It’s the holidays and the e-reader has been anointed as the hot gift this year (sorry, Tickle-Me Elmo). The mobile reading tablets that allow users to download and read digitized books, magazines, and other content make the old print versions look like pieces of scrolled, Dickensian parchment in comparison. (Scrooge would never have bothered with an extravagance like the Nook or Kindle, you know.) And now, joining many other blogs, CJR.org content is now available through Amazon’s e-reader, the Kindle.
Maybe you’re getting or giving an e-reader for the holidays, or maybe you already have formed a serious mobile tablet addiction. We’re curious how the Kindles, Nooks, and Sony Readers of the world have changed your reading habits. Do you find yourself reading on your e-reader device the same things you normally would on paper, or do you segregate your reading into print and e-ink? If so, how do you decide what to risk papercuts for? What about the titles you read in digital form—do you find yourself reading narrowly into the same topics you always did? Or reading wider and deeper, discovering things you would never have otherwise found?
Of course, if you’re an e-reader Grinch and refuse to strain your eyes on a digital device, tell us why you prefer the print product.
I keep up with news / blogs on a google reader system on both my computer and iphone. My dislike in reading things off a screen is outweighed by that of reading stale news; I like to be up to date. So whenever I have the chance to read something on actual paper I take it.
There is some part of my brain that appreciates being able to tell how far along I am on a page or a book, to look at different fonts and page back a few chapters or to the index or maps in a given edition and a monotonous scrolling text kills some part of the enjoyment that is either natural or was instilled in me from reading actual books all my life.
I won't even get into the weird creepiness of not knowing whether I would be "owning" the "book", that could be deleted at a moments notice.
#1 Posted by LorenzoStDuBois, CJR on Wed 16 Dec 2009 at 06:31 PM
I read a book on my iphone several months ago, as an experiment. I loved it! I quickly forgot about the device and was just engrossed in the book (The Other Boleyn Girl). And I realized how wonderful it was to have it everywhere I happened to be -- waiting for my daughter at softball practice, in line, in bed. I was never without my book. And when it was done, I could immediately download another even though I was not near a bookstore or library. I'm not sure I would carry yet another device when I already have one that can do it all.
Interesting to me, my kids ages 20, 13 and 11 wouldn't even try a Kindle that I brought home. They said it was a violation of the reading experience.
#2 Posted by Carolyn Washburn, CJR on Wed 16 Dec 2009 at 09:00 PM
I've had the pocket sony for awhile and am really in love with it. Though I was already an avid reader before, I have stepped up my reading a good deal, because I can carry the device, loaded with 300 books or articles, with me everywhere. I tend to read whatever I can get on it (philosophy, politics, and literature) and if I can't get it on the ebook reader, then I buy a paper copy. At least thats what I'm doing right now.
I have a literature degree, and I am a firm believer that we should switch over to using these type of devices for the majority of our media. Books won't ever go away, we'll just use these devices a bit more than we are now.
LorenzoStDuBois, you can use calibre to format your blogs and news sources to put on your reader.
#3 Posted by C., CJR on Thu 17 Dec 2009 at 07:36 PM
Honestly, I prefer paper to screens. I don't have an e-reader, but i read a lot of e-books on my laptop. It's comfortable in several ways: you can be multitasking (for example eating while reading or doing something else), you don't have to hold a book, you can adjust the size of the font to your needs, etc. What I like most is that I can take my e-book on a flash memory to work and read without someone noticing that I am doing something non-work-related.
But still, when I spend the whole day sending and receiving e-mails, writing stories, doing research, when I go home I feel like curling on the sofa and experiencing something different.
#4 Posted by Aneliya, CJR on Fri 18 Dec 2009 at 04:41 AM
I own both a Kindle and a Sony eReader. Neither has changed the way I read other than to allow me to carry more books when I travel and keep more books in my limited living space. I am an avid re-reader, so space has always been at a premium in my life.
#5 Posted by Distant Smoke, CJR on Tue 22 Dec 2009 at 12:32 AM
With me I'd rather just stay traditional. I do everything online and depend so much on technology that doing traditional things like reading a book gets me out of my fast normal routine. government grants for home buying
#6 Posted by Peter Patridge, CJR on Wed 23 Dec 2009 at 09:43 AM
I resisted the Kindle because it locks the user into one vendor (Amazon.com). But I experimented with reading ebooks on my iPod Touch and rediscovered my love of reading. For someone like me, who has a cataract in one eye and vision affected by chronic illness, the ability to adjust the size, font, and color scheme of the "page" makes the written word much more accessible. I quickly found myself buying lotsa ebooks, and for Christmas, I just bought my 85-yo mother a Barnes & Noble nook so that she can read them, too.
The only thing I don't care for are "Adobe Digital Editions." They suck up computer system resources and don't allow me to view the page in a way that best suits my needs. Too rigid. I prefer ereader format that I can reflow on different devices.
We still need a good, cheap, larger format e-reader (the rumored Apple iSlate? The Plastic Logic Que?) to make it possible to read textbooks and magazines properly on handheld devices. But yes, I'm a major convert to e-reading.
#7 Posted by Candace Van Auken, CJR on Sat 26 Dec 2009 at 06:26 PM
I can really relate to the comment by Peter Patridge. My wife is an avid reader and loves her Kindle, and has been encouraging me to join her in the e-book brigade. But I'm just not there yet. Peter, I think you expressed my feelings precisely. I'm an email junkie, I'm on my MacBook Air constantly, along with my iPhone. And I like that, even though I can get sucked into way too many email conversations or Web explorations. But I think reading a traditional print volume slows me down and more effectively takes me to another dimension of life. It's more peaceful, as I associate digital reading with work.
#8 Posted by Bill Strong, CJR on Mon 28 Dec 2009 at 08:22 PM
E-readers have their uses, but I'm becoming gadget averse. My empire of gadgets has overwhelmed the house wiring to the point that I have surge protectors, some of them in series, plugged in to every available receptacle in the house. Mopping floors requires studying wiring diagrams: What can be unplugged without catastrophic consequences?
My new mantra on gadgets is "If it's sold as an enhancement to your life it probably does the opposite."
#9 Posted by Caslon, CJR on Sun 3 Jan 2010 at 07:46 PM