iPhone vs. Kindle

BusinessWeek has an article about the increasing popularity of using one's cell phone as an eBook reader, with solutions coming out allowing one to purchase and read material on the phone. It started with public domain books – like Tale of Two Cities and Shakespeare – and is now moving to unique or new content. 

When I first got my iPhone, I was very excited at the idea of using it as an eBook reader. Back in the days of Palms, I used mine sporadically as an eBook reader and Palm had (has?) a very robust eBook base. On the face of it, these devices make great readers. They are on one's person all the time and the content can be formatted in a way that it is easy to read – narrow columns, large type etc. One can zip through material pretty quickly. 

Unfortunately battery life is the biggest issue I have in using my phone as an eBook reader. The battery on the iPhone is just not good enough to use it as a phone and an eBook reader. The only time I tend to eRead is when I have a very short train journey – 10 minutes tops – and I know I will return home in a couple of hours or am able to plug my phone in at some point in my trip. It's my biggest frustration with my phone. Doing too much has led to a 'dead-as-a-doornail' phone on more than one occasion.

I love the Kindle because I can read for two or three days straight and not have to plug it in. It's not as convenient as my phone but it's certainly more convenient than carrying all the books I have on the Kindle. 

I think the Kindle is safe for now. When smartphones integrate ePaper technology – like this and these here – and can squeeze out two or three days of heavy use, then eBook on phone will take off.

Hat tip [jk on the run]

Kindle, newspaper of tomorrow?

Interesting article on the NYT reaching 10k subscribers on Kindle devices

I purchased a Kindle two months ago and I really love it. I travel a fair amount professionally, although thankfully not as often as I used to. The Kindle is perfect because I can read whatever I feel like reading whenever I want to read it. I'm the type of person who when I'm in reading mode, I have three or four books going. Invariably the one I take with me is not the one I want to read. 

People have asked me about it a lot since I've purchased one – more than my iPhone. The biggest 'objection' to the Kindle appears to be its' electronic nature. If you are someone who reads a lot, you probably get a lot of joy from the act of reading – turning the pages, the smell of paper, the artwork, marking it up etc. 

I admit that I'm an electronic fetishist so I'm always looking for gear that replaces something in the physical world. But I think electronic books are so much more convenient. They weigh less than books. No trees have to be sacrificed for my enjoyment. I can have many books with me at once. With the Kindle, I can get a book almost instantly, thanks to the built in net connection. 

I have tried the eBook on the iPhone thing and it doesn't work as well for me. I wish I could turn the accelerometer off sometimes because I like to read lying down on my side. I can't do that on the iPhone since it rotates automatically. That said, I've downloaded Stanza and will see how I like it. I don't take my Kindle everywhere so Stanza seems like it can be a decent substitute for short periods of time – e.g. the subway. I can't really use it as a full-time reader since battery life is just too precious. 

Back to this article. I do have to say that I prefer to read books and upload documents on my Kindle. I haven't really gotten into the newspaper thing and I'm not sure why. One morning this week, I will take myself to a cafe with the Kindle and see if I get into the 'paper' and breakfast thing. I'll let you know.

A sample of what I'm enjoying right now on my Kindle:

Warren Buffet's The Snowball 

Obama's Dreams of my Father

Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers