People who think eInk is insanely amazing are so weird to me. I've read way too many books on my iPad to listen to those arguments and think I can provide any rational discussion that would make sense to people who love eInk. For some people it apparently makes a huge difference...
Saying "get a Kindle" to me is like saying "if all you do on your iPad is Instapaper than you should get this device that is cheaper, has longer battery life...but can do next to nothing compared to an iPad instead." It's a false equivalence. Just because a Kindle (non-Fire) is for reading eBooks or can read PDFs or has a browser or has forever battery does not magically make it a good value compared to an iPad. In a sandbox where you only care about a given feature that may be true...but I'd NEVER recommend anyone gets a Kindle over an iPad...because with the iPad you get infinitely more functionality.
If you're a "best tool for the job" kind of guy, you're going to need an iPad and a Kindle anyways. One for apps, browsing, video, email, chat, creativity, etc etc etc...and one for reading books.
Just get the iPad and be done with it. Get both if you're rich. It's not an either/or, though. It's get an iPad AND a Kindle...or just get an iPad.
If all someone wants to do is read an eBook and that's literally it...sure, get a Kindle.
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And sure, I defend the iPad strongly because in my eyes there is literally NO competitor out there right now worth considering. Literally not a single device I'd even remotely consider over an iPad. If money is not a problem, you should have an iPad if you want a tablet.
In my mind there are very very few people who prefer Android over iOS. There are just a ton of people who got it because they either don't like Apple, because an iOS device wasn't the price they wanted....and in the rarest cases in the real world (but much more prevalent online in the tech enthusiast space), people who actually understand the difference between Android and iOS and prefer Android. If someone is clearly in the "knows what they are talking about and just prefers Android" camp, I'd have no beef with them at all. The problem is that it's extremely rare to find someone who prefers Android but doesn't also loathe Apple...hence all the squabbling and defensiveness.