That said, if you buy a hardware Kindle device then you are stuck to only buying Kindle books. Whereas if you buy an iPhone, you get both: iOS devices can show you Kindle books as well as Apple Books.
This particular tidbit is not quite true. I have a library full of epub titles that I read on both my Kindle and my iPhone. The Calibre software has a robust conversion system which converts my epubs to mobi, and mails them to my Kindle account. The books in my Kindle library that I did not buy from Amazon far outnumber those that I did buy from Amazon, and the latter group are mostly free ones.
As an aside, that is essentially why I did not get an iPhone till its 5th edition. My Palm Treo held a slew of medical manuals that were not available on the iPhone. Once I retired, I also retired the Palm device.
The true killer feature of the kindle device is that you can search inside ALL downloaded books in one search. A VERY useful feature if you use your Kindle for non-fiction books, such as technical books. This is not possible on any of the Kindle apps for various devices. I do not mean searching inside the book. I mean searching across ALL books on the device (not against your entire library; books must be downloaded to device to be included in the search). I am in the information technology field and use this feature all the time. I also like it for searching for recipes in cookbooks, of which I have about 400 on my kindle. I still prefer reading on the ipad pro, but this type of searching is simply not possible on the ios Kindle app.
I find it odd that in all the paeans to the Kindle and it's "superior" reading experience no one bothers to mention that -- to me -- headache inducing "flash" when you turn the page and the Kindle to forced to turn the entire page black and then white again. That, coupled with it's extremely low resolution pretty much ruins the reading experience for me.
Couple the above with the fact that I never, ever read outdoors in bright sunlight and the eInk-based Kindle is pretty much worthless in my book.
That said, my reading is pretty much split 50/50 between my iPad and my Max, dependent upon where I am and what I'm reading. (Generally fiction on the phone and technical books on the tablet.)
I read 1,000 pages or more a week (I teach at a university and research is a never ending). I do not have a kindle because for me it would be one more device. also- I have to convert any epub I buy elsewhere into amazon format (impossible if I bought the book through apple), apple's books app will take ANY ePub regardless of where I purchased it from (I have not run into any problem so far). I am Scottish so direct sunlight of any kind for more than 10 minutes could result in severe sunburn or death, therefore I have no use for the ability to read in direct sunlight (not knocking the feature though). I have an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. I read on the train, I read in my office, I read at home. where I left off I can pick up instantly. I like the notes and highlighting better as well.
lastly, I know this is shallow, but as I paid for the books I want them to be just as I want them. so if I find a better cover on the internet, I just download that image and drag and drop that image onto the book in books.app on my laptop and now I have a more aesthetic image, in my opinion (on al my devices). I could never find out how to do that for kindle other than using calibre.app and cracking into the book to make the change, making it not worth it.
I don't understand why one would compare a Kindle tablet to an iPhone. Would it not have been more fair to compare the Kindle tablet to an iPad? Tablet against tablet.
If it's true that we're going to see a new iPad Mini next week, guarantee there will be scores of "do you really need a Mini anymore" articles.
If there was a fresh iPhone SE, the goddamned answer would be YES
This is beside the point, but: Mostly I still prefer a hardback book. It just feels better and reads better -- especially in bed. I only like eBooks for manuals and/or temporary things that I do not intend to keep or reread.
That said, I can't believe how slowly the US education industry is adopting electronics in education. My 12 year old grandson burns through reams of confusing paper doing his school work -- all of which could be done better and more efficiently on an iPad.
The Kindle, at least for me, has a "feature" that makes it impossible for me to enjoy using it. Your article mentions "comfort" in reading. When the screen is loaded, I freely concede the Kindle has a clearer "tighter" feel and the individual page is slightly easier on the eyes.
However, there is NO, repeat NO way to turn off that [much very bad language redacted] page turn. For me, that's like being slapped across my eyes and the sensation of motion makes me feel ill. On my old PalmPilot, and on its successors my iPhones, I tap-change the page and zap, there is the next one, instantaneously. My eyes automatically jump to the top of the page and I don't even notice the changeout. I just keep reading ... and reading ... and... Pages? What pages?
As a result, I don't go near Kindle as a reading instrument. It's hard to read when you get seasick changing pages.
One more note. The "Kindle" on my iPhone has the same limitation, even though the display hardware didn't come out of the swamp of e-ink. I can't set it for instant change there, either.
For my MA thesis, I’ve been reading most of my bibliography and even writing the final document itself in Word (I know, I know… My liberal arts faculty doesn’t care much for LaTeX) on either my iMac or my MacBook Pro, with inverted colours and f.lux (the real deal, not that wimpy Night Shift clone, even though the 2012 MBP already supports it) dialed all the way up to eleven.
