I love reading on my iPad, I love it’s full-colour screen, I love that I can read magazines which look like magazines on it, and I love that I can access blogs without paying a subscription for them.
As a very techy person who loves his gadgets, I also use my iPad for a myriad of other purposes but if I was buying someone their first ebook reader I would buy them a Kindle, and here’s why:
DRM – though the Kindle (like iBooks) has a closed Digital Rights Management system, it (also like iBooks) is invisible to most users. There’s none of the messing about that Abode DRM’d books involve and which will scare off less tech-minded souls
Price – At £89 for the latest model, Kindles are cheap enough that most people will feel comfortable taking them out and about to use them on their daily journey
- Apps – the availability of Kindle apps for phones and tablets means anyone receiving a Kindle this Christmas can still access their books if next year they buy themselves an iPad, Playbook or Android tablet
Reliability – the Kindle is backed by a retailer which isn’t going to disappear and who users can be certain will always be there should they need help
Buying gifts isn’t about what you want, it’s about what works best for the recipient and in most cases that’ll be the commonly used, seen every day Kindle.