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iPad outnumbers Kindle

I dunno...maybe they have sold more ipads but how many people are buying ipads for the sole purpose of reading compared to people buying kindles only for reading?

Also kindle has been selling a lot better since the price reduction. I also read that for every 100 hardcopies of books amazon sells, they sell 140 kindle books so I don't get why it would make amazon lose leeway with publishers. I still buy kindle books and I put them on my iPad. And if I want to read outside I can put them on a kindle. (don't have one yet but there is a good chance I will get one when the weather is nicer)

What can I put an iBook on to enjoy it outdoors?

And I have nothing against iBooks getting more books...just apple should make something so I can read my iBooks outside.
 
The Kindle just wasn't sexy. It looked like old technology, and the price was too high. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 3X as many iPads out there by the end of the year.
 
Given the kindle has been selling for several years and has gone through several model releases I'm surprised that sales estimates from that analyst are so low.

Then again Steve Jobs once said he was not interested in releasing an ebook reader because not that many people read that many book anymore. Not sure if he's right but the iPad certainly has much broader appeal than an ebook reader.

Me, i'm one of those scarce readers and owned a kindle - several over the years. The kindle is better reading outdoors or reading text for long periods of time. But the iPad has advantages in poor light or with color content like magazines.

I still do all my text reading through the kindle app. Magazines I do via zino. iBooks I really don't use. Then again I don't buy my music through iTunes either. Don't like apples business model or interface for books or music even though I'm a long time Mac user.

And in general competition is good so I don't really see a downside to this.
 
jimboutilier said:
Given the kindle has been selling for several years and has gone through several model releases I'm surprised that sales estimates from that analyst are so low.

Then again Steve Jobs once said he was not interested in releasing an ebook reader because not that many people read that many book anymore. Not sure if he's right but the iPad certainly has much broader appeal than an ebook reader.

Me, i'm one of those scarce readers and owned a kindle - several over the years. The kindle is better reading outdoors or reading text for long periods of time. But the iPad has advantages in poor light or with color content like magazines.

I still do all my text reading through the kindle app. Magazines I do via zino. iBooks I really don't use. Then again I don't buy my music through iTunes either. Don't like apples business model or interface for books or music even though I'm a long time Mac user.

And in general competition is good so I don't really see a downside to this.
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Competition is definitely good. I can't stand reading on a kindle. I read too fast and am constantly waiting for it catch up.

I do prefer the selection on Amazon obviously. I like the "eye candy" of the iBooks app better than the Kindle app, but once I start reading it really isn't important.
 
Agreed. Kindle is for reading. iPad is multi-functional so it's difficult to compare. Kindle to Nook sales compared is like Apples to Apples pardon the pun.

Speaking of which, we have an iPad in the home but I'm debating over getting a Nook or Kindle for my wife as an eReader. Hahaha. I'm leaning towards the Nook because of the browser and 3G. She can check mail her and there...etc.
 
Now if Amazon could only make the kindle app for ipad stable. Every time I open it I have to re download my books and I have had to re buy two of them. Its ridiculous.
 
Kindle outnumbers iPad

The important part is seeing how many iPads are in the marked and how many Kindles, I can assure you that there are 5 times more kindles and that's why the sell less, because their sales boom was long time ago, the iPad is still a new product, it hasn't been released in most countries. We'll have to wait to see.
 
jimboutilier said:
Given the kindle has been selling for several years and has gone through several model releases I'm surprised that sales estimates from that analyst are so low.

Then again Steve Jobs once said he was not interested in releasing an ebook reader because not that many people read that many book anymore. Not sure if he's right but the iPad certainly has much broader appeal than an ebook reader.

Me, i'm one of those scarce readers and owned a kindle - several over the years. The kindle is better reading outdoors or reading text for long periods of time. But the iPad has advantages in poor light or with color content like magazines.

I still do all my text reading through the kindle app. Magazines I do via zino. iBooks I really don't use. Then again I don't buy my music through iTunes either. Don't like apples business model or interface for books or music even though I'm a long time Mac user.

And in general competition is good so I don't really see a downside to this.
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Wow - that's a sad commentary on society. Nobody reads full length books anymore? I guess we're reduced to reading 160 character Twitters? Is Steve Jobs proud of being part of the dumbing down of America?
 
PerfSeeker said:
Wow - that's a sad commentary on society. Nobody reads full length books anymore? I guess we're reduced to reading 160 character Twitters? Is Steve Jobs proud of being part of the dumbing down of America?
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It's clear that reading comprehension is in decline. As to the first post about Jobs saying people don't read, that was in response to whether the market would embrace a dedicated book reader (and whether Apple would enter that market). It certainly makes little sense to Apple to cater to the Kindle market with a dedicated device. Apple's not in the business of entering a market to sell a few million of something (which is why they refer to Apple TV as a "hobby" - it's not a growth market in its current form). Adding e-reader functionality to the iPad is a no-brainer and allows for cannibalization of the Kindle and other e-readers. A stand-alone iBook device would never make sense.

