This is definitely the main point in this "debate"; some people will just prefer one screen type over the other. A lot of people seem to be advertising these opinions as objective fact, and that's quite a dangerous trend.
I'm personally of the opinion that e-Ink is what I'd prefer for reading, but I absolutely despise reading on screens; anything lengthy I print out. And while I think that e-Ink is better for reading, that's all that e-Ink devices (while being a lot cheaper than the iPad) do. If you read less and do other things more, then e-Ink is unlikely to even be an option for you unless you feel like shelling out for another device for the few times you do read at length.
E-ink is still a much better screen for reading text than the iPad's LCD. Not only does it perform much better in sunlight, but the lack of a backlight reduces eyestrain substantially (the Kindle iPad app has an option to use white text on a black background, which helps a little but nto completely). Back when I wasn't working on a startup I would often spend several hours at a time reading books on my Kindle, but that would be much more painful on my iPad.
Some formats are better on an iPad: periodicals (which can use more rich media and images), and technical books (code and diagrams render better, and the faster screen makes it much easier to flip through reference books). But if you spend lots of time reading books cover-to-cover, Kindle is easily the best device.
Interesting, I see this completely opposite from you. I spend all day looking at a lit screen and can hardly stand the idea of settling down to read a book on way in my leisure time. E-ink isn't as good as real paper, but it is far better than a computer screen in my opinion. I wish I knew someone who reads a similar amount as I do and touts the pleasures of iPad reading, so that we could discuss it, but I don't know any such person.
Do you happen to know if there’s been any research into whether e-ink (thinking of my Kindle here) is any better than reading off of a traditional screen?
It still baffles me that people want to read books on the iPad in first place.
Reading on a backlit screen is well known to tire your eyes very quickly, due to the low resolution and (afaik) because the eyes' Rhodopsin depletes faster while staring into a light source.
I have heard people arguing that we spend half our days in front of a computer-screen anyways, but that is a different kind of usage. During computer use the eye is mostly scanning and rarely reading chunks of text longer than a page at once. Book reading is a different story, as anyone who has tried to do that on a backlit screen can confirm.
Consequently this argument about (Book-)typography misses the point for me. If you want a good reading experience then get an e-ink device or stick with paper. Even the best font can only marginally reduce the inherent problems with staring a backlit screen for extended periods of time...
I actually prefer e-ink to paper because I can adjust the type size and layout.
I have mixed feelings about tablets. I do like that I can have a nightmode colorscheme for night reading. I don't think reading on a phone is a great experience generally.
I don't think it's about resolution. I'm comparing a 15'' 1920x1080 laptop screen to my 2nd Gen Kindle. I think it's about brightness. Light-emitting screens make it harder on the eyes to read books. An iPad's screen feels similarly uncomfortable to me. The main benefit of e-ink is that it doesn't emit light and therefore feels almost like a paper book.
Agreed about the ergonomics: it's more comfortable to hold a kindle than a laptop. However, I'm not sure I could replicate the experience with a tablet: I'd have to lower brightness a lot, increase contrast, and shine a light on it, at which point LCDs stop being comfortable to read.
While I agree with you on e-ink being a much better reading experience, I would not say a Kindle is for technical references or other books with exact formatting requirements because the screen is so small. This, along with being underpowered, also makes reading PDF a pain because they are tiny on the screen and the Kindle has a hard time rendering them.
Now a Remarkable or other larger e-ink device would probably be better than the iPad, but last I checked they cost the same or more than an iPad Pro that can do so much more they feel like a waste of money.
Yes, I do nearly almost my long form reading on an e-ink reader. Much easier to concentrate on than a backlit screen.
The latest generations are indeed not much of an upgrade from previous ones. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t better for reading than a tablet. As long as you get something high-dpi and front-lit there’s not much better you can do.
Aw. I can't believe he didn't explicitly mention the e-ink used by the Kindle.
It really, really makes a difference.
There are a million annoying, awkward things about the Kindle. But they're all worth it just due to how dang readable it is. I can use an LCD all day long (and do). But for reading documents/books of some length, linearly, for long periods of time, e-ink is really nice.
(I'm sure i'll eventually have an iPad, or something like it, i just don't compare it to a Kindle.)
