Introduction
Warning: I’m getting ready to talk about something that isn’t new and that many people have been using already with an app that has been on the market for quite sometime. I am writing this post because I felt compelled to write it and because I like to hear myself talk and I wanted to post something other than boring book posts (that’s a long sentence, sorry).
I’m one of those people who discover stuff late and get all excited about it. That is reading on a multi-functional device of which I own: an iPadand have started to use it exclusively for reading my
Reading The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
ebooks on. I originally bought it to read my comic books but since downloading the Nook Reading App for iOS, I’ve read like crazy on it. I love the app (even more than BlueFire) and the books look beautiful on it. The only problem with the Nook App is that you can’t sideload. B&N needs to get with it and give us this feature immediately! In vain, I’ve searched all over for a workaround with no luck. Bummer.
The Gamut of Devices I’ve Owned
I went through the gamut of ereader devices – Kindle (sent back immediately) and four versions of the Sony Reader (505,PRS-350,PRS-950, PRS-T1). Guess you can say that I loved Sony products despite their high prices and semi-visibility in the ebook market. I wasn’t wowed by emailing files to myself or even having wifi to further put myself in debt. No, I went for sturdiness and brand reliability over value for your buck. Sony hardware was superior to me and I loved the way ebooks rendered on their devices (minus all the OCR errors that show up from time to time). I’ve since donated those devices mentioned above to various family members over the years (think the 505 died on me but am unsure). I put my T1 to rest in a case for later viewing with other irrelevant artifacts where my Sony CLIE and Fujitsu Siemens Loox 720 reside.
Conclusion
My ebook journey started off with a PDA device loaded with uBook that read html files. I graduated up to a Sony Reader and that’s where I’ve stayed until now. Now I read on an iPad. Who knows what device I will be reading on next. I may slide back to paper (not!). As an aside, I used to love to read on my iPhone but I don’t do that very much anymore. I’m not someone who reads at every opportunity (standing in line, at work, etc). So, right it’s the iPad. E-Ink is gone at least for the moment. That’s the end of my article and if you’ve made it this far, thank you. The inspiration for this post was running across my PDA in my closet. It was lifeless. *sigh* I thought back to all the different ways we read ebooks back in the day read as 2006. Things have changed with ebooks but not necessarily for the better.
A Peek at My Ebook Library
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- Reading The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
Keishon – Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’ve had other people say too that the iPad is a great reading device. I may check it out at some point as I’ve never heard anything but good things about it for reading.
Thanks Margot. You should. It’s a wonderful reading experience and one I came to late.
Keishon, as you know, I’m still reading paper. I ordered a Kindle once and promptly sent it back. I have been looking at the Nook with GlowLight, but they seem to be having problems with the light bleeding through the screen and I don’t want to order one until I’m sure they have fixed the problem. The iPad sounds great for your reading, but wouldn’t do me any good as I don’t or wouldn’t use all the bells and whistles. Yes, I still have a landline. No, I don’t have a cell phone. The only reason I would want any kind of ereader is to read. Hopefully, Barnes & Noble will get their act together and fix the Nook with GlowLight.
It’s always a good idea to never buy the first generation of anything because they always improve upon it in the next reiteration. Sure the same will be with Nook GlowLight. Hopefully. Let me know how it goes.
It will be interesting to see if you go for an iPad Mini too.
And yeah, no sideloading for Nook app.
Wow, I can hardly believe you are abandoning your Sony!
I’m thinking of going this same route. I’ve never had an e-reader and until a couple of months ago, never owned a cell phone. I do like to read a few books a week though. I’m thinking of trying this because I am a soon to be published ebook author (although, thankfully, my book will be available in print) and some of my friends have published ebook only books that I can’t read. I think the bonus of this is that you’re not only tied to one retailer.
Let me know how it goes Sylvie. If you need help or have questions, just ask.
I’ve been pretty happy with Kindle, although I’m still back on a second generation one. My original ebook reader, an eBookwise, still works and has some books and other material on it that I use, but the agency killing of Fictionwise and eBookwise pretty much killed new purchases for me there.
Last week I had work-related continuing ed, and all the materials were on an iPad at each station. I loved it, and am very tempted now to buy my own, even though I don’t *need* a new reader or techological toy of any sort.
*faints*
*finally recovers enough to type*
I can’t believe you are giving up e-ink! But I’m so glad you wrote this, it’s great to see how someone goes through the process. I haven’t even downloaded the Nook app, now I have to give it a try. The Kindle one is pretty good now that they have 2-page view in landscape mode.
I swore I’d never get an iPad, but I really, really like it for reading pdfs and Word documents. And highlighting has gotten really good, too. I bought an inexpensive tripod stand for it, so when I’m referring to pds while writing on the computer, I put it on the stand and have it next to the computer. It still feels heavy to me to read on for very long, though, so for regular fiction reading I go back to e-ink.
@Bev, I reviewed the Nook GlowLight a while ago at Dear Author, and I still love it. I haven’t had any of the bleed-through issues with the light, and I find the form factor very comfortable. I sideload a lot of content, as well as downloading from the Nook store when it’s not something I expect to share with my husband or mother (we are all on the same Kindle account).
@VacuousMinx, In reading all of the reviews for the Nook GlowLight on the B & N site, the bleeding through seems to be the only problem. Not everyone that buys the reader has this problem, but enough do that it has made me hold off buying the device. It would be my luck to get one that bled. Also, several reviewers were having trouble with customer service in returning the defective readers. I have waited this long for an ereader, I guess that I can wait a little longer.
I love the way the iPad displays my library. Unfortunately, it’s less successful for me as a reading device. My eyes are quite sensitive and don’t respond well to the glare. The Kindle Touch works better for me in this regard, although I miss the full colour covers.
I almost *always* read at night so no glare. =D