ago

My wife, a non-geek by all measures, uses her Acer netbook for browsing / reading or watching movies in bed. That netbook is not optimal for work either, but she can run Office on it, she can plug a real keyboard and a bigger monitor to it, and all the software she ever used is compatible with that netbook. iBooks? How about Windows Explorer + whatever PDF viewer you'd like? Laptops are big and heavy, but tablets compete with netbooks, not laptops. There's only one thing for which I'd prefer an iPad ... technical books. The Kindle is too small for that, and Kindle DX too expensive. But as soon as Amazon drops the price on DX, I'll buy one.

jules 16y ago

How is the ipad on the eyes? My eyes get tired from reading from a laptop screen at night. Is the ipad better?

Herring 16y ago
I find it easier on my eyes, but YMMV. http://imgur.com/jPXrT http://imgur.com/jPXrT
verisimilitude 16y ago
Consider color temperature when reading at night: http://stereopsis.com/flux/ http://stereopsis.com/flux/
- idlewords 16y ago
  Consider your sanity when using flux. It has all kinds of weird interactions with other software (VMWare especially was unusable with Flux installed), and it's also very stupid about time zone changes. I ultimately ended up just uninstalling it out of frustration.
  - tremendo 16y ago
    Maybe Redshift will work better for you? http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/
ihodes 16y ago
To be honest, I can read on my laptop for a long, long time without my eyes getting sore. I do think the iPad is better on the eyes, though, as I have read books on the iPad in few sittings without problems. My parents also report no eye strain.
epochwolf 16y ago
iPad is definitely easier on the eyes. I can read continously for eight hours or more without eyestrain.
ugh 16y ago

vacri 16y ago

esp. since I'm reading at night, and don't want to have a light on Eh? So... a tiny booklight integrated into the Kindle's cover counts as a 'light' and is therefore Not Good, but a sizeable screen that lights up your face and what's behind it is apparently Kudos Awesome?

Raphael_Amiard 16y ago

> the lack of backlight makes it harder to read (esp. since I'm reading at night, and don't want to have a light on You'll have to admit that this is a very particular use case though.