It looks a lot like one of those older monochrome amber phosphor CRT terminal screens and it is surprisingly easy on the eyes, especially at night (and it will feel weird and kind of a waste to use my new 5K iMac in such a configuration, but seeing I’ll be resuming my design work soon, I’ll switch between that “text mode” and the more, er, conventional way of using a PC shortly after). You see, I was already feeling the eye strain and messing up of circadian rhythms getting to me, and also got extremely alarmes after reading those threatening claims about the damage blue wavelengths do to your retina, and what to you know, it really did seem to help, with the added bonus of putting my mind a bit more at ease.
But if it wasn’t for those two machines, I’d very likely get a Kindle or other brand of e-paper reader (and if I ever keep studying, that’s an almost certainty…). Sure, I’ll still have to take breaks because of dryness, herpes (yes, it’s shit and I have it on both eyes) and muscle strain, but at least I’ll preserve my retinas further still.
I read 1,000 pages or more a week (I teach at a university and research is a never ending). I do not have a kindle because for me it would be one more device. also- I have to convert any epub I buy elsewhere into amazon format (impossible if I bought the book through apple), apple's books app will take ANY ePub regardless of where I purchased it from (I have not run into any problem so far). I am Scottish so direct sunlight of any kind for more than 10 minutes could result in severe sunburn or death, therefore I have no use for the ability to read in direct sunlight (not knocking the feature though). I have an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. I read on the train, I read in my office, I read at home. where I left off I can pick up instantly. I like the notes and highlighting better as well.
lastly, I know this is shallow, but as I paid for the books I want them to be just as I want them. so if I find a better cover on the internet, I just download that image and drag and drop that image onto the book in books.app on my laptop and now I have a more aesthetic image, in my opinion (on al my devices). I could never find out how to do that for kindle other than using calibre.app and cracking into the book to make the change, making it not worth it.
Haha, same here, I’m Polish so sunlight is not my problem at all... I used to have a kindle for 5 years, but I’ve bought iPhone XS recently and found that its screen is just incredible for reading (black background) and the phone is just perfect to keep it in one hand for longer reading sessions. Kindle is nice but it’s too heavy to hold it with on hand, too big, that switch off button is in stupid location (I used to switch off the kindle accidentally very often)... so yeah, I sold kindle 3 and 4 recently. I just use a different application, FBREADER as it allows me to change margins and switch pages with buttons. Sorry, AMAZON 😂
Comments
The answer is Kindle. Obviously. The iPhone may be convenient, but it is not a good ebook reader.
Couple the above with the fact that I never, ever read outdoors in bright sunlight and the eInk-based Kindle is pretty much worthless in my book.
That said, my reading is pretty much split 50/50 between my iPad and my Max, dependent upon where I am and what I'm reading. (Generally fiction on the phone and technical books on the tablet.)
Lastly, photons are photons, folks.
I am Scottish so direct sunlight of any kind for more than 10 minutes could result in severe sunburn or death, therefore I have no use for the ability to read in direct sunlight (not knocking the feature though).
I have an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. I read on the train, I read in my office, I read at home. where I left off I can pick up instantly. I like the notes and highlighting better as well.
lastly, I know this is shallow, but as I paid for the books I want them to be just as I want them. so if I find a better cover on the internet, I just download that image and drag and drop that image onto the book in books.app on my laptop and now I have a more aesthetic image, in my opinion (on al my devices). I could never find out how to do that for kindle other than using calibre.app and cracking into the book to make the change, making it not worth it.
If there was a fresh iPhone SE, the goddamned answer would be YES
However, there is NO, repeat NO way to turn off that [much very bad language redacted] page turn. For me, that's like being slapped across my eyes and the sensation of motion makes me feel ill. On my old PalmPilot, and on its successors my iPhones, I tap-change the page and zap, there is the next one, instantaneously. My eyes automatically jump to the top of the page and I don't even notice the changeout. I just keep reading ... and reading ... and... Pages? What pages?
As a result, I don't go near Kindle as a reading instrument. It's hard to read when you get seasick changing pages.
It looks a lot like one of those older monochrome amber phosphor CRT terminal screens and it is surprisingly easy on the eyes, especially at night (and it will feel weird and kind of a waste to use my new 5K iMac in such a configuration, but seeing I’ll be resuming my design work soon, I’ll switch between that “text mode” and the more, er, conventional way of using a PC shortly after). You see, I was already feeling the eye strain and messing up of circadian rhythms getting to me, and also got extremely alarmes after reading those threatening claims about the damage blue wavelengths do to your retina, and what to you know, it really did seem to help, with the added bonus of putting my mind a bit more at ease.
But if it wasn’t for those two machines, I’d very likely get a Kindle or other brand of e-paper reader (and if I ever keep studying, that’s an almost certainty…). Sure, I’ll still have to take breaks because of dryness, herpes (yes, it’s shit and I have it on both eyes) and muscle strain, but at least I’ll preserve my retinas further still.