kindle or nook or...ipad?
- Thread starter Jack_Berry
- Start date
Bob has had the IPAD now for a few months. He prefers Podcasts and he listens to them while driving.
Bob is still enamored by his IPAD and I am still amazed that he took to it like a duck to water. He was constantly at war with my computer and drove me nuts every time he used it as he fought with it.
Bob much prefers to listen and as such I do not see the kindle working for him.
I have the Sony E-Reader and will replace it some day with the Kindle as I think the Kindle is far superior. I like to read and to listen to books. I use Audible to listen and share an account with my daughter. Our online library is rather extensive and I have found I spend more time listening than I actually do reading.
I think it depends on how you like to read or listen on what device will suit your needs best.
Bob is still enamored by his IPAD and I am still amazed that he took to it like a duck to water. He was constantly at war with my computer and drove me nuts every time he used it as he fought with it.
Bob much prefers to listen and as such I do not see the kindle working for him.
I have the Sony E-Reader and will replace it some day with the Kindle as I think the Kindle is far superior. I like to read and to listen to books. I use Audible to listen and share an account with my daughter. Our online library is rather extensive and I have found I spend more time listening than I actually do reading.
I think it depends on how you like to read or listen on what device will suit your needs best.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Well, my wife had mentioned a Kindle or like devise as something that I could get her for Christmas. So after reading both the current threads on these things, Amazon just took some cash from me...Got her the Kindle 3G WiFi. And after some mentioned the need for light for night reading, I also got the cover with the built in light.
Thanks for all the great info and personal reviews...EO s more then just about Expediting!!!
Thanks for all the great info and personal reviews...EO s more then just about Expediting!!!
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I've owned two Kindles, including the larger DX. An iPad is the way to go, period. Not only is it easier to read on-- page turning and stuff is much easier, as is finding a page you're looking for-- but the iPad is so useful for so many other things! Right now, mine contains approximately 350 books (from Amazon, many of which were free), over 700 hours of lectures on history (which I'm fond of listening to), about four days worth of music (that I can listen to either on headphones or any other speaker system that's either bluetooth-compatible or has a standard jack), about fifty hours of other assorted podcasts, and about twelve hours of video. My iPad's memory (I sprang for the largest) is now just under half full.
The iPad is also the best, easiest-to-use GPS I've ever had (due to its size) though it should be noted that when using the Navigon app on it (as I do) it won't pick up traffic information. In addition I can and often do stream Netflix, watch Weather Channel videocasts, and listen to free music from Pandora or just about any radio station in the world that I might desire to hear. It's also perfectly fine for web-surfing, e-mail, word-processing and online chatting if you have a bluetooth keyboard, and best of all you don't have to change devices to do any of this. (I even write novels on mine.) Yes, it's expensive. But I've never owned such a versatile, easy-to-use device in my life. Some things are _worth_ paying for, in my book. (Hint-- if you buy one the case is _important_. Get one with a built-in stand.)
I'll also note that I rather quickly wore out the page-turn buttons on my Kindles-- they lasted no more than about 300 books apiece before they started to get quirky and difficult to use. You can't wear out a touch-screen. Yes, the e-ink of the Kindle is very slightly easier on the eyes. That, however, along with longer-lasting batteries that in practice don't matter much, is the device's _only_ advantage, and in the dark the backlit iPad beats e-ink all to heck-- there's a setting that allows you to show the letters as white on a black screen that does the trick perfectly.
Even though I continue to follow this forum I post here only very rarely because it's unlikely now that I'll be expeditiing any time soon-- my life-circumstances prevent it for now, though I still hope to someday. So I can't say how the two gadgets compare to an _expediter_, and I admit this freely. However, unless you're very budget sensitive indeed, well... though more costly, the iPad is the vastly superior tool. I can say so from much experience with both.
The iPad is also the best, easiest-to-use GPS I've ever had (due to its size) though it should be noted that when using the Navigon app on it (as I do) it won't pick up traffic information. In addition I can and often do stream Netflix, watch Weather Channel videocasts, and listen to free music from Pandora or just about any radio station in the world that I might desire to hear. It's also perfectly fine for web-surfing, e-mail, word-processing and online chatting if you have a bluetooth keyboard, and best of all you don't have to change devices to do any of this. (I even write novels on mine.) Yes, it's expensive. But I've never owned such a versatile, easy-to-use device in my life. Some things are _worth_ paying for, in my book. (Hint-- if you buy one the case is _important_. Get one with a built-in stand.)
I'll also note that I rather quickly wore out the page-turn buttons on my Kindles-- they lasted no more than about 300 books apiece before they started to get quirky and difficult to use. You can't wear out a touch-screen. Yes, the e-ink of the Kindle is very slightly easier on the eyes. That, however, along with longer-lasting batteries that in practice don't matter much, is the device's _only_ advantage, and in the dark the backlit iPad beats e-ink all to heck-- there's a setting that allows you to show the letters as white on a black screen that does the trick perfectly.
Even though I continue to follow this forum I post here only very rarely because it's unlikely now that I'll be expeditiing any time soon-- my life-circumstances prevent it for now, though I still hope to someday. So I can't say how the two gadgets compare to an _expediter_, and I admit this freely. However, unless you're very budget sensitive indeed, well... though more costly, the iPad is the vastly superior tool. I can say so from much experience with both.
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Thanks Rabbit and what you say has a lot of merit.
