Would you buy an E-ink iPad?

[Jackal]

As a previous (just sold) owner of a 1st Gen iPad one of the favorite things about my iPad I loved was reading on it. The iBooks experience is just top notch, the fact that whatever I read on my phone throughout the day was automatically synced up on my ipad when I picked it up. I was really looking forward to pick up a Kindle Paperwhite when it came out but I have been salivating at news of an iPad Mini for months now. The only thing that kept me from pulling the trigger on a Paperwhite was that it wouldn't ship until the 23rd of October which is around the time I expected to hear news about the iPad mini which could make me feel extremely guilty to miss out on a better apple experience for $100-150 more. (No iBooks/epub compatability)

But it got me thinking, if this whole media event later this month is focused solely on iBook and education, do you really need a full ipad experience for a device focused on reading? I mean I can check my email and surf the web on my phone, so the experience on a 7" tab will be marginally better. But reading however on a 6-7" ultra thin ultra light e-ink ebook reader that has ebooks integration and is apple designed and manufactured would be a fantastic thing.

I'm not sure that if Apple introduced an iPad Mini and "one more thing"'d an E-ink 'iReader' that I would actually buy the e-ink reader instead. hypothetically of course

 

[Just_Me_D]

Being that I have both a Nook Simple Touch and a Kindle Touch e-reader, I would not be interested in an Apple e-ink reader simply because it would be from Apple. I won't be investing in any textbooks (at least not for myself) and the reading that I normally do in reference to books are mostly fiction and my current e-readers are more than satisfactory in that regard. Still, I find your post interesting and I, too, would like to read what other may think about it. Take care.

 

[michikade#AC]

I have had an e-ink eReader in the past, and really enjoyed the experience, but personally I rather enjoy reading on a tablet that has all of my other stuff on it too. My textbooks are through CafeScribe, and while the app is pretty dreadful, I've yet to see the textbooks I need in any eBook store other than CafeScribe, so I'm kind of stuck in that aspect.

For me, I'd rather just have two devices (my phone and a multipurpose tablet) so if I'm reading a text book, I can flip to Notepad or Pages or something to take notes, then flip back. Having three devices would begin to be cumbersome - I may as well haul the laptop everywhere and I'd rather not do that if I can avoid it.

That's just my personal thoughts on it. I do see the merit of having a dedicated eReader that was compatible with iBooks, though.

 

[Alli]

An e-ink iPad would be pointless. The iPad offers a multimedia experience (which includes all the brilliant colors) that you can't get from e-ink.

I have an iPad and a Kindle Touch. I love reading on e-ink. Hate reading on my iPad because it's too big and heavy to make it a comfortable experience.

 

[Just_Me_D]

An e-ink iPad would be pointless. The iPad offers a multimedia experience (which includes all the brilliant colors) that you can't get from e-ink.

I have an iPad and a Kindle Touch. I love reading on e-ink. Hate reading on my iPad because it's too big and heavy to make it a comfortable experience.

I said basically the same thing in a past thread. For me, reading on the iPad is nice and all, but not for long periods of time due to its weight and the backlight. I will stick with my e-Ink readers, as well.

 

[Jackal]

I'm hearing a lot of the same thing here, obviously the low weight and ease on the eyes would be a huge benefit to the reading experience. But it would have to be a separate line to the iPad. The name iPad makes people picture the whole media experience, watching netflix, browsing the web, reading magazines. These things could not be done to the same extent on an e-ink display. But for those of us who can do fine with their phone for all the color experience, reading on a dedicated device would be a dream. Obviously theres a market for it if amazon is able to do so well selling kindle e-ink devices

 

[RealNeal]

You can't beat e-ink readers for outdoor/bright light situations. If all you want to do is read, they will fill the bill. I do not see Apple creating that kind of reader, as I think the iPad Mini is their version of a device that fills that market niche.