When chatting online, consumers have the most to say about the Apple iPad, but they are more passionate about the Amazon Kindle, according to the NetBase Brand Passion Index, which measures the intensity of consumer passion for brands among users of online communities.

With e-readers topping so many holiday shopping lists this year, the December brand passion index measured consumer insights around popular e-reader brands: Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, and BeBook from Endless Ideas BV.

Nearly nine in ten online conversations (87%) about the Amazon Kindle were positive, expressing love (34%) or like (53%), with many of them praising Kindle's small size and ability to fit neatly into a handbag. Sony Reader fans were fewer in number, but expressed the highest overall percentage of positive sentiment (48% like and 41% love) for the device.

Sentiment for the iPad was predominantly favorable, but less passionate: 61% expressed like and 21% expressed love. The iPad also garnered the highest percentage of dislike (16%) and hate (3%) among the five e-reader brands studied.

Using measures across a spectrum of emotions—love, like, dislike, and hate—the Netbase Brand Passion Index reads and understands what people are saying online, then surfaces and aggregates those likes and dislikes, as well as the emotions and behaviors associated with brands.

Below, excerpts from online discussions capture the passion that consumers feel about the major e-reader brands.

The Amazon Kindle emerged as an overall fan favorite. The most common comments from consumers were that it's both easy to carry, especially in a handbag, and easy on the eyes:  

• "Until they make an iPad that can fit in my purse, Kindle will never be dead. Women love it because its size is perfect!"
• "But we strongly prefer Kindle 3 because its performance is far zippier, its screen is easier to read, and its smaller and lighter so it's more portable and more comfortable to hold in one hand for long reading sessions."
• "I also have an iPad but I prefer the Kindle for reading, less glare and much lighter."

Apple's iPad was the subject of 90% of all conversations analyzed in the Index, but online sentiment about the brand was mixed. Much of the criticism found centered on the iPad's screen:

• "I don't like the iPad because it is backlit."
• "I love my Kindle because it is so easy on my eyes…the whole backlit thing with the iPad is SO disappointing and surprising."
• "I am not interested in an iPad because it isn't as portable as my smaller devices that slip easily in my purse: my phone, my MP3 and my Kindle."