Hacker News Reader

Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

The iPad is vastly better for reading and highlighting (with Pencil) class materials.

Reading whole books on a laptop tends to produce a ton of neck strain.

An eink display is vastly better for reading though. I only use the iPad for reading PDFs because Kindles are too small for that.

That's why I'm rocking a Scribe. Do not really care much about note taking but my poor eyesight welcomes the bigger font size.

Agreed, I really prefer using my reMarkable 2. I see it less like an iPad and more like a bottomless pit of scratch paper and printouts that I can carry more conveniently than individual dead tree products. This is probably furthered by my not using their cloud subscription and using a USB cable or SSH to transfer files instead.

It's better for reading epubs/mobis.

iPads are better when you need to be constantly highlighting and making notes, like for school. And for PDF's you need to be panning and zooming.

Why would reading on a laptop produce neck strain? Just sit comfortably.

The laptop is better in many situations as the screen stands on its own.

When reading in bed I use a stand to hold my Kindle at the best position. I would need a much heavier stand to be able to do that with my iPad.

The way people use laptops, the screens are generally much lower than they should be for good ergonomics.

iPads/Kindles are better because they're smaller and lighter so you can position them with far greater flexibility.

People still hold the ipad at the exact same height against their lap. You mean to tell me they hold it like arm outstretched in front of them? So easy to position my laptop. Edge of couch with screen tilted up, done. On lap of course, done. On table, done. Resting on my back, with the laptop on my chest, done. These things weigh only like 2lbs now. It isn't like 2010 when the ipad came out and the macbook was a good 5-6 awkward lbs and smoking hot.

I don't know what to tell you. I change positions and move my iPad around a lot in ways that I can't do with my Macbook. Whether holding it up while in a recliner or airplane seat, resting it on my belly while in bed or on a couch... also it's in portrait mode which makes a huge difference too, so the top of the screen is higher.

It's smaller, it's lighter, it's by definition just way more flexible to use ergonomically. You can position it in lots of ways you can't position a larger 13" horizontal laptop.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com