Your use of "screen" seems to suggest that you group e-ink displays and lcd displays together. Do you really see no practical difference between the two in reading experience?
A sincere question because I don't enjoy reading on a tablet but a kindle to me in terms of eye strain is identical if not better than a book.
Well, FWIW, I for one can read a whole books, actually lots of them from both iBooks and iOS's Kindle app (read on a tablet. Heck, even on an iPhone). And don't care particularly for e-ink (I also have a kindle I don't use much).
If you can find some specific scientific argument why e-ink is "an essential requirement" (besides personal choice) then it's just cargo cult.
I listed fairly accurately were e-ink is better, namely reading in sunlight. And battery life, which I forgot.
For reading inside, it's advantages of yore, like resolution have been matched by hi-dpi screens. The only other advantage is better default contrast, which is a configurable setting on a tablet.
There was a time when e-ink seemed pretty compelling versus a tablet for certain uses, but that gap has shrunk to the point where it's hard to justify another special purpose device. I do have a Paperwhite in addition to an iPad but honestly don't use it very much. don't want to travel with yet another device and the iPad is actually a much better reader if the book isn't just flowing text.
You're making several fundamental mistakes. First, for a lot of what you read on your screen you have no choice. Where else are you going to read it? So the equation there is whether reading on a screen is better than not reading the particular material at all. Whereas with e-books the equation is whether reading on a screen (and the other benefits of e-books) is better than reading a physical book. Given some of the less than desirable characteristics of reading text on an LCD those benefits may not be enough.
Second, you probably spend a lot more time reading on a screen than most people do. If your day job involves using a computer all day (which I'll hazard a guess to a reasonable probability of such, given that this is hacker news) then you'll already have internalized and accepted the tradeoffs of doing a lot of reading on an LCD. But to someone who uses a computer say 1/10th or 1/100th as much as you do they have yet to come to that bridge, and when they do they have a choice as to the technologies they use for screen reading, the slight benefits of e-ink may be enough for them, even if it isn't for you.
There are a lot of computer users in the world who have yet to read, say, 1 thousand words of paragraph after paragraph of text in a single sitting on a device. To them the differences between reading text on physical paper, e-ink, or an LCD may be much more significant than for those of us who already spend our days staring at monitors and feel comfortable doing so.
2-3 years ago I bought a Sony Reader. This year I bought an iPad. I've been thinking somewhat about this issue as well.
I really like(d) my Sony Reader for the reading experience. Reading, at least for me, is a very relaxing endeavour. I typically use it simply for reading fiction, almost entirely sci-fi. It's a good device but e-ink really hadn't progressed since then (in terms of contrast, refresh rate and price) until the new generation Kindles in the last few months.
This year I got the iPad and it's much closer to the notebook end of the spectrum. That also means it's much more of a distraction.
It very much doesn't relax me like my Reader. For one it's easy to get distracted into reading HN, my RSS feeds, email, Twitter or simply playing Angry Birds or Bejeweled.
It may even be due to it having an active display. This technically tires the eyes but it seems to also have a stimulative value, at least to me.
So I'm going to buy one of the $139 Kindles. I can then read my books on it or the iPad.
To answer your question: at least from my perspective, I think you'll find it a less distracted experience.
I disagree that reading on OLED is the same as e-ink, and I disagree with the idea that I would want to read on my phone instead of on a dedicated device. For me, part of the experience is getting away from the phone.
I don't agree that tablets are terrible for e-reading. I love reading on my iPad, and hate my e-ink reader. The page refresh times are terrible in e-ink, they really slow me down and are disruptive.
Yes. Thousand times yes. If i could just justify spending so much money on ipad to use it just for reading.And anyway i would want the latest device which has not been released yet (october?).
I would still be worried about battery life (as it requires much more effort to keep an eye on than on an e-ink reader).
And do not forget about the screen differences. It's still more pleasant to look at an e-ink than on the traditional display.
I'm personally of the opinion that e-Ink is what I'd prefer for reading, but I absolutely despise reading on screens; anything lengthy I print out. And while I think that e-Ink is better for reading, that's all that e-Ink devices (while being a lot cheaper than the iPad) do. If you read less and do other things more, then e-Ink is unlikely to even be an option for you unless you feel like shelling out for another device for the few times you do read at length.
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