About E-Readers

[dewline]

I don't know that I want any of them. Kobo, Kindle, whatever.

Hardcopy still works for me. Power outages, DRM software tucked away "under the surface" to bite at an unexpected moment...why should I give up paper books for those kinds of troubles?

Yes, I recognize the irony or cognitive dissonance of expressing such a sentiment on a weblog. That aside...

Comments

[mariness.livejournal.com]

I use mine for library books, and there is something fun about grabbing a library book at 2 AM :)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Wishing I could do that with the hardcopy catalogue at the library in my city. Because you're right. It would be fun.

[jennawaterford.livejournal.com]

I have an iPad mini rather than a dedicated ereader, and so I use a couple of ereader apps and I'm not limited to just one source. It's also then useful for other things. I have older eyes but don't find it hard to read and typeface size is adjustable, too, for when the original size is a bit small for the screen. Also I can access my library's electronic collections that way which is pretty great.

I wasn't expecting to go e-reader but I vastly prefer it now to wrestling with a book, especially when I'm out and about. I can prop up my iPad while I'm at lunch and read without any trouble. I can prop it up on the stationary bike at the gym and read and it doesn't wobble or flip or fall off. It's very nice and fits easily into my bag.

Most modern devices don't have the kinds of battery life problems that would render you unable to read except in extreme situations and they recharge pretty quickly.

[steve-roby.livejournal.com]

I've got an iPad (and a pod and a phone) and a Kobo Touch e-ink reader and two Kobo Arc Android tablets (got an extra one when they went on sale dirt cheap). I've read quite a few books on my gadgets now, partly because I want to cut down the number of print books cluttering this place, and partly because there are things I want to read that don't exist in print. It's also sometimes easier to read and manage a smallish device on a crowded bus than a print book, especially a trade paperback or hardcover.

The iPad is best for things like magazines, comics, and documents in pdf format (because pdfs don't reflow or resize well). We have subscriptions to a few magazines in Newsstand. They look good and work pretty well, but it's easy to forget to read them.

The Touch is easy on the eyes because there's no light source; it has a really long battery life; it looks great in direct light and doesn't suffer from glare or reflections; and epub format ebooks can be resized for aging eyeballs. But the touch screen is a bit slow to respond and the software doesn't allow for easy management of ebooks, so I have to use Calibre software on my PC to manage it.

The Kobo Arc is about the same size as the Touch or an iPad Mini, but it's a 64 gb Android tablet. You can replace the installed Kobo interface with a standard Android interface, which I did. I've got the Kobo, Kindle, and several other reading apps installed, so even though I don't have a Kindle I can read Amazon-exclusive ebooks on my Kobo. I also have a lot of music installed on one Kobo so on a crowded bus I can read and listen to music on one not-too-big device. But my Arcs sometimes run pretty slowly, maybe because they're pretty near full of content.

As for DRM... it's insulting to and disrespectful of book readers, so I feel no qualms about getting rid of it as soon as I buy a DRM-infected ebook.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

I have logged just under 1000 hours on my Kobo Glo e-ink reader, and find that it is excellent for my needs.  Long battery life, excellent readability, grest backlight for reading in bed, easy to increase font size as my eyes tire.

[jsburbidge.livejournal.com]

I use the e-reader on my phone principally for books which are not otherwise available, but read from papet by preference.