Comments on: Amazon’s Kindle App for iPad vs Apple’s iBooks

By: RalphT

RalphT — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:33:29 +0000

Thanks for your comparison. Maybe when Barnes & Noble updates their reader for iPad you can add it to the comparison.
I began reading ebooks years ago with Windows mobile devices and tried several different sites. One of my favorites was initially called Peanut Press. This was subsequently bought by Palm and ultimately renamed eReader.com. I liked that they made readers for various platforms and content purchased from them could be read on any or all of them. Another useful feature was the ability to designate any dictionary in your library to lookup word definitions as you read. Apparently B&N acquired them and used their software for their B&N iPhone reader.
So far only the iBooks, B&N reader/eReader and Stanza apps (and Logos for Biblical texts) have this tap the word to look up definition feature that I find helpful. The next iPhone/iPad OS 4 will have multitasking to allow speedier access to dictionaries, but that is still not as convenient as having the capability built in (like the Kindle and Nook Hardware)
Thanks again for your comparison!
Ralph

By: kirk

kirk — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:18:38 +0000

Thanks for pointing that out; it wasn’t obvious. I’ll edit my article accordingly.

By: peterb

peterb — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:13:25 +0000

One correction to your article: in iBooks, if you tap in the middle of the page, the icons and progess bar disappear, leaving only the book’s title and the page number. Tap again and they come back.

By: kirk

kirk — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:29:43 +0000

Yes, I’m not talking about the Kindle device, which does get better battery life than the iPad: the iPad is rated at 10 hours or so, though some tests have it running video for 11-12 hours before dying.

By: kirk

kirk — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:24:53 +0000

As for scrolling, I find that a bit disturbing. With text moving rather than being replaced with a new page, I find my eyes constantly moving to follow it, and the text, when moving, blurs a bit. I see that when reading articles.

As for orientation, the iPad itself has a hardware button to lock it. On the iPhone and iPod touch, for the Kindle app, you tap in one corner and tap a lock icon. I assume that iBooks will offer the same feature.

By: Aaron Meurer

Aaron Meurer — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:04:53 +0000

I don’t understand why ebook readers can’t scroll. This is much more intuitive to me than flipping pages. With something that scrolls (like text on a webpage), I never have to have a sentence broken at a page boundary. I never even have to read text at the top or bottom of the display, which is more difficult. I can just keep it in the middle. iPhone OS scrolling is even better than regular computer scrolling for this because you can “push” text at the very bottom or very top of a page to the middle.

I saw some individual book apps in the App Store that used scrolling and have a feature to scroll by tilting the device (so you don’t have to swipe all the time). I haven’t read much of the book I got yet, but I think it was pretty good if I remember correctly.

Also, does iBooks let you lock orientation like the Kindle app does? Otherwise, it would be a no-go for anyone who wants to read in bed or any other sideways orientation.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:53:56 +0000

I agree about battery life. In fact, I rarely turn on the wireless on my kindle because of the amazing battery life. However, Kirk is comparing the Kindle *app* on the iPad to the iBooks app, rather than comparing the Kindle *device* to the iPad.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:32:27 +0000

I used a Kindle on a two week trip to Europe. No service for downloading (my Kindle uses Sprint) so I turned off the radio. The battery lasted through the trip without recharging.

I am happy with the battery on my iPad but it isn’t going to last two weeks.

The Kindle is smaller and lighter. I know you have visual limitations, but I prefer the Kindle for reading because that’s all it does and it offers no distractions.