The only draw back I see would be cost as I would not see the need to have two IPads in the truck. If I was to pick it would be one Ipad and one Kindle to cover all bases!
The only draw back I see would be cost as I would not see the need to have two IPads in the truck. If I was to pick it would be one Ipad and one Kindle to cover all bases!
A valid point of view you have. It illustrates well the fundamentally different approaches.
In our truck, our movie viewing (lectures), GPS, phone calling, music listening, e-reading, etc. tend to be done on single-purpose devices dedicated to these specific tasks.
The other approach is to consolidate all activities into a single device like an iPad.
While tablets (iPads) are here to stay, I believe that the dedicated device approach will prevail over time. The history of technology suggests it. Laptops could perform all functions long before iPads came along but before the iPad came along, the number of dedicated, task-specific devices exploded.
The modern iPad may change the trend and consolidate everything back into a single device but I don't think so. I may use a smart phone to use the internet from time to time, but if I want to do some serious surfing or research, it will be with desktop or laptop computer. If I want to sit down for several hours of uninterrupted reading, or read on the beach or while waiting in the driver's lounge for the truck to be fixed, I'll choose the lightweight e-ink Kindle over the heavier iPad.
One trend to notice is the consolidation of the internet with devices of all kinds. The internet is driving technology today as much as any device of any kind. The devices distinguish themselves by their ability to meet consumer needs, which always have been and always will be task specific.
Sure an iPad can be used to play music. So can a laptop. So can a GPS unit. So can a smart phone. But iPods continue to sell because they do the music playing thing best. When your purpose is to listen to music, you don't need the other features the other devices offer. You don't want to lug something as large and heavy as an iPad. You want to listen to music so you chose the device that makes music listening easiest for you.
Ahh yes; the book. That thing that does not need batteries, never has to be booted up, does not break when you drop it, can be shared with or gifted to a friend without permission from the person who sold it to you, and stores information for a thousand years in a format that is as good centuries later as it was the day it was printed.
What will they think of next?
You left one out. The book. That thing that turns pages and/or closes on it's own depending on cover composition and loses your place as you try to read while eating. That's the beauty of the Kindle. It never loses your place and even when eating bbq ribs you've got at least one knuckle clean enough to turn your hand over and tap the page turning button so you can read through your meal, never lose your place, and not slime up your Kindle with bbq fingers.
Leo, your page-turning point is a good one and a feature I have come to fully appreciate as I read my Kindle. It really is easier to hold and read a Kindle than a book.
But note the somewhat different purposes readers have. Many have voiced objections about the Kindle precisely because it is not a book. They enjoy the page turning. They want the feel of a real book in their hands. Reading is part of the experience. The bulk and feel of a real book in their hands, before their eyes and under their nose is another part they desire.
Mentioned in these discussions are readers who prefer to not read at all but to be read to by devices that speak the words. With an audio book and an iPod, you don't have to turn pages at all. The device is smaller than a Kindle. Like the Kindle, it picks up where you left off. It can store thousands of books.
I have a Kindle, still read real books and listen to audio books too. Which is best? It all depends on your purpose in the moment.
But note the somewhat different purposes readers have. Many have voiced objections about the Kindle precisely because it is not a book. They enjoy the page turning. They want the feel of a real book in their hands. Reading is part of the experience. The bulk and feel of a real book in their hands, before their eyes and under their nose is another part they desire.
Mentioned in these discussions are readers who prefer to not read at all but to be read to by devices that speak the words. With an audio book and an iPod, you don't have to turn pages at all. The device is smaller than a Kindle. Like the Kindle, it picks up where you left off. It can store thousands of books.
I have a Kindle, still read real books and listen to audio books too. Which is best? It all depends on your purpose in the moment.
Hightech_Hobo
Expert Expediter
I hav'nt had it long but I love my Kindle...so far it has done all that it advertises..is easy to read and allows me to enlarge type so that I don't even need to wear my glasses to read..
Content is ...well extensive might be an understatement...you won't have any problems finding a book, periodical or newpaper to read. Pricing also seems quite reasonable for content as well.
Over all very happy with purchase
Content is ...well extensive might be an understatement...you won't have any problems finding a book, periodical or newpaper to read. Pricing also seems quite reasonable for content as well.
Over all very happy with purchase
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
Posted from our nook
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
gracie is diggin it. i am doing other stuff. hope to use it when she is driving.
Can also serve as a shim [short leg prop], paperweight, weapon [ask my kids, lol], temporary table while sitting on the grass, and lots of other useful purposes.
Not good as a flyswatter, though.
The new Barnes & Noble Nook Color is a terrific value at $250, both as a reader and for basic web browsing. We also picked up the new HP eStation. For $350, you not only get a wifi printer/fax/scanner/copier, but its interface is a removable display that functions as a reader/browser not unlike the Nook. Print from any device to the email address provided by HP and out comes the hardcopy. Both devices accept SD/micro SD cards.
I'll have to make room in my first expediter van.
I'll have to make room in my first expediter van.
It also runs out of batteries exponentially faster than eink.
ebsprintin
Veteran Expediter
Books burn better, too. Story out of the UK late last year about people buying old books to burn for heat. The favorite was supposed to be old encyclopedias, because one volume would burn all night.Can also serve as a shim [short leg prop], paperweight, weapon [ask my kids, lol], temporary table while sitting on the grass, and lots of other useful purposes.
Not good as a flyswatter, though.
eb