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My Favourite Tech for Reading Books - Kindle vs iPad vs Books vs Audiobooks

2021-05-13 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali · recording, 14:37 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books and reading · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Sponsor segment present

Ali compares four ways of reading (physical books, the Kindle, the Kindle app on an iPad or phone, and Audible audiobooks) on cost, convenience, reading aesthetics, note-taking and durability, and ranks the Kindle first, then Audible, physical books and the iPad, though he uses all four.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Introduction: four ways of reading compared on cost, convenience, aesthetics, note-taking and durability

  • ★★ Ali says physical books are reasonably priced at between $5 and $20, and cheap or virtually free from a secondhand bookstore or a public library. — 00:00:29

00:00:40 — Physical books

  • ★★ Ali rates physical books low for convenience because you have to carry one around; whenever he has tried, the book got squashed in his bag and he never took it out. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Ali gives physical books five stars for reading aesthetics: the Kindle, the iPad and audiobooks do not give the nice feeling of a book. — 00:00:58 · Kindle, iPad
  • ★★ Ali rates physical books three out of five for note-taking: you need a pencil for the margins, or, as he does, book tabs as bookmarks that he theoretically types up later. — 00:01:27
  • ★ Ali rates physical books three out of five for durability: they do badly with water, and he used to spill water on his Harry Potter books reading them in the toilet. — 00:01:56 · Harry Potter (book series)
  • ★★ Ali has the Kindle Oasis but calls it a little overkill: the Kindle Paperwhite would do. — 00:02:35 · Kindle
  • ★★★ Ali calls the Kindle one of his top three most life-changing pieces of tech out of everything he has bought. — 00:02:35 · Kindle

00:02:41 — The Kindle

  • ★★★ Ali says he has read far more books in the ten years he has used a Kindle than if he had waited for physical books to arrive: when someone recommends a book, he buys it on the Kindle store and starts reading at once. — 00:03:04 · Kindle, Amazon
  • ★★ Ali calls the Kindle a high return-on-investment purchase at 69 pounds for the cheapest model, and would recommend one to basically everyone. — 00:03:04 · Kindle
  • ★★ Amazon often runs sales on Kindle books, Ali says, so you can often get them for 99p, under a dollar or even a few cents, which physical books do not offer. — 00:03:40 · Kindle, Amazon
  • ★★ Ali thinks that with a Kindle you would save more money in the long run than by buying physical books. — 00:03:40 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali sees the Kindle's real benefit in convenience, five out of five: his sits on his bedside for reading in bed at night, and he always takes it travelling, to read on a beach, in a coffee shop or in bed. — 00:03:40 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali gives the Kindle two out of five for reading aesthetics: it is a utilitarian device, and reading a book on it does not feel good. — 00:04:27 · Kindle
  • ★★★ Ali calls Readwise absolutely game-changing: it collects his highlights from Kindle, from Instapaper for articles and from Airr for podcasts, and sends them into Notion and Roam, his two note-taking apps. — 00:04:27 · Readwise, Kindle, Instapaper, Notion, Roam Research
  • ★★ Ali now highlights heavily in every book he reads whenever something resonates with him, knowing it will end up in his note-taking system. — 00:05:06 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali rates the Kindle four out of five for note-taking rather than five because typing on its keyboard and touchscreen is slow and annoying when he wants to expand on a highlight. — 00:05:06 · Kindle
  • ★ Ali rates the Kindle three out of five for durability: he has dropped lots of Kindles and had them crushed in his bag, and they do all right. — 00:05:35 · Kindle
  • ★★ The Kindle Oasis is waterproof but a little overpriced, Ali says: you probably do not need it unless you read by a pool or on a beach a lot. — 00:05:35 · Kindle
  • ★★★ The Kindle is Ali's absolute favourite way to read: less aesthetic than books, but its convenience and ease of note-taking and highlighting make it the winner. — 00:05:35 · Kindle
  • ★★★ Ali recommends a Kindle to basically everyone in the world who can afford one, and guarantees it will change their life. — 00:05:35 · Kindle

