CNet has reposted an article from the Asian edition of its “Crave” gadget blog in which blogger Damian Koh compares the reading experiences from the Kindle 3 and the iPhone 4. Koh says that he finds it “tiring” to read on an iPhone-sized display, and prefers the Kindle’s bigger, easier-to-read screen.
Of course, as the comments on the CNET and original blog posting demonstrate, reading comfort is often (literally) in the eyes of the beholder. As one person points out “the best e-reader is the one you have with you.” And an iPhone or iPod Touch is a lot easier to carry than a Kindle. (I wish I still had one.)
This is not exactly a new argument, but perhaps the fact that it keeps popping up is another sign of how accepted e-book reading is becoming in the mainstream. Before the coming of e-ink readers, e-books were generally those things that you read on hand-held PDAs, and about the only people who ever did read them were the ones who had gotten the PDAs for other things and then found e-books were an enjoyable enough experience that the convenience made up for screen size drawbacks.
But now it seems like it might go the other way around: people who buy Kindles to read e-books might discover that with the availability of Kindle apps, reading on smaller devices is convenient enough that the ability to enjoy books anywhere makes up for screen size drawbacks.
And, of course, thanks to Kindle, the question is not necessarily either-or. If one has both a Kindle and an iPhone, then he can read the same book on either of them in different situations.
I’d have to fully agree with that comment (“The best e-reader is the one you have with you”). I’ve been using Stanza since it was released on an Ipod/Iphone, and the biggest reason for doing so is I had it with me when I wanted to read and was away from the house. The Ipod/Iphone is with me basically 100% of the time. I have no physical problems with reading novels from it, and while it would be nice to have a larger device for when i’m at home, there’s no urgency in the purchase.
I read more content on my iPhone because it is with me 100% of the time and I find no great comfort difference at all. Right now I am reading the Essays of Michel de Montaigne. Great.
The convenience argument works both ways. Reading is easier on a Kindle, but entering notes is actually easier on an iPhone or iPod touch.
I find note taking on an iPhone/touch surprisingly fast and easy once I’ve grown accustomed to where to touch. Even the tiny screen helps, since my fingers don’t have to travel far. But I hate using the keyboard on my Kindle 1 and the Kindle 3, which lacks number keys, strikes me as even worse. The design really is bad. The Kindle 1 is big enough, it is hard to hold in one hand while typing and the keys are tiny (making a difficult target) but widely spaced, slowing down typing.
I’m not one of those who want to Kindle to have a touch screen if the text display and battery lif suffer. But I do think Amazon could give us a Kindle whose keys aren’t such a gosh-awful pain to use. For a start, the keys should fill almost all the space available to make them easier to hit. Larger keys would also make it easier to display what their alternative meanings are.
That and the lack of full Instapaper synching support are the two things keeping me from upgrading to an otherwise Kindle 3. The latter, since it would fit in every coat pocket I own, would actually be almost as portable as an iPhone or iPod touch.
–Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien
I’ve been reading ebooks on my Touch for several years. I really wanted an eink display so I could read in sunlight and a larger screen, so I got a Sony PRS-600. After several months, I find that I’m once again using the Touch almost exclusively. It turns out that I rarely need to read in daylight, but I do read more frequently than I thought in low-light situations. The Touch is so portable, too; it’s where I am when I want to read.
The Sony is a great reader. The dedicated larger ereader just doesn’t seem to fit my lifestyle very well.
The question of size is frequently coming back. I’m an obsessive enthusiast of reading e-books on mobile phones as they serve as great “entry devices” – the ones you already have, can turn into e-readers in 1 minute with a free application – and learn all the benefits of e-reading in one go.
The biggest problem is not with the phone itself, but with THE ATTITUDE of its owner. Lots of people, those millions of people who own mobile phones, when trying to imagine reading books on such a thing as a cellphone, just say “no” without even trying.
There are a lot of things which have to be demystified. I collected them in this post:
http://www.passwordincorrect.com/2010/07/02/8-myths-about-reading-books-on-a-mobile-phone/
Funny thing is that people watch videos and write on their phones. This is much more difficult than reading, but I actually never met anyone complaining about it.
This size thing sounds like a big excuse.
A study says a teenager in US writes more than 2000 SMS-es a month. Gosh, it’s a book. A teenager writes one book a month on his mobile phone.
How to make him READ one short book a month on his cellphone – this is a challenge.
PS. And now I have to read this Captcha on a big screen of a computer. THIS is difficult;-)
The question of size is frequently coming back. I’m an obsessive enthusiast of reading e-books on mobile phones as they serve as great “entry devices” – the ones you already have, can turn into e-readers in 1 minute with a free application – and learn all the benefits of e-reading in one go.
The biggest problem is not with the phone itself, but with THE ATTITUDE of its owner. Lots of people, those millions of people who own mobile phones, when trying to imagine reading books on such a thing as a cellphone, just say “no” without even trying.
There are a lot of things which have to be demystified. I collected them in this post:
http://www.passwordincorrect.com/2010/07/02/8-myths-about-reading-books-on-a-mobile-phone/
Funny thing is that people watch videos and write on their phones. This is much more difficult than reading, but I actually never met anyone complaining about it.
This size thing sounds like a big excuse.
A study says a teenager in US writes more than 2000 SMS-es a month. Gosh, it’s a book. A teenager writes one book a month on his mobile phone.
How to make him READ one short book a month on his cellphone – this is a challenge.
PS. And now I have to read this Captcha on a big screen of a computer. THIS is difficult;-)
Totally agree that the best is the one you have with you and for now for most people that is the iphone. I started reading ebooks with the Kindle app for my laptop and then on a netbook. Recently I upgraded my phone to an iphone and love having my phone, ipod and e-reader all in one device. How many things do you want to carry with you anyway? I can still read on the bigger screen when I am home since the Kindle app allows you to have up to 3 devices. I find myself having many opportunities to read that I wouldn’t have planned ahead for to carry a bigger device but the iphone is always with me so if I am caught waiting for something for 10 minutes I can just read my book. I also agree with the comment that many just assume the screen is going to be too small (even though you can make the font size larger) and don’t even try. I have a friend who thinks like that who just purchased an iphone and is talking about getting a kindle. Why carry 2 devices and why spend money you don’t need to, especially if you haven’t even tried it.