The iPad vs. The Kindle: My Favorite Reading Tech
What's the best reading device for you? I don't really know, but here's something that might help you.
Introduction
Recently, I watched this video by Ali Abdaal on the best tech for reading. This got me thinking - what's the best reading tech for me? Over the past school year, I've used my iPhone, my iPad, my Kindle, audiobooks, and book books. Today, let's focus on the two that I used the most: my iPad and my Kindle.
Fiction
For fiction, the choice is easy: I would pick my Kindle any day. When I don't need to take many notes, the Kindle is far more convenient to read with. The iPad is a bit more inconvenient to use when reading for leisure, due to its size.
Quick note: I have a 12.9" iPad, which makes my experience different from those who have the smaller iPad Pro or any of the other iPads.
Nonfiction
For nonfiction books, it's trickier to make a decision. Depending on your needs, different devices will be perfect for different types of books. I'll use four sub-categories today to try to answer as many scenarios as possible: leisure nonfiction, school textbooks, books with general ideas, and books with specific points.
Leisure Nonfiction
This sub-category includes nonfiction books that people read for fun, such as memoirs, autobiographies, etc. My answer to this section is the same as my answer to reading fiction books: the Kindle will almost always be better than the iPad because it is far more convenient and you probably won't take too many notes on this type of book.
School Textbooks
This sub-category is the complete opposite of the previous sub-categories I talked about. While those types of books are used when reading for fun, school textbooks are read to learn. Thus, note-taking is far more important for these types of books, making the iPad the best device for reading textbooks.
If you have an app like GoodNotes, it gets even better: you can annotate your textbook outside of just highlighting important ideas.
For textbooks, the answer is clear: the iPad wins.
Books with General Ideas
Sorry for the name of this sub-category - I couldn't think of a better one. By general ideas, I mean a book that emphasizes a couple main ideas and describes techniques for these ideas.
For example, this would include books like The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and Deep Work by Cal Newport. In Deep Work, for example, Cal Newport emphasizes the core idea of deep work throughout the book while providing techniques on how people can incorporate deep work into their own lives.
For these books, the Kindle is usually better. While note-taking on a Kindle isn't as good as note-taking on an iPad, these books usually don't need too much note-taking - simple highlighting should be more than enough.
Books with Specific Points
Again, I apologize for the name of this sub-category.
This sub-category includes books like The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli and Being Logical by D. Q. McInerny. In these books, there are many points emphasized - too many to effectively keep track of on a Kindle. For instance, Dobelli's book provides 99 examples of cognitive errors, which can be hard to take notes on with a Kindle.
Thus, the iPad's superior note-taking makes it the better device for these types of books.
The real issue comes with books that are in between the two previously discussed categories. One book that fits this in-between section that comes to mind is Atomic Habits by James Clear. While the book does emphasize a few main ideas, it also provides many in-depth techniques.
In this case, it's tricky to choose one device. Personally, I heard great things about Atomic Habits, so I felt that the extra time needed to set up my iPad for reading and Notion for note-taking would be worth it.
For similar books, it comes down to a case-by-case basis based on how you feel.
Conclusion
I think the iPad vs. Kindle debate isn't really about which device is better for reading. Rather, it's mainly for people who have an iPad to decide if they want a Kindle.
If that's the case for you, I would tell you to look at what types of books you read and decide based on that. Here's a simple question to decide: Do you read books to relax, have fun, or do anything outside of work or school? If yes, a Kindle would be good for you. If you only need a reading device for textbooks, your iPad is perfect.
Thanks for reading!
Adi