LeanneBennett.com

I've written before about my iPhone and my iPad and how much I love both. I know some people will think that makes me a geek, but to me it's about how much both things give me. Not just for themselves, but for the part they play, not only in my entertainment but also in making my life better overall.

One way in which they do both is with the book reading apps iBooks and Kindle. Of course they allow me to read, which is the point, but they also give me a nudge on increasing my vocabulary.

I don't know about you, but I could easily count (actually on zero hands!) the number of times I've stopped reading a paperback book to pick up a dictionary. Now this hasn't been all bad because I've become quite good at figuring out the meanings of words from context. However there are definitely times I can't pick up the meaning by just reading the word in a sentence.

Both iBooks and Kindle have a built-in dictionary that makes it so easy to look up words (just by touching the word on the page) without even losing my place. So why wouldn't I?! I now find myself looking up many words (sometimes just to see if I'm right!) all the time. Plus, in addition to the definitions of words, I can easily get the pronunciation as well, which I clearly can't pick up from context. And when iBooks/Kindle don't know the word, they give me the option to search Google or Wikipedia for the term instead.

I also love the PDF function in iBooks. When I get a PDF document in email, or if I save one from the Internet, I have the option to open it in iBooks. Not only does this let me view my PDFs on the go, it saves a copy to my personal iBooks Library so I always have it with me. I've used this for everything from a manual for my printer to my daughter's school lunch menu. It's really handy!

Years ago, I was such a die-hard paperback fan and a staunch believer that an e-reader would never be something I'd want (much less come to love) that I now hardly recognise myself in this area. It's easy to talk about the feel of paper and the sound a book makes, but my reality is that everything I gain -- total mobility, a complete library that I can go back and read again whenever I want, ease of purchasing books, a record of all the books I've purchased, a place to store and access all of my PDFs -- so far outweighs any touch or sound I might have once been excited about.

I know there are people who will always want paper, and I'm fine with that. But I think there are also a great number of people who want paper now but, like the me of years ago, just haven't yet tried an e-reader. They’re definitely not going to bring about world peace or solve the economic crisis, but IBooks/Kindle have made reading an easy joy for me.  Maybe, if you haven't yet tried it, they could do so, for you too.

For some reason, I’ve been involved in several iPad vs Kindle conversations lately. It seems a number of my friends are considering purchases, either for themselves or their children, and they’re looking for recommendations.

 As for technology, I tend to straddle two worlds. As you may know, I’ve done a number of posts about my happy entrance into the world of Apple, and I now own both an iPhone 4S and an Ipad 1. We also have a number of other Apple products in our family. However, I work in tech, and almost everything I work with is Windows based. So I can’t be entirely Apple, because there are things related to work that I need to do/test from home. So I am a technological hybrid, for all intents and purposes.

When it comes to reading, I almost never pick up a book any longer. As I’ve said previously I am a true iConvert when it comes to books. It took a long time for me to want to read on an e-reader, but once I made the leap I’ve never looked back.

As far as iPad vs Kindle goes, I must admit, I started first with iPad. I bought my iPad because I wanted one, and then I discovered the Kindle app (and the iBooks app as well) afterwards. The Kindle app does basically what a Kindle e-reader does, but on your iPad. And oh, how wonderfully! With my iPad Kindle app, I can download books directly from Amazon, just as a Kindle e-reader can do. I can adjust the font size, brightness, make notes – the normal things Kindle can do. But, unlike the Kindle, reading is smooth! Touching either margin moves the pages that direction – right for forward, left for back. Holding the iPad upright gives a long page, while holding it landscape lets you have two pages open at a time. And touching the top right corner sets your bookmark. So easy! And being touchscreen, it just makes the whole process easy and intuitive.

Yes, a Kindle e-reader can adjust font size and brightness, make notes, set bookmarks, and you can even get a touch screen reader now if you’re willing to pay a bit more. But one thing I could not get past was the page changes. Between every page, when you move from one page to the next, the entire screen goes completely black before the next page appears. Yes, I know all about the ink and how it redraws the screen. But that knowledge didn’t improve the experience for me. Would it have bothered me if I’d seen and held a Kindle first? Yeah, I think so, because I looked at videos online before I bought my iPad and I noticed straightaway.

After my husband and I both had iPads, we even considered getting a Kindle just because of price and how light they are to carry around. We went into the store, touched, held and used one, but walked out without it. That screen blacking thing was just too distracting for both of us, and the smoothness and ‘feel’ of the iPad just trumped the Kindle hands-down from our experiences.

So I’m on record as totally iPad. Even having seen and used a new Kindle Fire, thanks to a work colleague, I still don’t want one. I love my iPad, and reading on it is a pleasure. And hey, if I get bored of reading or finish my book, I can use any of the myriad apps I have on my iPad as well. J