my personal biography of e-reading

I think I represent many potential users of e-books and e-reading devices. I don’t have an e-reader, though the new (cheap!) Kindles definitely have me interested. I’m also a techno-skeptic: I’m wary of fads and tend to hold out on making a technology decision unless I’m really sure it’s a worthwhile investment. I also find myself reading a *lot* online, and have done so for years. This e-reading is mainly for my academic work, and secondarily for my sewing hobby. I e-read on my Macbook (and previously, my easier-on-the-eyes matte screen iBook… back when an iBook was a device, and not an app!).

Two things motivate my e-reading: cost and convenience. I remember trudging out to the UBC library in the Vancouver rain to xerox journal articles and check books out, and I now avoid it as much as possible. Certainly for an academic market, e-journals have changed *everything* (and it’s a little surprising frankly that there isn’t an educational device marketed to higher education for the purposes of reading e-journals). I was in graduate school at Texas when the first academic e-books were coming out – and how I loved not paying for many of my readings! Since then, I’ve developed a healthy love for google books; admittedly, even when there’s a page or two missing, I’m not too fussed as long as the bulk of the chapter I need is there! I seldom print my online readings – well, unless they’re at work, and for work. I admit, I hate paying for paper and ink. I also dislike the glare of my Macbook screen, though, and am starting to really think about the effects of being a heavy online reader on my eyesight.

I’ve also assigned over 80% of my readings online since I began lecturing at UBC in 2008 – I make a point of only using freely available materials unless a text, only available in print, is so seminal that I’d be horribly irresponsible not to assign it. I do this because I’m aware of how expensive it is for many of our students to study. Undergrad tuition is over double what I paid – less than a decade ago – and awards and financial aid have shrunk; meanwhile, a UBC food bank has opened up. I see assigning already-available electronic books and articles as one way of helping students get the biggest possible bang for their buck. Most terms, one or two students complain about the price or inconvenience of printing out articles at home and there’s some occasional technical drama involved with downloading and printing e-book chapters. However, most are happy that I try to walk the walk of access to education as much as I can, and save them an easy $80-100 on a coursepack.

I’ve only recently gotten interested in e-readers – and specifically the Kindle. The high price of the original Kindles was a huge turnoff, but they’re now quite affordable. Certainly a lot of academic material won’t be there, but should I invest, I expect I’ll use it mainly for hobby and pleasure reading – and I look forward to reading more! The Kindle fire is exciting because it combines the fun of tablets with the easy reading on the Kindle screen (I love apps, but only really use the basic ones… notes, calculator and angry birds… so a limited selection isn’t a problem for this user). I’m eagerly awaiting being able to buy it in Canada.

I think that the Kindle Fire is really quite relevant to this class; it has apps, the easy read of the kindle screen, and a low price point that makes it seem possible to adopt in education on a large scale. Some institutions and school districts may be able to afford iPads, but I believe that many cannot.

Posted in: Week 06: eBooks