Ereader retrospective
Jun. 13th, 2018 08:18 pmNow I've had an ereader for a while, what are my impressions?
Mostly very positive. I think the biggest thing I enjoy is being able to buy more books easily, both without having to wait, and without worrying about whether they'll become clutter.
I was pretty good before, in fact -- I'd buy two to three books I was interested in, and then read them, and try to keep the number of "I feel like I ought to read this but actually I'm not excited to for some reason" to a minimum, and put books I didn't want in the charity shop pile, and accumulated new bookshelf books fairly slowly. But it's that much easier when I don't have to worry about it.
I haven't tracked exactly what the prices have been like. Usually somewhat less than a new new book, but more than buying it second hand. I used to *like* buying second hand, I liked having a book that felt it was part of a community, that had tried several people before finally finding a home, and had a story behind that particular edition. And I still feel odd paying *more* for an ebook. But the convenience is very very nice.
I also like that it's small and light. I can curl up reading without worrying at being at a good angle to rest the book somewhere. Or lie on my back if I like. And if I'm going somewhere I may want to read, I can bring it along, whether for an hour or so, or for a week or so, and not need to worry, am I bringing too much weight. Nor, do I have enough books -- I can easily load up and have enough for ages (or buy more from my ereader or from my phone if there's wifi or 4G even briefly).
It makes holidays and hospital waiting rooms so much easier. I don't need to plan ahead much, I can just have reading material if I want it, and not feel it's wasted if I don't need it.
And if I don't have my ereader I can usually get the same book on my phone to read there if I need to, even if it isn't perfectly convenient.
I got the backlight version, which means I can read in dim light easily, but either way, it doesn't send my eyes woogly the way too much reading from a phone or computer screen does.
The only things I don't like are the extra things about books. It feels companionable when Liv and I can see what each other are reading and be interested in it, without needing to always ask. And for now I still have a bookshelf of all the books I previously bought physically, but as more of the books I've read are ebooks, I start to lose that "visitors can look over my bookshelf" thing.
I wonder if there's any way of making a replacement for the discoverability, something like empty cd cases with titles on, or an electronic display that cycles through cover images?
And it's also a shame it means you can't easily lend or borrow books -- I love being able to introduce someone to a book, or borrow something interesting, even if I could afford to buy it myself.
And in particular, I hadn't expected this to be a thing, but when I read a physical book, I often remember *that specific copy*, fondly remembering where I first acquired it, where I was when I first read it, who I told about it, which edition it was, etc, etc. And that's really nice, but I don't get it the same with an ebook.
Mostly very positive. I think the biggest thing I enjoy is being able to buy more books easily, both without having to wait, and without worrying about whether they'll become clutter.
I was pretty good before, in fact -- I'd buy two to three books I was interested in, and then read them, and try to keep the number of "I feel like I ought to read this but actually I'm not excited to for some reason" to a minimum, and put books I didn't want in the charity shop pile, and accumulated new bookshelf books fairly slowly. But it's that much easier when I don't have to worry about it.
I haven't tracked exactly what the prices have been like. Usually somewhat less than a new new book, but more than buying it second hand. I used to *like* buying second hand, I liked having a book that felt it was part of a community, that had tried several people before finally finding a home, and had a story behind that particular edition. And I still feel odd paying *more* for an ebook. But the convenience is very very nice.
I also like that it's small and light. I can curl up reading without worrying at being at a good angle to rest the book somewhere. Or lie on my back if I like. And if I'm going somewhere I may want to read, I can bring it along, whether for an hour or so, or for a week or so, and not need to worry, am I bringing too much weight. Nor, do I have enough books -- I can easily load up and have enough for ages (or buy more from my ereader or from my phone if there's wifi or 4G even briefly).
It makes holidays and hospital waiting rooms so much easier. I don't need to plan ahead much, I can just have reading material if I want it, and not feel it's wasted if I don't need it.
And if I don't have my ereader I can usually get the same book on my phone to read there if I need to, even if it isn't perfectly convenient.
I got the backlight version, which means I can read in dim light easily, but either way, it doesn't send my eyes woogly the way too much reading from a phone or computer screen does.
The only things I don't like are the extra things about books. It feels companionable when Liv and I can see what each other are reading and be interested in it, without needing to always ask. And for now I still have a bookshelf of all the books I previously bought physically, but as more of the books I've read are ebooks, I start to lose that "visitors can look over my bookshelf" thing.
I wonder if there's any way of making a replacement for the discoverability, something like empty cd cases with titles on, or an electronic display that cycles through cover images?
And it's also a shame it means you can't easily lend or borrow books -- I love being able to introduce someone to a book, or borrow something interesting, even if I could afford to buy it myself.
And in particular, I hadn't expected this to be a thing, but when I read a physical book, I often remember *that specific copy*, fondly remembering where I first acquired it, where I was when I first read it, who I told about it, which edition it was, etc, etc. And that's really nice, but I don't get it the same with an ebook.