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Comment by __david__ | Hacker News Reader

That's interesting. I bought a Kindle for my dad, who is an avid reader (1 or 2 books a week), about 3 or 4 years ago. Last time I had checked he had moved to the Kindle app on an iPad (and not the mini) as his main reading device. He told me he doesn't use his Kindle at all any more.

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Confirm the same - both my parents (avid readers) use iPads with Kindle app or iBooks to read, despite having access to my Kindle3.

From a elderly reader's standpoint, the iPad is like a Kindle DX but a) heavier, b) with color, and c) with tons of other apps. For whatever reason, eyestrain of an LCD doesn't bother them in the least.

I bought a Kindle for my uncle (who has bad eyesight), and he can't use it.

While the books themselves have adjustable font size, menus are way too small for him, and he'd like a much larger screen.

I wouldn't be surprised if he used a 10 inch iPad instead :)

I wonder if it also depends on what kind of reader you are. My Kindle is great for linear reading, but I tend to skip around books absentmindedly, and turning pages on the iPad feels so much better.

That's definitely an exception in my experience. Most long form readers that I know are e-ink all the way.

My dad prefers his full size iPad to the Kindle too. For him the backlit LCD is a feature, and the brightness and contrast on the LCD is better than the kindle display. My eyesight is better, so I prefer the Kindle for reading text.

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