Tuesday, January 29, 2013

E-Reader thoughts, then and now

I was going through my draft folder to see if there were any ideas for a blog post I started but never got around to finishing. I don't have a book to review at the moment. I'm still making my way through The Wordy Shipmates and my final Chamber of Secrets post won't be posted until Friday. Also I need to write it. And finish CoS. Regardless, I have no other planned posts for the week, but I want to write something.

Back in June of 2010 I wrote a post about whether or not I should get a Kindle. And then I never posted it. Who knows why. But in it I stated that I wouldn't get the Kindle and if I did decide to get any sort of e-reader I'd go with the iPad (why get a unitasker?), but not until they made some updates. That Christmas I got a Kindle. And I love it. I love it for all of the reasons I started in that unpublished post. And here are those original reasons, with my current comments:

  • I have all of my books in one place.  I was apparently under the belief that if I got a Kindle I would have to get rid of all of my physical books. And that I guess I'd rebuy all of them as digital copies? I don't even...
  • When I go on vacation I don't have to worry about the extra weight from bringing a few different books.  This is true, so long as I plan accordingly so I'm not in the middle of a physical book when I go on vacation. This usually does not work out.
  • I never have to worry about finishing a book in the middle of my commute and then having nothing to entertain myself with. This sort of builds into my last point, because on more than one occasion I've been in need of a book in the middle of a trip and just bought something new. Because why just wait and read one of the books I have sitting at home?
  • It's certainly lighter weight and more portable than a big heavy hardback. I am SO glad to have my Kindle when reading Under the Dome and A Game of Thrones. I plan on keeping the rest of the Song of Fire and Ice series on my Kindle. If/when I get around to that.
  • I won't have to wait for new books to come out in their paperback form.  I'm still waiting for Shades of Grey in paperback, so I won't have to drag the hardback copy around with me. I did buy the digital copy of this and it was awesome. I also bought a paperback copy when I saw it on sale cos shut up, that's why. I also want to make this clear that Shades of Grey is very different than Fifty Shades of Grey. I had some confusing conversations where I was talking about the Fforde book and they were not.
  • I can make notes in the margins with some versions.  (I know I could do this with a real book but while I don't mind getting a book that's been marked up, I won't do it myself.  I'm slightly neurotic when it comes to my books.) I love being able to highlight and make stupid comments in the margines of my digital copies. I still won't do it in my physical ones.
  • It's easy to buy new books instantly.  Perhaps a little too easy This is true. Though the majority of my digital impulse buys have been for the under $4 choices so at least I'm not going broke.
So yeah, I'm a fan of my Kindle. I still read a bunch of actual books. Both of the books I'm reading now are physical books. And I just went to the bookstore and bought two more books. According to my 2012 stats, 35% of the books I read were digital copies. I'm not sure why I believed getting an ereader was an all-or-nothing requirement. 

I clearly didn't go with the iPad, though I've been playing with Boyfriend+'s and I have decided that why should he have all the fun? So I've been thinking of getting one of those, though I think I'll still use the Kindle for most of my reading. And my reasoning for that now is the same as it was in that other post: my eye doctor told me my eyes are getting messed up because of all the time spent staring at screens. I look at a computer all day for work, and then spend my time at home looking at my phone or watching TV. I like the Kindle screen and it doesn't cause the eye strain that the other backlit screens do. Of course I also said I wasn't going to get an ereader so I'm obviously full of shit and will probably end up reading most of my stuff on the iPad if/when I get it and my Kindle will be set aside.

Anyone have both a Kindle and an iPad or some other tablet? Do you use both of them?