The “totally cool” Amazon Kindle Paperwhite seems to be having its day in the sun. A new ad from Amazon points out just how magnificent e-ink screens are in the sun, all while taking potshots at the iPads weight and screen along the way.
The reactions are cherry picked, and the “real life people” set up in perfect conditions that favor the Paperwhite.
There’s no denying that you can’t read an iPad in the noon day sun on a clear, summer day. Everyone knows this already.
Some quick stats, comparing oranges to oranges to the best of our abilities, using an iPad similar in stature:
Weight: The Paperwhite weighs 7.3 ounces, and the iPad mini 10.88 ounces.
Dimensions: The Paperwhite is 169mm x 117mm x 9.1mm, but the iPad mini 200mm x 134.7mm x 7.2 mm. The iPad mini is actually thinner than the Paperwhite.
Battery life: Paperwhite 8 weeks; iPad mini 10 hours. Obviously the Paperwhite battery laps the field here, but that’s to be expected for an e-ink device that doesn’t do very much but let you read books.
If you want to do nothing but read, get a Paperwhite, or something similar. If you want to do more than read books get a tablet. That’s all that Amazon should be advertising, because that’s as basic a differentiator as you can get in this argument.
I’m not really sure why they insist on comparing two different classes of device. It makes no sense. It’s like comparing a Vespa to a Harley. Makes no sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJ4LNZrIkM
