Ereaders

[kjoycetsai]

Prior to winning not one, but two (!!), ereaders in online giveaways, I was unconvinced as to the value of a $100+ single-use device. That said, I had also been contemplating getting an ereader for nearly a year.

To give people a sense of what type of reader I am: I read approximately 100+ books and 200+ volumes of manga a year. I buy books from online retailers, used bookstores, large retail chains, library sales, Goodwill stores, and basically anywhere that sells books. I borrow books from several local libraries and my friends, who sometimes I conveniently define as anyone willing to lend me books. I get books for free via Bookmooch and from friends and blog acquaintances and authors willing to give out ARCs and any sort of giveaway. In short, I read, and I read a lot, and I get my grubby hands on books by any means possible. I have also been borrowing ebooks from my public libraries and reading them on my iPhone and on my laptops. As of yet, I have been unconcerned with buying books directly from an ereader device largely because I refuse to pay for DRM-ed ebooks, and because I still value having a print copy of a book.

Prior to winning my ereaders, my primary form of acquiring and reading ebooks was borrowing ebooks from the public library and reading them on my laptop via Adobe Digital Editions. I would buy a few, but overall, I dislike buying ebooks without some sort of ebook + physical book bundle. I’ve also been reading my non-library ebooks on my iPhone via Stanza.

Despite having tried two devices—the Kobo wireless ereader and the Alex Spring Design ereader—I’m still unconvinced as to the value of a standalone ereader. I wanted one because I spend enough time on the computer anyway, and the LCD screens on both the laptop and the iPhone cause a fair amount of eyestrain for me. I also like the greater portability of ereaders when compared to my netbook, particularly in terms of size and weight. Both of these options ruled out tablet devices using LCD screens, and I like my netbook enough that I’d rather have a dedicated eink device instead of a tablet that can’t quite do as much as my netbook but costs much more than an ereader.

I very much like how light the ereaders are, particularly when compared to my netbook: it makes it that much more likely that I’ll dump it in my purse before heading out of the house. The eink screens have also been much better on my eyes than LCD screens. Really, though, the best part of having an ereader is traveling. I used to time airplane flights by how many books I could read on them; for someone who reads roughly a hundred pages an hour, a ten-hour flight requires a lot of books! Having an ereader reduced my luggage weight considerably, though I still packed a backup book or two for that half hour you’re not allowed to turn on electronics during the flight. The iPhone works for this purpose as well, but I find prolonged reading on an LCD screen strains my eyes.

Still, I’m not sure the added convenience while traveling compensates for the price tag and for having yet another device and yet another charger to keep track of. It’s particularly so for me, since I don’t buy ebooks from either Spring Design or Kobo, meaning I have to pre-load my ereader with whatever I’d like for my trip, instead of acquiring new books during the trip. I realize the last inconvenience is more a self-imposed one than anything else, but I’m still holding out for being able to get a physical and electronic copy of a book while paying a bit more than for just a physical version. As someone who reads a lot and borrows books a lot, I don’t find it worth it to have a DRM-ed digital book I can’t lend to friends.

K. Joyce Tsai | Comments