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Comment by HackinOut | Hacker News Reader

The well accepted definition of an e-reader is "a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading" (from wikipedia) and most (all?) of those devices are reflective as opposed to LCDs which are backlit.

"They spent five days reading from a paperback and five days from an iPad.". If only iPads were used, I don't believe the word e-reader is appropriate.

If you use an e-ink display without a built-in light, there are no reason this would be any different then using a book (as mentioned in the article but it's not only about "the original kindle"). Also there were tons of studies about the effect of light on sleep and especially blue light emitted by LCDs, most e-reader makers use a warmer light if I'm not mistaken.

EDIT: elaborating

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There are a lot of e-book reader with a built-in backlight that can be turned on and off, like the Kindle Paperwhite.

But I agree that using iPads then calling that "a backlit e-reader" is pretty stupid. That's a tablet.

> There are a lot of e-book reader with a built-in backlight that can be turned on and off, like the Kindle Paperwhite.

"Paperwhite guides light toward the surface of the display with its built-in front light—unlike back-lit tablets that shine in your eyes" [1]

I have a Kindle Paperwhite, and was surprised to read this article, because I have no trouble sleeping. Apparently the way the light works is the reason for this :)

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Paperwhite-Ereader/dp/B00AWH595...

Thanks for the reference. I am not sure that backlights are the problem though. Just imagine shining a light behind the page of a book (although it's hardly comparable to the level of transparency of Liquid crystals). I would rather bet on the color of the light (warm vs cold). Maybe it's all in my head but when it's sleep time, I hate cold bulbs (and LCDs) while I am not bothered by warm light like a candle or a warm bulb.

Furthermore, it seems to me that with the Paper White's light guided "on the surface of the display", the light shines as much in towards your eyes as it does towards the screen...

Yes but they are totally usable with ambient light with the built-in light turned off as opposed to non-reflective LCDs. As a side-note, if I remember correctly, the built-in light in the Paperwhite is not a backlight but runs on top of the screen, thus using the reflective nature of the e-ink display.

EDIT: I probably should have said "without the built-in light" but wanted to include devices that do not have one to begin with. I am still using one of these :)

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