Originally published on 08/31/2009 (http://www.mindlikemonkey.com/2009/08/on-ereading.html)
For a long, long time ago, I have been reading ebooks, (ereader site says since 2003),.I’ve read on Palm devices, tried the Kindle, the Sony Ereader (first generation), the iPod Touch, and now the iPhone. I love to read on these devices; I love the text on the screen, (a heavy book on my hand—this needs some clarification, not sure what you mean here), having the dictionary right there, the ability to carry many books all the time in such a small space.
My mom had always like to read, but in her words, she don’t have the time, she will be able to read where she did not have her book, at home find the quiet moment is difficult for her. Recently, I gave my mom an Amazon Kindle and she simply loved it! She found again the time to read anywhere and all the time. Three of her friends have purchased Kindles since then and I have “sold” another one to a friend myself. Later on I gave mine to my wife (I tend to read way more on the iPhone and she wanted her own) and she has been reading a lot since then.
I understand e-reading is a different thing from reading a book. Then again, it’s a different experience to read a paperback rather than a hardcover and people don’t make a big deal of it. So what’s the big deal with the electronic version? It’s just a different format, a different medium and the same content as the printed version.
The difference is that people are afraid to lose the feeling of the old book, the experience of turning the pages, opening the cover, closing volume. In my mind, the only thing you are losing is the trip to the bookstore. I continue crying, laughing, dreaming and living my books. I don’t have books to carry, but can carry many all at once. Not only that, but I always have access to the dictionaries, Wikipedia, and many other resources that make my reading even more enjoyable.
Recently I was talking to a friend--we were at our house and we were both reading; he was reading a printed book and I was reading on my iPhone. Suddenly we start talking about how we were reading and he start looking for arguments in favor of traditional books, while I was exposing the arguments on e-reading. That’s when it hit me. E-Reading is not a different genre: it is a different format. Years ago, I met someone who only read hardcover books, because paperbacks looked cheap to him. Today, people are used to paperbacks; there’s no stigma attached to them anymore. And now, there is this new movement that it is e-reading.
I’d like to close sharing a tip, actually a tip I learned from my mother. Like everything, after hours of reading I get tired, my eyes get tired, but sometimes I just do not want to stop reading, the book is so good, the feeling is so good or the things i would do if I were not reading are not that fun. When that happens, and my eyes are having hard time focusing, that’s when you get your electronic ereader to increase the font size of the book. And every time I have done that, it’s provided me with another hour of reading. Try that on a paperback...
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