As to book readership being in decline, that's been a steady trend - not sure why you think Steve Jobs is somehow responsible. It never ceases to amaze me how many people just don't read books.
 
Jaro65 said:
Yep. And that's all it's good at. That's why I sold my Kindles.
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Obviously you have short attention span, as e-Readers are fantastic for just sitting down and reading novels without the eye strain. My B&N Nook rocks doing just that and it's MUCH lighter then the iPad.
 
PerfSeeker said:
Wow - that's a sad commentary on society. Nobody reads full length books anymore? I guess we're reduced to reading 160 character Twitters? Is Steve Jobs proud of being part of the dumbing down of America?
Click to expand...

I don't think that he is proud in any way, nor is he at all responsible for the decline in reading. Jobs is speaking strictly from a business standpoint. It would have been stupid to enter into the strictly ebook market, because Kindle and Nook already own it. The iPad has many more functions, and although it is not as strong of a "reader," it is meant for a different audience. I was never much of a casual reader (just graduated college so the thought of reading made me want to kill myself). However, I have read 4 books on my iPad since launch day of the 3G, and in the middle of a 5th. I know that does not sound like a lot, but I never really read by choice before I got the iPad. The convenience of having iBooks available with everything else makes it much easier to open a book.

Also, I do not have the link (go easy on me) but I did see an interview with Jobs (I believe the link was on here right after the iPad launch) where Jobs said that he was worried that the world was falling into reliance on Internet and blog reading. He said that he wanted to change that with iPad, making news paper and magazines more updated, accessable, and popular for the general public and the tech-savvy generations.
 
PerfSeeker said:
Wow - that's a sad commentary on society. Nobody reads full length books anymore? I guess we're reduced to reading 160 character Twitters? Is Steve Jobs proud of being part of the dumbing down of America?
Click to expand...

Actually, we'll be down to 140 characters :)

It's not Steve Jobs' fault.. Many people can't find the time to read it, and maybe some people just can't be bothered. Heck, the world is getting lazier by the minute, I still find the time to read my 80-page magazine twice a month, I know it's not a book, but it's still content.
 
TheBritishBloke said:
Actually, we'll be down to 140 characters :)

It's not Steve Jobs' fault.. Many people can't find the time to read it, and maybe some people just can't be bothered. Heck, the world is getting lazier by the minute, I still find the time to read my 80-page magazine twice a month, I know it's not a book, but it's still content.
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The way things are going, we'll all be reduced to the 1984 reality where any knowledge one obtains is strictly in bite-sized packets distributed by the state. Does anyone even read history books, unless forced to in college?
 
PerfSeeker said:
Obviously you have short attention span, as e-Readers are fantastic for just sitting down and reading novels without the eye strain. My B&N Nook rocks doing just that and it's MUCH lighter then the iPad.
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And you're speaking as an iPad owner? I purchased both generations of Kindle as they were released and have used them extensively, on my commute, traveling domestically and on extended vacations. They're great. But they suck in low light, which necessitated carrying an LED clip light with me pretty much everywhere. You want to talk eye strain? Try reading for an extended period with an LED clip light or trying to get an airline spot at just the right angle to get full page coverage. Thank god the Kindle's light because I often found myself angling it awkwardly to get full illumination. The Kindle absolutely kills outdoors.

However, I now do all of my reading on the iPad - no "eye strain" to speak of. And the books that I purchased for my Kindle with photo content looked like crap on the Kindle - I can finally see them on the iPad. Kindle 2 is still getting packed for my next vacation but it won't get much use.
 
poloponies said:
And you're speaking as an iPad owner? I purchased both generations of Kindle as they were released and have used them extensively, on my commute, traveling domestically and on extended vacations. They're great. But they suck in low light, which necessitated carrying an LED clip light with me pretty much everywhere. You want to talk eye strain? Try reading for an extended period with an LED clip light or trying to get an airline spot at just the right angle to get full page coverage. Thank god the Kindle's light because I often found myself angling it awkwardly to get full illumination. The Kindle absolutely kills outdoors.

However, I now do all of my reading on the iPad - no "eye strain" to speak of. And the books that I purchased for my Kindle with photo content looked like crap on the Kindle - I can finally see them on the iPad. Kindle 2 is still getting packed for my next vacation but it won't get much use.
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I've tried out the iPad and it's good for video and browsing not reading. It's just too heavy compared to the Nook. Also most novels do not have photos, so another non-issue and FUD. Fact is there will always be a serious e-Ink eReader market as long as there remains serious readers.
 
