Reading devices

The phenomenon of Too Much Tech, or perhaps Apple Fanboiitis, is alive and well in our household. The picture above shows my iPhone, iPad Mini, and iPad. (The phone is a work phone, so maybe it doesn’t really count? These are just my devices – and my MacBook Pro and MacBook Air aren’t depicted, nor are M’s iPhone, iPad mini and two iPads, plus his MacBook Pro, two Mac Minis, and AppleTV…)

M bought an iPad mini when they were released and has been in love with the device, using it for reading – novels and the Web – especially. Last week he bought me one. I’d been eyeing his somewhat enviously, I have to admit.

I started using mine, interested to see if this is the device that finally dethrones the e-ink ereader as my reading device of choice. (The current gen on the Web is that ereaders are doomed.)

My love affair with e-ink ereaders started way back with the first generation Kobo, and has continued with Sony’s devices. My current one is a PRS-T2, depicted above with my two iPads.

I have never really warmed to the iPad as a reading device, mainly due to its bulk, especially when compared to an ereader. Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer reading the Web using it, as opposed to a desk-bound machine, but for novels, lightness and lack of bulk are very important. I think this is because I love to read in bed, and a small, light device hurts less when you fall asleep and drop said device on your face…

So I’ve been using the iPad mini quite heavily over the last few days. I’ve completed six books, and read a lot of other stuff on it. Size-wise it does quite well – the photo below shows the iPad mini next to the Sony PRS-T2. It’s certainly much much lighter than the iPad.

Pros of iPad mini:

1. light, small, nice to hold – especially when compared to the full-sized iPad
2. backlit. No need for external light source.
3. web-connected. Convenient for searching the Web to follow up on things.

Cons:

1. backlit. This can be tiring on the eyes if you want to read for hours and hours and hours.
2. web-connected. Distractions abound.
3. battery life. You need to recharge everyday.

All of these points apply to the full-sized iPad, with the exception of the point on size, obviously.

Is the ereader dead?

Not quite. The e-ink ereader’s superior battery life (a month before recharging) is still a win for me. (I reverted to my ereader every time the iPad mini needed a charge.)

Some diss ereaders for being single use devices, and suggest that iPads and other tablets are far more useful given that you use them to not just to read, you can email, surf the web, shop, take photos etc with them. This is true, but I find myself distracting myself from time to time whenever I use the iPad mini – because I can. This disrupts the flow and immersiveness of my reading.

The backlighting of the iPad mini is good in certain environments but for those of us who read for hours on end, it’s certainly less easy on the eyes than the paperlike e-ink display of the ereader…

I think e-ink ereaders still have their place for those of us who read a lot of books. I think I will be using the iPad mini quite extensively, but suspect I will still use my ereader.

In conclusion I will leave you with a picture depicting the iPad mini, Sony PRS-T2 and the Nexus 7. I never took to the Nexus 7 – it sits on a desk neglected and unused… Why? I think it’s because I find it less pleasant to use than either the ereader or the iOS devices.