I love my iPad. There, I said it. It is with me 50% of the time. I consume media on it, Zite, Hulu, Netflix, Safari . I connect with it, Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Mail. I write on it: iThoughtHD, iA Writer, Notability. I even read Kindle books on it using the Amazon Kindle app. But when it come to reading books, I still like the real Kindle ereader better.
The Kindle is better for five very important reasons:
- The e-ink display is wonderfully usable even in sunlight. A person who like to read, like to read outside. iPad does not work.
- The Kindle is light. The iPad is not very heavy, but the weight difference is significant when you are holding it to read for a long period of time.
- The Kindle battery last a long time.
- The Kindle is cheap(er) than the iPad. I would feel much less annoyed if I damage or lost my $99 Kindle Touch than my $700 iPad.
- The Kindle is more robust. It is much less likely to damage the Kindle then the iPad, when taking places.
What prompted me to write this blog post? I just came back from a short cabin camping trip for four days. I took my iPad and my Kindle Touch with me. I never once took out my iPad. I carried my Kindle everywhere, and caught up with a lot of reading. Sitting under a tree reading from the Kindle. Much better than the iPad.
I look forward to the anticipated new Kindle announcement next week. I am pretty sure I am going to get one. But I hope they bring back the hardware "next page" button.