Apple spent a good deal of time today selling the world on the iPad’s ebook skills. It has a nice 9.7-inch screen, iPad, 10 hour battery life, and ebook store. But how does it stack up against the current reigning ebook king, the Kindle? It’s time to call in a massive chart.
Of course it’s not all specs and stats. There are a lot more to what will likely be a bloody battle. Click through to TechCrunch where Joff Redfern, co-founder of FlattenMe.com, explores the subject even more.
Most important spec: Which one doesn’t fry your eyes after a couple of hours reading?
Yes, e-ink does the job perfectly without burning your corneas.. Perhaps, Apple have seen this flaw, but were planning to release this on the 2G. No?
More details: http://bit.ly/apple-ipad-advantages-disadvantages-details
You know what amazes me? The amount of patience some people have for V2 products.
I judge products on their current merits, not what features future iterations might have. The iPad in its current incarnation is a complete failure.
That’s all that really matters.
And yet here you stare at your computer monitor to type this response.
Most of work on computers with LCD moitors all day long. And our eyeballs aren’t fried. Amazing.
E-ink is great, but simply way too limited. The minimal (very minimal if you ask me) eye strain is easily worth the added functionality.
Actually, I can read my Kindle for hours without my glasses and no eye strain. My eyes hurt looking at a monitor without my glasses after just a few minutes. It really does make an incredible difference.
Wow, is the apple product so bad that it can only be winningly compared to a dedicated e-book reader?
That’s so funny it’s sad.
Shoudn’t the comparison be to the Kindle DX because they both have large screens?
I didn’t know there was no Flash support on the iPad until this chart. When comparing to the Kindle, that’s one thing, but today it looked like Apple was competing against the laptop market. No flash – that’s a big misstep in my opinion…
You know, my wife is looking at a new laptop with dual core chip (2.2Ghz), 17.3 inch screen, 4 gigs RAM, 320 gig SATA HDD, 128 meg video card for $650.
Why in the hell would anyone want this iPad-Thai thing?
Yeah, why didn’t you compare to the 9.7 inch Kindle?
Looks iPad is more powerful but kindle is more valuable. Because Kindle wins in some important features such as battery work time and 3G connection. For ebook, Kindle is absolutely winner I think.
G
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http://www.tophotdeal.com
Please compare this to a net book… or another tablet.
This will not kill the Kindle or Nook because
1) e-ink won’t make you want to pull your eyeballs out
2) the battery life is way too short for a dedicated reader
3) when you’re reading, you don’t really want all that crap at your fingertips. ADD, for the lose.
It’s ok, though. Most people don’t read. Two different markets.
The question is: Why make the comparison at all? WOFT
The reason to make the comparison, I suppose, is that if you’ve read any of the gadget sites or or thge NYT or WSJ in the last few weeks, you’d have seen every single one of them (crunchgear included) said that the Apple tablet would kill Kindle and other dedicated ebook readers dead. Maybe I’m biased but I see this chart as an admission that they are all wrong – the products serve different enough markets that they are not really competing at all.
Will the next comparison be with a Sony PSP? It would have as much relevance as this.
As others have said, the i-pad has an LCD screen, whereas the E-book has an e-ink screen. Different types of devices.
There have been Windows CE devices like this for a while, which maybe more comparable.
Forget the new iPad! Check out these new iGlasses! They are hot!
http://www.zazzle.com/hottopics/gifts?cg=196533222698704793
The screen on the iPad isn’t good for your eyes, as compared to the Kindle eInk, so why would they market it as a book reader? Other than that, it has the same features of an iTouch. If it had a camera which would have allowed video chatting, and more OSX functionality, it would be a great product, but really it’s just an iTouch with a bigger screen, nothing more.
I realize that few seem to get this but as a replacement to a kindle DX (which is what I was considering) its bloody brilliant. The fact of the matter is that im tired of readin on the tiny iphone screen and i could never justify the price of the kindle because it really does diddly aside from books. Its actually the battery life that sells me in the end, @ 10hrs its really all i need. I only wish it did flash. That actually the stupidest thing ive ever seen.
This is like comparing apples to… well, books, but if you’re already comparing, how about weight? Is it not an important feature? Or am i missing something here?
If i’m supposed to use this device lying down in bed, reading a book for a while, i’d like it to be realy light. 700 grams is one heavy book. The Kindle weighs less than 300. That’s a big difference and an important factor for an e-reader IMHO.
the iPad can do text to speech using the same applications you can use for your iphone. so yeah, not natively but it can easily be added on. and that’s the MAJOR advantage of the iPad compared to the Kindle- added functionality through apps. Kindle will never really do anything more than read books. iPad has limitless future functionality.
Surely limited by no other than apple.
The iPod and, I’m assuming, iPad, can do text-to-speech on any element in any app.
I can have text-to-speech in everything from the Facebook app, to Twitterific. So it is native, and its infinitely more flexible than Kindle’s text-to-speech.
I’m with the majority of the board: these are two different devices. That said, you’re getting significantly more with the iPad than with the Kindle at a relatively similar price point. I don’t see this killing the Kindle until it starts to compete on functionality as an e-book reader. However, Amazon needs to: 1) significantly cut the price point and start focusing more on profits from e-book sales, and 2) focus on future innovation to prevent pseudo-ebook-tablets from getting functional enough to steal sales.
I read with my Kindle in the direct sunlight in comfort. Can this be done with an IPad screen? Or, will the sun wash it out?
Direct sunlight! Really? Out here in Southern CA we can get burned in 15 minutes. My dad died from skin cancer and I’ve already had skin cancers removed. Do you think I or any one else who gives a dam about skin damage will care if it can be read in direct sunlight?
Hi Larry,
Don’t discount the reading in direct light. When I catch the train in to work, if I’m sitting on the wrong side of the train – it’s like I’m sitting in direct sunlight. If I try and work on my laptop on this side of the train it’s hard to read the screen.
But with a Kindle, it’s so easy to read. You don’t even notice the change in light when you go under bridges on come into an underground station with the Kindle.
I think the important to thing to consider is if you’re not a big reader, then the Kindle is not for you. I am and I don’t go anywhere without a book (well… until I got my Kindle) and I whip it out if I’m waiting to meet someone.
If you’re not a big reader, then reading in direct sunlight isn’t going to be important to you. But if you’re like me – or Dave U – this this is an important purchasing consideration.
Cheers
Jen
I want the “Global” from “Earth Final Conflict”, why do they not understand that is what people want!
Apple’s decision not to include Flash Animation support in iPad seems to have rooted from the company’s fear of a possible decline of iTunes sales, pretty good marketing strategy yet a bit nasty nevertheless…
Comparing these two devices is kind of like comparing McDonalds to a high end speciality restaurant. I was intereted in the Ipad because because I wanted to by an eReader and held off buying the Kindle until the Ipad was released. The Ipad (I ask, why is it named after women’s sanitory napkins?????) is about widespread appeal. It isn’t using any new technology and there are many devices that do what the Ipad does. As an eReader, it’s too heavy, too big. You put it in an average size handbag. The Kindle – and most other eReaders – were designed for people who like to read. The Kindle, in particular (and ultimately what I chose), is designed specifically around this need. The chart above also fails to notice that with the Kindle you virtually have endless storage space because you can archive and retrieve books purchased via Amazon from your device. In addition, for anyone who loves to read haveing to swipe your finger across a screen repeatedly to turn pages will become increasing annoying. If you love to read – the Ipad is not the right device. And, unlike the Ipad, I only pay for the book that I download – I’m not paying any fees to download, archive or retrieve books and periodicals.