Since when does the LJ web interface have an embed media icon?
For the past couple of months I've been mentally flirting with the tablet/eReader debate, and now it's coming to a head.
Mid-July I came very very close to buying an iPad for some retail therapy. When I announced I really wanted an iPad for the Kindle and iBook apps, libberroo countered with a "buy a Kindle, then." The past week or so I've more seriously considered an eReader (probably because I just wiped out my tax refund to pay my tuition), and now I'm completely embroiled in comparisons between tablet computers and eReaders.
One of the drawbacks for the iPad and other tablets is difficulty reading in direct sunlight because of the glare, which eink purports to sidestep. And as cool as I think the eink is, tonight I realized the glare-debate is pretty moot for me: I'm rarely in direct sunlight. Seriously. If I am in direct sunlight? Chances are I'm moving towards getting out of the sun, much less plopping myself down to get some reading time in. I won't even sit outside at restaurants during mealtimes. I hate the outdoors. I hate bugs. I don't like the wind blowing my papers and things all over the place. Laying on a blanket in a park like I'm in a J.Crew catalog? Um... give me power outlets and air conditioning, please. So, as beneficial as the readers are over tablets in the being-able-to-read-outside regard, making a decision based on that characteristic is a little ridiculous in bzoppa's life.
On the other hand, what do I really really need a tablet computer for? I know some people need every derivation of every gadget, but I already have an iPhone and a netbook. What advantage does the tablet really give me? The big push for the iPad was the ability to read the ebooks based on access to different apps, but the more I research, the more I find that's not a big issue. The Kindle and the Nook can both read PDFs and eBooks and other formats. They can't port Barnes and Noble books to the Kindle or vice versa, but I really only want a reader to download books from the library or read the PDF of an article for class. In this respect, any eReader could suffice, and for a quarter of the price of an iPad. (I missed the HP Touchpad fire sale, and I'm not going to add another OS with the Samsung Android-base so that direction isn't something I'm seriously considering, not for the same price of an iOS device that's easily integrated with my iPhone.)
I figure the iPad is much like the iPhone: you don't really need it, but once you get it you find all kinds of uses. I'm completely dependent on my iPhone. When I got my iPhone snatched out of my hand last November? Half an hour later I was at the AT&T store buying a new one, and at full price, I didn't care. I had the money and I wasn't going without an iPhone if I didn't need to. I'm addicted, I'm dependent, and I'm not ashamed.
Then there's the whole Nook Color at half the price of an iPad. A little bit of both the eReader and the tablet-but with the drawback of a battery life as a fraction of the eReaders. At that point, I might as well fork out the money for the iPad.
Another consideration is the Wifi-only or Wifi-3G capability. With the wifi only I can't download books on the run or without access to a hot spot. But, like being in direct sunlight, I can't think of a time other than transitional when I don't have access to a wifi signal. I'm at home, I'm at work, I'm on campus, or I'm in an sbux. The few times I'm not, will I really feel a desperate need to download a book that I can wait ten minutes for? I can happily download news feeds to the eReader at home before I head out for the day. Again, my existence as an urbanite makes paying a monthly subscription as well as a hefty expenditure at purchase doesn't seem quite worth it. If I need immediate 3G access, I have my iPhone.
Finally, what's killing me is the early-September date. The new Kindle is coming out shortly, as is the iPad3 (and the iPhone5, for that matter). There's no use in buying one of the current devices at full price when its life is far shorter than waiting just a few weeks for the next generation. Then there's the whole holiday season followed by price drops in January and February. I recently read that if you don't need a tablet (or, as I see it, an eReader) immediately to replace a lost/broken device or to function, again just hold out until everything is on the market.
All in all, a rather stressful conversation is raging through my head. I'm thinking of making a spreadsheet with all of the options to see it more clearly, as I've only been reading reviews on the iPhone for the past couple of hours.
I also understand that this is one of my patterns: stress out about dropping a few hundred dollars on a new electronic toy, or sit down and write whatever paper I'm procrastinating on. Right now, it's the incomplete paper that I'm determined to have finished on Labor Day.