PerfSeeker said:
I've tried out the iPad and it's good for video and browsing not reading. It's just too heavy compared to the Nook. Also most novels do not have photos, so another non-issue and FUD. Fact is there will always be a serious e-Ink eReader market as long as there remains serious readers.
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Sorry, "I've tried" is not really authoritative. I appreciate your opinion but it doesn't portray an accurate picture of the iPad reading experience. "Heavy" is a non-issue. I have countless hardcovers that I've read through the years that I would consider heavy, but I, and others somehow managed to read them. I simply can't think of any situation where I've held my Kindle freely in the air while reading. It's either angled on an airline tray, sitting atop my laptop bag while riding the train or in my lap while sitting or reclining. I've never though "my, this is so lightweight I'll just hold it out in front of me or over my head." That's just not how I read. I understand that you may be different, but not once in 3 months of reading (easily a book a week, sometimes 2 - let's say 1.33 X 12 = 16 books) has the iPad's weight ever been an issue. And the backlighting freakin' rocks in bed or on a plane.

One more thing, while "most novels don't have photos" the novel is just one segment of the book market. I read lots of non-fiction and there's plenty of photo (and map) content there. Even in a novel like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" there's both a map and a family tree. They don't look very good on the Kindle. I'm much happier getting 100% of my reading experience over the 90-95% I had before.

There's clearly room in the world for both types of devices, but you really can't dismiss the iPad's effectiveness in the e-reader category.
 
poloponies said:
Sorry, "I've tried" is not really authoritative. I appreciate your opinion but it doesn't portray an accurate picture of the iPad reading experience. "Heavy" is a non-issue. I have countless hardcovers that I've read through the years that I would consider heavy, but I, and others somehow managed to read them. I simply can't think of any situation where I've held my Kindle freely in the air while reading. It's either angled on an airline tray, sitting atop my laptop bag while riding the train or in my lap while sitting or reclining. I've never though "my, this is so lightweight I'll just hold it out in front of me or over my head." That's just not how I read. I understand that you may be different, but not once in 3 months of reading (easily a book a week, sometimes 2 - let's say 1.33 X 12 = 16 books) has the iPad's weight ever been an issue. And the backlighting freakin' rocks in bed or on a plane.

One more thing, while "most novels don't have photos" the novel is just one segment of the book market. I read lots of non-fiction and there's plenty of photo (and map) content there. Even in a novel like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" there's both a map and a family tree. They don't look very good on the Kindle. I'm much happier getting 100% of my reading experience over the 90-95% I had before.

There's clearly room in the world for both types of devices, but you really can't dismiss the iPad's effectiveness in the e-reader category.
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You've not tried the Nook, so how are you qualified to talk about MY experience? It's fantastic. i can easily hold it one hand if I'm not too fatigued.
 
PerfSeeker said:
You've not tried the Nook, so how are you qualified to talk about MY experience? It's fantastic. i can easily hold it one hand if I'm not too fatigued.
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Okay, you got me. I only have 2+ years experience with the Kindle. I'm a know-nothing.

(FYI, I'm dissing neither the Kindle nor the Nook, I'm just letting you and others know that iPad reading is every bit as good, if not better.)
 
poloponies said:
Okay, you got me. I only have 2+ years experience with the Kindle. I'm a know-nothing.

(FYI, I'm dissing neither the Kindle nor the Nook, I'm just letting you and others know that iPad reading is every bit as good, if not better.)
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Your experience with the Kindle has nothing to do with the Nook. 2 different devices.
 
PerfSeeker said:
I've tried out the iPad and it's good for video and browsing not reading. It's just too heavy compared to the Nook. Also most novels do not have photos, so another non-issue and FUD. Fact is there will always be a serious e-Ink eReader market as long as there remains serious readers.
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I think the point isn't that e-Ink readers are dead. I doubt most people would think that. However, I think multi-function devices with low-end prices in the same range as the high-end dedicated eReaders obviously are outperforming the eReaders quite easily, which is the point of the article originally linked.

Obviously, you prefer e-Ink. Personally, I (and apparently many others) do not. You are fine with a dedicated reading device. For me (and apparently many others), I'd never pay that much for something that limited in functionality. I'm a serious reader, too, and have no trouble with eye strain on the iPad (as many others have said as well).

So there's room for both our opinions, and if nothing else, the e-Ink dedicated readers will probably be pushed to lower prices and/or expand functionality. So, if anything, as long as there's enough people like you who think Kindles/Nooks/etc. are superior for reading to keep the e-Ink market viable, I can see iPads and other tablets benefiting your experience indirectly.
 
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