“I saw the Amazon Kindle today, one of the parents was reading on it. It’s amazing! It looks just like a book! I want to gift you one provided you stop buying so many books.”
My husband called me up in the middle of the day to tell me this. He never calls me during the day. Never.
I was so stunned, all I could manage was a weak
“Umm…ok….can we talk about this in the evening?”
Image via Wikipedia
Now, as those of you who read this blog regularly (love you guys!) know, I love physical books. I enjoy browsing through a bookstore, picking up books, going through the back cover and then randomly reading a few pages before deciding to buy it. I have a bookshelf at home that is groaning under the weight of filled with books I’ve stuffed into it. And now, I am getting a new, bigger, fancier bookshelf built to hold my books and some doo-dads.
The husband, though, just wants the compulsive book buying to stop. Thus, the offer for the Kindle in exchange for no fewer books entering the house. And a tempting offer it is. I have been reading e-books on and off on the tiny screen of my iPhone. If I can read on that, an e-reader would be a breeze. But which one to choose?
Kindle, the dedicated e-reader or the cool kid on the block – the iPad? Much research later, I listed the pros and cons of each.
Cover via Amazon
The Kindle’s e-ink technology makes it a strain-free way to read for hours; you can read it in direct sunlight but not in the dark; and the experimental browser allows you to connect to text-only sites on the internet (Wikipedia and Google) in black and white. However, it supports its own file format and transferring pdfs and epubs is painful (for me at least).
Image via Wikipedia
The iPad gives you the option of accessing e-books through iBooks, Kindle, Nook and many more apps; and it gives you a whole multimedia experience as well, allowing you to do a lot, lot more with it than just read. On the flip side, the brighter screen can be impossible to read in direct sunlight (not quite true, since I can bump up the brightness on my iPhone and read very clearly even in direct sunlight, thank you very much) and the battery life is lower compared to the Kindle.
Of course, there are the issues of weight and technical wizardry – and this is more of an apples to oranges comparison – but if you have the money to spare, the iPad definitely gives you more bang for your buck.
Plus, since I’m really not going to completely stop buying books ever, I may as well go for the other bells and whistles too, right? Which makes me lean (heavily) towards the iPad. Now, to con convince the husband to fork over the extra cash!
By the sounds of things, you have already made up your mind and an Ipad it is going to be! That’s what I would go for 🙂
I have a Nook and love it! Since having my baby, I’ve been using my Nook (and Kindle) apps on my iPod Touch. I love being able to have a new book as soon as I finish one! It’s a tough decision!
Well..I manage that with physical books too, since I almost always have at least 5-6 unread books at any time 😉
I’m a die hard ‘real books” lover as well. Though I do find the Ipad awfully appealing…. I’ll probably work up to getting one eventually.
I’ve been looking for an ereader for a while but I’m the same as you; I love physical books. The iPad really looks great but it is way more expensive (but you can do so much more with it!) It really is something to think about!
Hope you’re able to make up your mind about it too! 🙂 What are you leaning towards?
My husband has an Kindle and I love it. My android phone can do everything an Ipad can so between the two we are set…. and we’ve spent less money.
Plus the kindle lets you read outside—– one of the best things ever. Even my mom who owns both an Ipad and a Kindle greatly prefers the kindle for reading……
Just my 2 cents….
Thanks for the suggestion! I have an iPhone already, and since I don’t plan totally switch over to reading e-books, I figured it might be a better idea to shell out the extra $ and get the iPad. Still thinking, though!
I have both [I know… *cough* gadget girl *cough*]; and I like the Kindle better for reading books and iPad for watching a movie on the go or browse this and that.
If you are going for e-books, nothing beats a Kindle. My opinion anyway 🙂