Although I'm personally not surprised that books aren't that popular on iPad, but I was curious if people would overcome the above deficiencies with the form factor. Early reports seem to indicate not yet.
The idea that the iPad is difficult to read on has been spread mostly by.. surprise surprise... people that haven't actually read on it.
I'm sure some people may not be able to look at the screen for long. They're the same people that can't look at any computer screen for long.
Yes, you can have glare issues on rare occasion. They're usually solved by shifting the iPad slightly.
Most of us stare at screen over 8 hours a day. I can understand if you want to go home and look at something else but honestly, it has yet to bother me.
The reason so few eBooks have been sold is because the selection is weak. The books I want are almost always in the Kindle store and are rarely in iBooks. However I still use my iPad to read those Kindle books.
Additionally, that's 1.5 books a person via iBooks alone, over a 4 week period, that doesn't count the Kindle purchases. That number seems pretty good to me.
I prefer the Kindle DX by a wide margin when reading books.
The iPad is not unusable for reading, but the kindle with a bright reading light is much nicer. The Kindle is superior outdoors.
I can read without my glasses with the Kindle DX, but I always need glasses for the iPad.
The iPad is much better for everything else.
My camera is a lot better than my iPhone as a camera, but the best camera you have is the one you have with you. In the iPad I can carry enough of what I need with me without having to carry multiple devices.
I have not bought any books in the iBook store, as the store is not available in my region yet. But I got books from Baen Books, as well as O'Reilly, in ePUB format.
The attraction to me with the iPad is that I have a choice. An open format reader and a choice of books stores. I did buy a book from Amazon on the iPad Kindle app, but haven't started reading it yet, so time will tell.
You'd still need to bring a phone though, as it can not do voice calls.
I've only bought one book on my iPad (just got the 3g on Friday), but the reason I haven't purchased more is that I'm still reading the first one. Once I finish that, I'll be another, etc... so I wouldn't count the iPad book sales just yet, I'd look at them over a longer time frame.
This is commonly claimed, but I've never seen a cite to any science to back it. All I've been able to find is scientists saying its a myth.
So: Reading on a kindle with a bright light closes down your pupils and makes it easier for your eyes to focus on the words without using the muscles in your eyes for focusing. This is especially important for readers over 40 who are starting to get farsighted.
An iPad has a glossy screen, which limits the contrast. (comparing signal to noise, well the reflection is all noise)
An e-ink screen has very high brightness and contrast, even (epecially) in bright sunlight.
I'm not saying it's impossible to read with the iPad or iPhone or a computer. Just realize it may take more unconscious effort for some people.
I have both an iPad and a Kindle and love both.
I read the entire robots and foundation Asimov novels in it, and also about 20 of the discworld books.
So, for some people it works, YMMV.