Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated materials

Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated materials

 

For more than a decade, nobody, not even a deep-pocketed company like Microsoft, has successfully cracked the tablet market. Apple, based on the tests over several days, is likely to be the first. The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon's Kindle.

The half-inch-thick, magazine-size iPad is thin and, at 1.5 pounds, light with a gorgeous, glossy, backlit 9.7-inch multitouch display. The fingerprint-resistant screen has an exceptionally wide viewing sweet spot for a movie and is terrific for showing off most of a Web page. The device resembles an iPhone on growth hormones. It shares many of the smaller handheld's design elements, down to the lone home button below the display. As on the iPhone, you can have up to 11 screens of icons.

iPad has the same kind of smart sensors that change the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape, depending on how it's rotated. (It's always right side up.) And, like the iPhone, it takes its cue from your fingers, whether you pinch to zoom in or out on Web pages, location-based maps and pictures — or flick to scroll up or down a page. You can easily search across all content.

The iPad's splendor and power may be best shown by The Elements: A Visual Exploration The $13.99 program is more electronic book than traditional app, but it's not like any e-book you've seen. The periodic table of elements comes to life when you touch your finger against any element. Handsome photographs of objects spin around so you can observe them from all vantage points.

The iPad is not so much about what you can do — browse, do e-mail, play games, read e-books and more — but how you can do it. That's where Apple is rewriting the rulebook for mainstream computing. There is no mouse or physical keyboard. Everything is based on touch. All programs arrive directly through Apple's App Store. Apple's tablet is fun, simple, stunning to look at and blazingly fast. Inside is a new Apple chip, the A4.

The iPad has built-in notes, calendar and contacts applications, and Apple sells slick, redesigned versions of its iWork productivity applications — $10 each for the Keynote presentation program, the Pages word processor and the Numbers spreadsheet. Still, for most folks, the iPad is more about consuming content than creating it.

Re: Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated mater

 

It is funny to read about iPad vs. Kindle. I will never trade my Kindle for an iPad. This is not only because of the many disadvanages of Apple iPad, these devices are just absolutely different. Kindle uses an eInk display and although it is black and white, unlike the color display of an iPad, Kindle display is very very friendly to your eyes. Reading from it is almost like reading a paper book.

Re: Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated mater

 

Well played Stream Recorder, well played. I could not agree more, btw - the iPad is fun - but it's a toy compared to the Kindle.

Re: Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated mater

 

When talking about reading devices iPad is a toy for me indeed. But many businesspeople use it and I do understand why.

Also I agree with the following comarison of iPad with Kindle:

Re: Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated mater

 

I'd honestly rather read linear (read from page one to the end, one page at a time) fiction from it than a book, because I can't always get comfortable with a book. Hardcovers are sometimes a bit heavy, and paperbacks don't always lie open easily. The Kindle is incredibly light and thin. I can hold it in one hand easily. The page turn buttons are conveniently located. Page-turns aren't instant, but they're probably quicker than turning a physical page in a printed book (there are just a lot more page-turns unless you choose a small font). The contrast is better than other ereaders I've seen. There is zero eye strain in good light. My eyesight isn't the greatest and I like being able to increase the font size and read without glasses. I love being able to browse the Kindle store and read samples before deciding to purchase. The "experimental" browser is surprisingly usable, but isn't great. It is useful for browsing wikipedia and blogs. The biggest drawback to the browser is the awkward pointer navigation, using the 5-way pad. It syncs your furthest read page over the internet so you can pick up where you left off using your iPhone or iPad.

Apple iPad is a lot better for magazines, reference materials, and illustrated materials. Kindle is worlds better for reading novels.

iPad is pretty heavy, making it more difficult to hold in your hand or carry with you everywhere. Kindle is much more portable and easier to hold.

iPad has some amazing children's books and magazines, which take advantage of its multimedia features.

iPad is unreadable in sunlight and glare is bad in bright light. Kindle is as good as a printed page in bright light.

iPad serves as a creative tool, a computing tool, a gaming tool, and a communication tool. Kindle is only a novel machine.

I don't regret buying either one of them. An iPad won't replace books, but a Kindle can, if the book is text-only.

Re: Kindle vs iPad for reading books,magazines,newspapers,reference&illustrated mater

 

I have an iPad and Kindle, I cannot read books on the iPad. I will not say it sucks, because for comics it works well. It's not as much as the screen as it is the weight of the device.