Kindle Rekindled Again

I’m not reading books on Kindle anymore, because…Apple!

I said something like that in late 2020 after getting a new-to-me iPhone. I dove headlong into the Apple camp — nice walled-garden that it is — and decided it was natural to simply use Apple Books on iPhone to read eBooks. So my Kindle Paperwhite sat in a drawer for 18 months, untouched. Until last week.

I stumbled upon an article by Jason Snell over at Six Colors where he reviewed the newest Kindle along with some Kobo eReaders. If anyone is “all-in” on Apple stuff, it’d be Jason Snell. Surprisingly, he eReads not on Apple Books or iPad. Instead, he was all about the Kindle. Then he switched…but not to Apple Books; he switched from Kindle to Kobo!

Why would a dedicated Apple fan not use Apple Books to read? The app is built-in, it’s elegant, and it has all the features one might need. Because Apple devices, excellent as they are, lack one key eReading feature:

eInk!

I know, right? The high-yet-low-tech feature is what makes digital books resemble paper books as much as possible. If you read long-form content, even if only casually, an eInk display is best. Apple makes excellent displays, but Retina resolution, Wide P3 Color Gamut, ProMotion, and Fully-Laminated Glass are not enough to top the paper-like quality of eInk text.

Over the last year or two, I focused on playing “long-form” content in the medium of role-playing video games...and neglected reading books. So even though I switched from Kindle to Apple Books on my iPhone and iPad, I didn’t read much at all.

Now I’ve rediscovered both my Kindle and long-form reading at the same time; I’m resuming my fondness for reading good books. That means I’ll pause my gaming sometimes, which is fine.

I just re-read Glenn Reynold’s very short booklet, “The Social Media Upheaval,” on my Kindle. My favorite eReader updated its software — nice — but the simple eInk text is as wonderful as ever.

Now I’m reading a longer book, “Who Let The Blogs Out?” It’s in physical paperback form instead of an eBook — unfortunately — but it’s a great read so far. The point is, I’m back into long slow reading, going deep into a subject or story. It’s a world of difference from scanning hundreds of news headlines or skimming hundreds of Tweets.

Suffice to say, I’m happy and enthusiastic — ecstatic? — about rediscovering the joy of eReading with my Kindle. And there’s more. I have the 3rd gen. version, but the 5th gen. version is available and has the upgrades I’ve wanted. But that’s for another post.

Do you read books on Kindle? And are eBooks book replacements or book enhancements?

(Photo by Pavel Polívka on Unsplash)