00:06:08 — The Kindle app on an iPad or phone

  • ★★ Without a Kindle, Ali says, you can use the Kindle app, which is pretty solid, or Apple Books on an iPad, tablet or phone. — 00:06:11 · Kindle, iPad, iPhone
  • ★★ Reading on a phone or iPad adds no real device cost because most people already have one, Ali says, and the ebooks cost exactly the same as Kindle books. — 00:06:41 · iPad, Kindle
  • ★★ Ali gives reading on a phone five out of five for convenience because people always carry their phones; he keeps the Kindle app on his iPhone home screen. — 00:06:41 · iPhone, Kindle
  • ★★ During two months in Japan, taking the train into central Tokyo for two hours a day, Ali read the A Song of Ice and Fire series on his phone standing in the carriage, which he says is easier than on a Kindle. — 00:06:41 · Japan, iPhone, Kindle
  • ★★ Ali gives the Kindle app on the iPhone or iPad one out of five for reading aesthetics: the Kindle's e-ink screen does not look like a screen, while on his iPhone, iPad or MacBook he always feels he is looking at one. — 00:07:24 · Kindle, iPhone, iPad, MacBook
  • ★★ In the Kindle app on the iPad, Ali highlights text that syncs via Readwise into Roam Research, and he can tap a highlight to add a personal note, which also saves to Readwise. — 00:07:46 · Kindle, iPad, Readwise, Roam Research
  • ★★ Taking notes and summarising a book in split screen on the iPad with the Magic Keyboard beside the Kindle app is a really good experience no other device gives, Ali says: five out of five, and his most common use of the iPad for reading. — 00:08:44 · iPad, Magic Keyboard, Kindle
  • ★ Ali says the iPad is not particularly durable or waterproof, but he shoves it in his bag at all times. — 00:08:44 · iPad
  • ★★ Ali has the Paperlike matte screen protector on his iPad, which makes it feel like paper when taking notes. — 00:08:44 · Paperlike, iPad
  • ★★★ Ali often says that if he could have only one subscription service in his life, it would be Audible. — 00:08:44 · Audible

00:09:15 — Audiobooks on Audible

  • ★★ An Audible subscription costs about $15 a month, Ali thinks, and gives one audiobook credit each month. (hedged) — 00:09:32 · Audible
  • ★★ Bought individually, audiobooks are ridiculously expensive at about $25 on average, Ali says; through the Audible subscription they become much more reasonably priced. — 00:09:32 · Audible
  • ★★ Ali gives audiobooks four out of five for convenience since you need headphones, but with AirPods and the Audible app he listens while cycling to his coworking space, doing chores or setting up the cameras. — 00:09:57 · AirPods, Audible, iPhone
  • ★★ Ali really recommends trying audiobooks, which are often narrated by the author or a professional voice actor. — 00:10:27
  • ★★ Ali calls listening at multiple speeds the really cool thing about audiobooks: he mostly listens at between 1.5x and 2.5x. — 00:10:27
  • ★★★ The main reason Ali dislikes audiobooks is that taking notes from them is really hard: Audible lets you bookmark sections, but there is no real way to export them. — 00:10:56 · Audible
  • ★ Ali is currently listening to The Millionaire Fastlane at, he thinks, two and a half times speed, which gets him through the book faster while he does other things. (hedged) — 00:10:56
  • ★★★ When he likes a book on Audible, Ali buys it again on Kindle and takes notes on his iPad in split screen, in Drafts, Notion or Roam with the Kindle app open beside. — 00:11:24 · Audible, Kindle, iPad, Drafts, Notion, Roam Research

00:11:42 — Sponsor read for Brilliant

00:12:52 — How the four methods fit into his life, and his ranking

  • ★★★ If he could choose only one way to read it would be the Kindle, and if two, the Kindle plus Audible, Ali says, though he uses all four in different ways. — 00:12:56 · Kindle, Audible
  • ★★ Ali always reads in bed on the Kindle by his bedside; he likes the Kindle Oasis, a bit overpriced but with a warmer light, and uses it in dark mode. — 00:12:56 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali uses the iPad mainly to take copious notes on or summarise a book he has read, with the Kindle app on one side and Notion, Roam or Drafts on the other, and posts the summaries on his website. — 00:13:25 · iPad, Kindle, Notion, Roam Research, Drafts, aliabdaal.com
  • ★★ Ali keeps physical books around the house mainly because they look cool in videos, but to relax in the evening away from bed, say at 9 p.m. instead of playing World of Warcraft, he reads a physical book on the couch. — 00:13:54 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★★ Ali ranks the ways of reading: the Kindle first, then Audible, then physical books, then the iPad. — 00:13:54 · Kindle, Audible, iPad

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Audible · iPad · Kindle

Also: Projects: aliabdaal.com

Works: A Song of Ice and Fire · Harry Potter (book series) · The Millionaire Fastlane

Organizations: Amazon

Places: Japan · Tokyo

Products: AirPods · Airr · Apple Books · Drafts · Instapaper · iPhone · MacBook · Magic Keyboard · Notion · Paperlike · Readwise · Roam Research · World of Warcraft

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