I'm a bit ashamed to admit that with e-readers, I used to be a bit of a Luddite. I thought it was ridiculous that people were buying devices to read books and not bothering to support bookstores by purchasing physical copies. With time, my opinion has changed.
In high school I was a teacher's aide two years in a row for two different English teachers. The second year (my junior year), the teacher told her freshman class about how much she loved her Kindle because it was convenient and overall a great device. I'll have to admit that though she is a wonderful woman, I thought she was crazy. This was also before my beloved Borders went out of business, but even then Borders was in trouble. I blamed the e-book. I will say that e-readers were part of the reason Borders ended up closing, but I will not say that Borders had nothing to do with the lack of foresight into the future. Anyway, this isn't a post ranting about the end of my favorite bookstore, but the fact that Borders didn't jump on the e-reader bandwagon was a factor toward my skepticism of e-readers and e-books.
Other factors causing my skepticism include the feel of the e-reader versus a book, the price of the device, the inevitable future obsolescence of whatever model I would have in my possession, and seeing the progress I've made in the book. I still see progress when I read an e-book, but my assumption was that I wouldn't feel that same sense of accomplishment when I made it halfway through. Basically my opinion lacked logic in a lot of aspects.
Eventually I decided that I liked the idea of getting an e-reader when I entered college. Both of the universities I've attended have been at least 30 miles from a bookstore and whenever I wanted to read a book I would either have to order it online (and risk having to pay shipping) or wait and buy it later. I ended up receiving a Nook HD as a gift for Christmas in 2012 (my sophomore year) and I instantly downloaded a few books. Technically the Nook HD is not really an e-reader. It is a tablet with the Barnes and Noble e-bookstore (ha) included. I like it because I can watch YouTube videos, check my email, etc., but the notifications become a distraction when I want to read. So naturally I began to research e-ink readers and I found myself interested in the Kindle Paperwhite. We'll see if I ever take the plunge and buy it ;)
I guess I didn't really rake a side in the print book versus the e-book, but my preference really changes from situation to situation.
What do you prefer?
I felt the same way about e-readers until I started getting my masters and they offered e-books at a reduced rate. Not only do I get to buy more shoes, but I really like them! I have a Kindle and I can highlight aspects of the book, make comments, and notes about things I want to remember. The device stores all my info in one place which make it easy to find later when I'm writing a paper.
ReplyDeletePlus, I feel better about being a hippie and saving the trees ;)
I really hate marking in books, so the highlighting aspect in e-books is great!
DeleteI appreciate your comment, Sherri!