Video:iPad Vs. Other E-Readers

Transcript:iPad Vs. Other E-Readers

Hi, I'm Sam Costello, the About.com Guide to iPhone and iPod, and today I'm going to be reviewing the iPod's e-reader capabilities to see how it stacks up to dedicated e-readers like Amazon's Kindle or Barnes and Noble's nook.

iPad vs. Kindle. vs. nook

The comparison between the iPad and the Kindle and the nook is an interesting one because the iPad is a multifunction device - it's not just an e-reader, it's also a web browser, a game-playing device, it's good for music and video – whereas the Kindle and the nook are designed specifically to read text on the screen.

You can see the differences between the iPad and the Kindle pretty immediately, just by looking at the screens. The iPad uses a color backlit screen, which some people find induces some eyestrain when looking at it for a long time, whereas the Kindle and the nook both use a technology called eInk, which is not backlit and is designed to allow you to read text on the screen a long time without experiencing any eyestrain. The iPad offers a number of different ways for you to read books on the device. You can use apps like Apple's iBooks reader app, Amazon's Kindle app, which allows you to read books in the Kindle format on the iPad, or Barnes and Noble's app, which allows you to read books in the nook format on the iPad as well.

iBooks Usability

What I found in reading a handful of books in both iBooks and Kindle is that iBooks is simply a better experience. The books are formatted more appealingly, they have features that the Kindle app just doesn't have – like page numbers, for instance – and the Kindle books just basically look like they've been automatically exported out of a page layout program. They just look like PDFs, essentially. There doesn't seem to be a lot attention that's been put to really creating a great reading experience in the Kindle app for the iPad. So I really prefer iBooks for reading books on the iPad.

iPad Book Selection

That said, Amazon has a much larger selection of eBooks than Apple does, perhaps not surprisingly. Apple has its own eBooks store – called iBooks – but Amazon's selection of available titles is much, much larger. So if you're looking for a great variety, the Kindle app is probably a better option for you – or perhaps even the Kindle device.

As of the creation of this video – in June 2010 – the selection at the iBooks store just isn't that good, and Apple really needs to put some attention to that and help build up the selection there to compete with the selection Amazon has for Kindle books.

If they don't do that, they may run into the same problem that they have with movies at the iTunes Store. The music selection at the iTunes Store is, of course, tremendous and you can get just about anything you want there. That's helped iTunes catch on and become the top music retailer in the world. However, the selection of movies at the iTunes Store is much, much lower, so iTunes has never gained the foothold in the movie rentals or sales that it has in music. And, if Apple isn't able to increase the selection at the iBooks store quickly, it may find that the iBooks store has the same fate befall it that movies did at the iTunes Store.

iPad Apps

One thing that I think helps the iPad defeat dedicated e-readers like the Kindle or the nook is its versatility. You're not limited exclusively to reading eBooks on the device. You can also, thanks to apps available at Apple's App Store, read things like comic books.

Comics in iPad

There are a lot of great comics apps that are available for the iPad, including one from Marvel Comics, one from a company called Comixology, which allows you to buy comics from many different publishers, and a few others. All of these things offer you both free comics and comics that you can buy on a per-issue basis that are cheaper than printed comics. They offer a great reading experience on the screen, and are easy to store and easy to bring with you. So I like the idea that we can not just read eBooks on the iPad, but also things like comics.

Reading PDFs in iPad

Additionally thanks to the App Store, there are programs that will allow you to load your own PDFs onto the iPad and read them there. One that I like is GoodReader – there are a number of others – and that's a great feature that just adds to the versatility of the iPad.

Which E-Reader Is Best?

So the question is, what's the bottom line? If you're interested in buying a device to read eBooks and to not have to have a bag full of 5 books to take on vacation – rather just take one small, electronic gadget, which should you buy? Should you buy the iPad, hold you buy the Kindle, should you buy the nook, or some other e-reader device?

In my judgment, I think you should probably look at the iPad most strongly. It's a good reader – it's not a dedicated e-reader, but it's a good one – and the thing that I think makes it a more compelling package is its versatility. You're not limited to eBooks, you can read comics, you can read PDFs, you can also use the built-in web browser, listen to music, watch video, play games form the App Store send email – things that dedicated eBook readers just can't do.

And, the iPad has got a color screen – even though it's backlit, I haven't found to induce any eyestrain; I've read eBooks on the iPad 2-3 hours at a time and didn't feel any eyestrain. Additionally, the entry-level cost of an iPad is about the same as the cost of Amazon's Kindle DX, which is the larger-screen version of the Kindle. It's a 9.7-inch screen just like the iPad. So, given that they're both the same price and that the iPad is more versatile, I would buy an iPad instead of a Kindle, but that's certainly a determination you'll need to make. You'll need to try both products out, ideally.

Other eBook readers, like Barnes and Noble's nook and the forthcoming product from borders, are less expensive than the iPad by a couple hundred dollars. So, if all you're looking for is e-book reading functionality and you want to save some money, those may be something that you want to consider. But, if you're got a few extra hundred dollars to spend, and you are interested in having greater versatility to your e-reader device, I'd strongly consider taking a look at the iPad.