Do I use my iPad as an eReader?

Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPad etc., there’s already more eReaders on the market than I know about – and my guess is that in 2011 it’s going to explode as the world goes tablet crazy, since tablets are essentially just an advanced eReader.

Take the iPad for example. It does everything the Kindle does, but it adds so much more as well. It does not, however, have the same kind of screen technology which makes the Kindle very pleasing to look at for reading (and impossible to read without light in the room). I’m not going to get into what the iPad does, as 99% of you already know what iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad are capable of, not to mention the ton of iPad accessories like the ones on eReaderSupply, making the iPad even better.

As most people, I had my doubts about the iPad in the beginning. It was just a big iPhone without the phone part, so why would I want one? The keyword here is “big”, because the screen is what makes the experience completely different. There’s no comparison between surfing the web and reading e-mails on a small iPhone screen and a big iPad screen, it’s not the same and the screen size makes a world of difference.

The same goes for eReading stuff. I do, sometimes, read on my iPhone. It’s rare though and only when I don’t have the iPad with me. I’ll use iBooks on the iPad to read PDF’s, be it books, manuals, tutorials etc., there’s no limit – anything PDF. With the Amazon Kindle app I’ll be reading my books, mostly how-to’s but also some fiction and I read on my iPad every single day, though mostly in the evenings before bedtime. It’s just easier to have thousands of pages in that small device instead of having a shelf with books and magazines.

One downside with the iPad as an eReader, is the handling. It does feel a bit heavy and it’s slippery, so I recommend you look at some iPad cases and fine one that suits your needs as it will make handling the iPad much easier and protect the screen, at the same time.

Enjoy your eReader!