It ’s strange to think that there was a time , back in the sorry long time of the recent 2000s , when personal electronics consumer ' choices were really crude . If you wanted to mail e - mails , browse the connection or watch videos from anywhere , you require a laptop figurer or asmartphone . On the other hand , if download and reading Es - books was your thing , you ’d have to buy a handheld e - reader , like the Sony Reader , preface in 2006 , or the Amazon Kindle , introduced in 2007 [ source : McCarthy , Svensson ] . If you were a Renaissance person who yen to do all of those things at once , well , you had to blast out the bucks to corrupt at least two dissimilar twist .
But these days , blessedly , all those distinctions are blurring . In 2009 , Amazon introduced a Kindle reader for the iPhone . And then , in 2010 , Apple infix theiPad , a revolutionary tablet electronic computer that came with the same easy - to - use operating system as the pop iPhone . The iPad enabled users to browse the WWW , spotter videos , listen to music and run a dizzying array of apps that could do almost anything a big PC could do . Not only that , the iPad ’s high - resolution touchscreen , as big as an old - fashioned paperback , was bright and sharp enough to make indication books and magazine on it a pleasure [ source : Pogue ] . Suddenly , with an iPad – or a tablet from compete producer , like the Samsung Galaxy Tab , featuring Google ’s Android operating system – you only needed one equipment . It appeared those unwieldy e - proofreader with their dim black and white screen door and keypads were designate .
But that doom did n’t last long . In 2011 , on-line publishing and Good Book - selling giant Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire , an e - reader with a touchscreen adequate to of vivid colors and eminent resolution , the cipher power to execute many of a tablet PC ’s routine , and a likewise farseeing bombardment lifetime [ generator : Amazon.com ] . At $ 199 , the gadget was importantly more affordable than the iPad , which starts at $ 499 , and its like . Amazon rival Barnes & Noble quickly fall out with its own likewise versatile , relatively price e - reader , the Nook Tablet [ source : Barnes & Noble ] .
But now , even though you may only demand one machine , the question remain : Which should you buy – a pill or an atomic number 99 - reviewer ? Though the distinctions have confuse , and you could pretty much enter the same content on both , some central differences remain . How should you make the best choice for your fussy pauperism ? Let ’s take a look at each of the devices ' core group lineament .
The Tablet Versus the E-reader
These Clarence Day , tabletsand e - readers are see more and more alike . In fact , to a novitiate , it may be hard to tell them aside ( by from the big difference in price tags ) . But they have some authoritative differences , some of which may affect which gimmick turns out to be best for you :
Now that you do it a little snatch about these equipment ' features , let ’s dig into how you could make the good determination for your penury .
Which is better for you – a tablet or an e-reader?
There ’s no one - size of it - fits - all answer to this question . If you mostly want to learn book , and cost is your main consideration , a $ 199e - readerbeats a $ 499tablet . At the other end of the spectrum , if you ’re not apprehensive about price , and what you really love is download music and apps and keep an eye on video , a lozenge clearly is a better selection . But if you ’re somewhere in the center , here are some other factor to view :