E-readers infiltrate book clubs – SiliconValley.com.
I’m definitely on the e-reader bandwagon, but not 100% of the time. For instance, one of my favorite summer activities is to float around the pool and read light summer / beach content. No way I’m taking my $500+ e-Reader of choice anywhere near the water. Maybe if the Kindle dropped to $75 or so…
Why do I prefer eReader (currently Motorola Xoom) for my books?
Free content. Have you seen how many books are out there for free? Seriously, I could probably legally never pay for another book in my life and never lack for content of interest or pay another $0.01 or physically visit another library.
Portability is huge since I travel a fair amount and read more while travelling than when I’m not.
- Slim single device can carry books that are 8 times the thickness and weight (using Winston Churchill biography as benchmark).
- Single device can carry multiple books. Not that I wasn’t able to manage to carry “the next book” when travelling and knowing I was almost done with a book, but I tend to read on groups of topics. Consequently, I may be reading a book on history that ties into a topic or events in previous books I’ve read. It’s nice to be able to jump to the other book on the spur of the moment and read some cross-reference material. Books I’m reading that reference the Bible are the perfect case in point. I have the Bible in at least a dozen versions on my eReader. I couldn’t carry even two different versions and my current book while travelling, let alone, unpack and deal with them in the tiny seating space of a plane.
Search and markup. Note the discussion of cross-referencing books books above. When I want to find something in whatever other book I’m cross-referencing I not only have it readily available, but completely searchable by phrase and even quickly scanning my highlights and notes.
Highlights and notes. No more realizing the highlighter I have in my PC bag dried out and won’t work. No more misplacing a book and not being able to find my notes on a particular topic or passage. Some eReaders are even supporting community use such that you can share and see the notes of others in the book you’re reading. Tied into the article above, this would definitely facilitate book club interaction and depth.
Consistent experience. I’m not sure why, but I tend to read big books. This means that if it is a hardback it has large pages and is heavy. If a paperback it is thick. Either way, this means that I need both hands on the book most of the time. Also, depending on the print, I have to manage where the book is distance-wise from my eyes to have the text in best focus. These issues disappear with an eReader. I can sit my Xoom in it’s case on my lap and go hands free only clicking the right-hand side of the screen to move to the next page. Likewise I can set the size of the text to whatever size I want based on where I put the device and how my eyes dictate as I get older.
- Subpoint here with regard to bookstore specific devices. Yes, an iPad or Xoom is more than a Kindle, Nook, Sony, etc. You could probably get 3 of the above for the cost of an entry level multi-purpose tablet. However, you’d then be blocked from some content only available on other “stores”. On my Xoom and previously on my iPad, I had access to every electronic “store” including Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, Google. I always start my shopping at Amazon, but they don’t always have a) the book at all or b) the best deal. No problem, I have all the other options available to me.
A book is a book is a book regardless whether it is printed on paper or displayed on a screen. I take a bit of exception to the referenced article above separating content on an eReader as not a “book”. The words are the book. Even as I’m writing this I’m tempted to say that audio books are not “books”, but if the words are the book, then how you get the words is immaterial. Is reading a book flipping paper pages a different experience than flicking you finger across a screen or tapping the edge of a screen? Yes. Is listening to a book driving down the road different than visually working through the words in text? Most definitely. Still at the end, when each type of “reader” sits down to discuss the book, so long as they got the words, then they have common ground to discuss and ideas to kick around.
For me, I just don’t pay near as much attention when listening as I do when reading, so audible books are just not of interest to me. I love paper books and love having shelves full to have friends and family look over and pick from for their own use. However, for purely practical reasons I prefer to get my books electronically going forward. Since I put eReader software on my portable devices my reading habit has taken a huge upsurge and that’s a very good thing.
