From the NYT,

People who read e-books on tablets like the iPad are realizing that while a book in print or on a black-and-white Kindle is straightforward and immersive, a tablet offers a menu of distractions that can fragment the reading experience, or stop it in its tracks.

E-mail lurks tantalizingly within reach. Looking up a tricky word or unknown fact in the book is easily accomplished through a quick Google search. And if a book starts to drag, giving up on it to stream a movie over Netflix or scroll through your Twitter feed is only a few taps away…

“The tablet is like a temptress,” said James McQuivey, the Forrester Research analyst…. “It’s constantly saying, ‘You could be on YouTube now.’ Or it’s sending constant alerts that pop up, saying you just got an e-mail. Reading itself is trying to compete.”

My (quite old) Kindle loses battery power rapidly if you attempt to use its wireless capabilities and its browser lacks the capability to access webmail or surf the web comfortably. So, you have only one option – use it to read. Fewer options are better is you lack self control. Far sighted readers who easily fall prey to Twemptation should stick with the Kindle over the iPad.

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