What Are the Different E-Book Devices and How Do They Differ?

Ever since its introduction, the e-book has become a viable and increasingly common way for reading books. Many people nowadays have either switched entirely to reading digital books, or reading them alongside print ones. For these readers today there are plentiful of choices out there for both e-reading devices and tablets. All with either very different or minor variations and features.

What are the different devices? And how do they differ?

E-readers

E-reader Photo credit: James Tarbotton on Unsplash

E-book devices, also known as e-readers, provide a comfortable way for people to read digital books. They are specially designed to optimize the digital reading experience, and have longer battery life, better readability and also electronic paper.

The first ever e-reader devices were launched in 2007 by Amazon and Sony (Maxim, 2012). The Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader were the first of their kind to provide specialized devices for digital reading. Since then, many other devices have also joined the e-reader market. Some of the key players are Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (Koslowski, 2015). All of these offer several e-reading devices or tablets, that have various different features and designs.

Tablets

iPad Photo credit: Picjumbo.com from Pexels

Alongside e-readers, there are also tablets. As a multimedia device, tablets offer the same functions as laptops (Lirtuel, n.d.) You can check your emails, listen to music, and yes, also read books. On these devices you read e-books through the different devices’ apps, such as Apple Books, Kindle, and Nook (Falcone, 2012).

Versions of tablets have existed since the previous century, but it wasn’t until the launch of the iPad in 2010 by Apple, that the market set off. After that, other companies have also produced their own versions, with Android and Kindle Fire being popular ones (Saltzman, 2020).

Comparing the two

Which one offers a superior reading experience? It all comes down to certain factors of size, weight, screen type, functions, flexibility and price (Falcone, 2012). You will have to decide which of these are most important.

Both of the two differ in weight and size. E-readers are generally lighter and smaller than tablets. Their dimensions measure up to about 6 inches (Lirtuel, n.d.). That way they are more portable and comfortable to hold. However, if you prefer a bigger screen, tablets would be the preferred choice. Although they weigh around 400g more than e-readers, they also have bigger dimensions ranging from 7 to 10 inches (Lirtuel, n.d.).

As for price, tablets are generally way more expensive than e-readers. For tablets, the price usually lies somewhere between 80 € to 800 €, whilst e-readers range from 60 € to 250 € (Lirtuel, n.d.) Thus, if it is affordability you are looking for, e-readers are your best bet.

They also differ in screen types and display. Here, e-readers are way better suited for reading than tablets, as they are both waterproof and suited for reading in sunlight. Therefore, tablets are better for indoors reading, and e-readers for both indoors and outdoors.

In terms of functions, you have more flexibility with tablets than with e-readers. This is all thanks to apps. By storing the e-books on tablet apps; you get ‘cross-platform support’ (Falcone, 2012). This is useful if you want to access your books on any other device that you might have – tablet, PC or your phone. In addition, with tablets you can do more than just read. As a multimedia device, you can browse the web, play games, watch Netflix, and so on. E-reading devices have a singular purpose, and that is for reading books.

In considering which device to choose from, you must know what it is that you are looking for and which factors you redeem most important.

References:

Falcone, J. (2012) ‘Kindle Vs. Nook Vs. iPad: Which E-Book Reader Should You Buy?’ [online] CNET. Available at: https://www.cnet.com/news/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/ [Accessed 22 March 2020].

Kozlowski, M. (2015) ‘The State Of The E-Reader Industry In 2015’ [online] Good e-Reader. Available at: https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/the-state-of-e-reader-industry-in-2015 [Accessed 22 March 2020].

Lirtuel.be. (n.d.) ‘Introduction To Ebooks And E-Reading Devices - Lirtuel’ [online] Available at: http://www.lirtuel.be/help/introduction?l=en [Accessed 22 March 2020].

Maxim, A. and Maxim, A. (2012) ‘The Role of e-books in Reshaping the Publishing Industry.’ Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 62, p. 1046-1050.

Saltzman, M. (2020) ‘Pros And Cons Of Tablets Vs. E-Book Readers’ [online] AARP. Available at: https://www.aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology/info-2020/tablet-vs-e-reader.html [Accessed 22 March 2020].