Mid-July I came very very close to buying an iPad for some retail therapy. When I announced I really wanted an iPad for the Kindle and iBook apps, libberroo countered with a "buy a Kindle, then." The past week or so I've more seriously considered an eReader (probably because I just wiped out my tax refund to pay my tuition), and now I'm completely embroiled in comparisons between tablet computers and eReaders.
One of the drawbacks for the iPad and other tablets is difficulty reading in direct sunlight because of the glare, which eink purports to sidestep. And as cool as I think the eink is, tonight I realized the glare-debate is pretty moot for me: I'm rarely in direct sunlight. Seriously. If I am in direct sunlight? Chances are I'm moving towards getting out of the sun, much less plopping myself down to get some reading time in. I won't even sit outside at restaurants during mealtimes. I hate the outdoors. I hate bugs. I don't like the wind blowing my papers and things all over the place. Laying on a blanket in a park like I'm in a J.Crew catalog? Um... give me power outlets and air conditioning, please. So, as beneficial as the readers are over tablets in the being-able-to-read-outside regard, making a decision based on that characteristic is a little ridiculous in bzoppa's life.
On the other hand, what do I really really need a tablet computer for? I know some people need every derivation of every gadget, but I already have an iPhone and a netbook. What advantage does the tablet really give me? The big push for the iPad was the ability to read the ebooks based on access to different apps, but the more I research, the more I find that's not a big issue. The Kindle and the Nook can both read PDFs and eBooks and other formats. They can't port Barnes and Noble books to the Kindle or vice versa, but I really only want a reader to download books from the library or read the PDF of an article for class. In this respect, any eReader could suffice, and for a quarter of the price of an iPad. (I missed the HP Touchpad fire sale, and I'm not going to add another OS with the Samsung Android-base so that direction isn't something I'm seriously considering, not for the same price of an iOS device that's easily integrated with my iPhone.)
I figure the iPad is much like the iPhone: you don't really need it, but once you get it you find all kinds of uses. I'm completely dependent on my iPhone. When I got my iPhone snatched out of my hand last November? Half an hour later I was at the AT&T store buying a new one, and at full price, I didn't care. I had the money and I wasn't going without an iPhone if I didn't need to. I'm addicted, I'm dependent, and I'm not ashamed.
Then there's the whole Nook Color at half the price of an iPad. A little bit of both the eReader and the tablet-but with the drawback of a battery life as a fraction of the eReaders. At that point, I might as well fork out the money for the iPad.
Another consideration is the Wifi-only or Wifi-3G capability. With the wifi only I can't download books on the run or without access to a hot spot. But, like being in direct sunlight, I can't think of a time other than transitional when I don't have access to a wifi signal. I'm at home, I'm at work, I'm on campus, or I'm in an sbux. The few times I'm not, will I really feel a desperate need to download a book that I can wait ten minutes for? I can happily download news feeds to the eReader at home before I head out for the day. Again, my existence as an urbanite makes paying a monthly subscription as well as a hefty expenditure at purchase doesn't seem quite worth it. If I need immediate 3G access, I have my iPhone.
Finally, what's killing me is the early-September date. The new Kindle is coming out shortly, as is the iPad3 (and the iPhone5, for that matter). There's no use in buying one of the current devices at full price when its life is far shorter than waiting just a few weeks for the next generation. Then there's the whole holiday season followed by price drops in January and February. I recently read that if you don't need a tablet (or, as I see it, an eReader) immediately to replace a lost/broken device or to function, again just hold out until everything is on the market.
All in all, a rather stressful conversation is raging through my head. I'm thinking of making a spreadsheet with all of the options to see it more clearly, as I've only been reading reviews on the iPhone for the past couple of hours.
I also understand that this is one of my patterns: stress out about dropping a few hundred dollars on a new electronic toy, or sit down and write whatever paper I'm procrastinating on. Right now, it's the incomplete paper that I'm determined to have finished on Labor Day.