There is something satisfying about burning through the pages of a paperback book. You get to see how many pages you are wizzing through. And if the book is really good your anticipation of the beginning and ending is bittersweet. Maybe they will write a sequel, or another set in the same universe. This is how I always felt about Phillip K. Dick books. Enter the eReader opportunities. Hey a complete book for 5 – 10 bucks! That sounds like a deal to me. Let's see what the different products might offer.
For compact, lightweight and long battery life: the Nook and Kindle might be choices, IF… All you want to do is read eBooks or eMagazines. The Barnes and Noble Nook adds some color and what they are calling FREE WIFI for $149. The black and white Amazon Kindle is about the same. Both products are advertised at getting the WIFI, and the Kindle even adds a cellular variety for off-the-map places. BUT… Again, if you are happy with black and white and are satisfied with your WIFI providing only books, well you might consider looking on Craigslist or eBay for the first two. I doubt you will see discounted iPads until the next generation comes out sometime before Christmas 2010.
So I recently finished my first full book on the iPad. It was inside the Kindle software provided by WhisperSync, whoever they are. I was able to buy the book in the Kindle store as a Kindle. I'm not sure if Amazon notes that I am on an iPad or not. To them it is a sale either way. And for purists, perhaps the eInk is nicer to read from in a well-lit place. But the glow of my iPad display was refreshing and crisp. I still missed not being able to see the thickness of the pages left to go. It's like, not being able to see how much further you have to go. You can jump forward in the software and look how many pages, and the iBook software on the iPad tries to give you a good sense of where you are in the book, there is nothing like the smell of ink and paper and that satisfying thump when you toss the book off the bed at 2am having just finished a page burner.
Okay, you are going to have to pay more for an iPad. But what you are getting is a full-blown computer. A great web-browsing device. I halfway descent email reader and all the same books you can get on your kindle and more. Apple makes the FREE books from Project Gutenberg very easy to find.
I have read books in both the Kindle-emulator and in Apples iBook format and they are almost identical. Apple has a nice feature where you can tone down the bright white into a sepia-toned beige that is easier on the eyes. Like a somewhat aged paperback.
So I will confess today to buying two paperbacks from Amazon (piggy-backed on a different order) and one Kindle book to read on my iPad.
In conclusion: The iPad is not going to fit in your pocket or small purse. If you carry an iPad you are going to have to lug around more than either the Kindle or Nook. Much more. And sometimes the iPad feels heavy when you've been holding it a certain way to read in bed. So for that reason, you can take a Kindle on the plane, on vacation and probably not have to pack a powercord. But the chord is pretty tiny. And with the iPad you have GAMES, full-Web access, email… Did I mention GAMES? The iPad will play every game made for the iPhone except at 2X the size. (I think that's in the hundreds of thousands at this point.)
But seriously, if all you want is a good book and the simplest thing to read it on, the Nook or Kindle might be your choice. And if you forgot to pack enough to read, or if you get bored with what you brought any of the three can download a new book for about $10 bucks in about a minute. Or on the iBooks store on the iPad you can get thousands of great books for free. Think Emerson, Whitman, Joyce… All copyright free.
@jmacofearth
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