2010 looks like it's going to be the year of the tablet, which also means that it will be a big year for e-books. Sony, HP, and a new startup called Joojoo have all announced either new tablets or a desire to create a new tablet computer. What that means for Kindle fans is that there will be competition in the e-book space. The Apple iPad, first out of the gate this year, threatens to upset Amazon's pricing model, as many publishers will seek to set their own prices above the $9.99 price for new fiction that Amazon has tried to maintain, using Apple's upcoming electronic bookstore as bargaining leverage. Of course, the iPad does not use e-ink, but rather a backlit LED screen. We will have to wait and see how the reading experience compares to e-ink, and I am sure both types of screens will have their adherents. Personally, I have found that for long reading sessions of 2 hours or more, e-ink is more comfortable on the eyes than either the iPhone or a regular computer screen.
For now, the two premier e-readers are Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook. Both are backed by large bookstores and both seem to get the most press and the most public recognition. (This sentence may seem very dated in a year!)
Part I: The Page Itself
Arguably, one of the most important aspects of any e-reader is how well the printed page appears on the screen. The Nook has one advantage here over the Kindle, namely, it has a small selection of different fonts as well as a selection of font sizes. The Kindle is limited to one font, a serif font that is fine for most reading. However, some of the lines can be rather thin and sometimes seem to fade a little in bright sunlight. The nook has 2 - 3 fonts available, depending on the book, and for readers who like sans-serif fonts with thicker lines, there is a Helvetica font which I find easy on the eyes, as well as one or two serif fonts that look more like traditional book fonts. On the other hand, the Nook has fewer selections for font size (there are 4-extra small, small, medium, and large). The Kindle has 6 sizes, and the largest size -- and this is important for the visually challenged -- is about twice as large as the largest font on the Nook. The gray background is a very slight shade lighter on the Nook, but, as the difference is all but impossible to discern, it makes no discernible difference to the reading experience, in my opinion.
This element is a wash. The selection of fonts in the Nook is balanced by the greater choice in font sizes in the Kindle. The picture to the left shows both devices set on their largest font size, with the Nook set on its "Helvetica-Neue" font.
I've been watching the Olympics, and so I'm very much in a winner-loser mode. Score so far for the first heat: Tied.
Stay tuned for the second heat: The user interface (UI).
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2 comments:
My friends are getting these devices like crazy so I have had the opportunity to try them out and I'm still not tempted. I love the idea for long trips though.
Hey Nicole! Thanks for checking in. The Kindle and similar devices are nice for trips and also if you don't have space for a big library. But of course there will always be folks who prefer paper books. I wonder if the publishers are shooting the nascent e-book market in the foot by trying to raise the prices. I myself, technophile that I am, would simply choose to buy a paper book if the price of the electronic edition gets too high. I'm not sure what that price point is, but there is one for sure. There are advantages to permanence, and not needing to plug something in!
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