e-Books and Poolside!
I have had a Sony e-reader for 3 years now and I had quite a difficult decision to make when I purchased it – but the touch screen won me over (of course, others have that feature now!) I didn’t want a glare on the screen, I wanted to be able to copy and paste quotes into notes, I wanted an immediate click for a dictionary etc etc. – all features that only the Sony had at the time. It is a pain to use the Sony Reader software to purchase books and upload them into my reader, but I am used to it.
So why did I buy an e-reader when I am passionate about “real” books? (In fact, I have an impressive library filled with shelves of my favourites) Twice, I was hit with overweight luggage charges because I brought so many books on vacation – with the e-reader, I can add 7-8 books with absolutely no weight and my battery lasts for 10,000 page turns – so I may only need to charge it once in a trip.
The screen feels so real to me that I often catch myself trying to turn the page with my finger – makes me smile every time. I also love the fact that I can wear my non-prescription sunglasses by the pool, and just make the font larger to accommodate my near-sightedness.
I have been tempted to buy a more multi-purpose tool such as a tablet, but the screen glare is a big deal for me. I have purchased Kobo readers for my own kids and my grandson too…they have become big fans. We especially like being able to use ePub books from our library for free.
Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
jenaca 1:45 am on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Brenda,
My story is quite similar to yours. I recently bought a Kobo, which was definitely a big step for me because I love real books-holding the book, turning the pages, the smell….I ended up buying a Kobo because I’m living over in Europe and it can be very expensive bringing books over for the weight and is especially difficult to find books that I am interested in reading. Needless to say, It is one of the best investments I have ever made! I use it all the time and bring it with me everywhere! I love how it is small it is and how I am able to access my email on it- I have not yet tried to ePub as I was told I have to be in Canada to do so. Hopefully I can try that soon:)
Jenaca
Keisha Edwards-Hamilton 6:29 am on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brenda and Jenaca,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your views are similar since you both wanted to take books with you to different parts of the worlds and the ebook saved you by providing a light weight option to store all of those books. This is an outstanding benefit of ebooks. They take up less space. You practically don’t need any space to store them. You don’t need a library or a room for them. You can store hundreds and thousands of ebooks in your computer and hence you can take them anywhere in the world with you.
Keisha
Deb Kim 12:41 pm on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brenda,
I absolutely agree with you that paper books take up so much space, especially when you want to carry them around. That’s why eBook works better. It should cost less eventually compared to buying books. We can also borrow books from library, but how many people would have time to go to the library to check out and return books? If you consider gas for driving to and from the library, it’d cost about the same as purchasing a eBook reader in the end.
I use my iPhone to read books and watch movies. It took a bit of time to get my eyes adjusted to the tiny screen, but I love it now since I’m used to the small screen and fonts. However, older people like my mom and dad didn’t like the experience watching movies or reading books on the iPhone because they couldn’t really read small fonts.
I recently canceled the order of a laptop that I purchased, so I want to buy an eBook reader instead. iPad may be a good idea too.
Any suggestions?
Deb