09-14-2010, 04:56 PM | #1 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,645
Karma: 127838196
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
Has owning a reader changed your life?
This question came up in the Kindle forum. But it's too Kindle-centric when it should be an open question for anyone who has a reader regardless of brand.
For me, I would have to say that one thing having a reader has changed and that is that I'm more willing to try different authors/genres and I'll at least start a book I might not have before. So I am reading more varying books then before I got my reader. And the question is.. has owning a reader changed your life in any way? |
09-14-2010, 05:13 PM | #2 |
ZCD BombShel
Posts: 4,793
Karma: 8293322
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA)
Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis
|
I've always been a reader. But like you, Jon (please don't faint), I find myself drawn to more varied subject matter now. I read a lot more "novels" than I used to, before I stuck fairly closely to my favorite genre-within-a-genre, cozy mysteries. (If you don't know what that is, go to http://www.cozy-mystery.com , they explain it bettter than I do.)
However, as much as I adore my reader (past and present devices included), I don't think it's solely the reading device that has changed my habits. A lot of it has to do with the fact that information on authors and books and new releases is so much more readily available now than it was even ten years ago. For example, I have an extensive list of authors on my Facebook page, so I'm always up to date with their latest projects. Back when I got hooked on mysteries (thanks to my mother), we found out about new stuff by bookstore bulletins, or by sheer chance, or if we were really lucky, getting on an author's snail mail newsletter list. We had limited information, and therefore, limited opportunity. |
Advert | |
|
09-14-2010, 06:03 PM | #3 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,013
Karma: 251649
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth
Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)
|
Yes, it has changed my life. It is much easier to cart it around in my purse wherever I go. I don't have to carry extra luggage for books when I travel. E-books themselves are changing my life more than just the reader, though. I'm scanning my p-books so I will no longer have them weighing my life down like multiple bulky boat anchors. I no longer read p-books at home. I read them on my 32" TV patched into my computer. It's so much more comfortable than having to hold a book. I also now read two books all the time instead the one I used to read: one on the TV at home and one on the reader when away from the house. This doesn't include magazines and online news.
edit: Forgot to mention, I used to lug around a camera manual, a manual for the camera flash, two manals for my smart battery chargers, and a phone/address book. I have all that on the JBL now. Last edited by Lady Fitzgerald; 09-15-2010 at 11:00 AM. |
09-14-2010, 06:05 PM | #4 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,580
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
Since I got my jetBook Lite for Christmas, I have done much more reading of books and short stories than before, less of non-fiction magazines and newspapers.
I typically am reading four books at a time, while before I only read one at a time. |
09-14-2010, 06:14 PM | #5 |
Omnivorous
Posts: 3,281
Karma: 27978909
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Rural NW Oregon
Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1
|
Has my Kindle changed my life? Nope...
Has it changed my reading habits? Most certainly. More fiction. More books by authors I probably wouldn't have tried before. And mostly I give this forum the credit for enticing, intriguing and informing me to try new things. |
Advert | |
|
09-14-2010, 06:22 PM | #6 |
Cheese Whiz
Posts: 1,986
Karma: 11677147
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Springfield, Illinois
Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.
|
Not hardly!
Life was good before, and it's still good. eReaders are pleasant to use. But I can't imagine how bad things would have to be for something I can buy at Walmart to change my life!
|
09-14-2010, 07:13 PM | #7 |
Junior Member
Posts: 9
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: iphone 4, Sony 505
|
As much as I *love* my ereader experience, can't say its changed my life... unless you count the time that this forum sucks out of my life! Haha!
|
09-14-2010, 07:27 PM | #8 |
Guru
Posts: 822
Karma: 1341819
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Minnesota USA
Device: Sony 350, Sony T1, Kindle Touch, Kindle PW1
|
It hasn't changed my life much except to make it easier to haul more books with me
|
09-14-2010, 07:28 PM | #9 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,531
Karma: 8059866
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Canada
Device: Kobo H2O / Aura HD / Glo / iPad3
|
That's interesting because I'm the opposite. I used to have four books on the go at a time and now I only read one at a time. For authors I really liked I would buy first release hard cover. I'd read paperbacks for most books and vacations. I'd read ebooks on my PDA that I always had with me. I'd buy audio books for long car rides or walks.
|
09-14-2010, 07:45 PM | #10 |
Addict
Posts: 363
Karma: 500001
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Georgia, USA
Device: Kindle2
|
Absolutely! I was having such trouble reading printed books because of the small print and my fading eyesight. I read a lot more now, and I'm loving it! And as a writer, I can make my books available more easily & quickly without spending years waiting for agents and/or publishers to respond to a query.
|
09-14-2010, 07:50 PM | #11 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
I'm willing to go out on a limb and say, yes, having an e-reader HAS changed my life. I have re-discovered my love of reading fiction, something I lost somewhere along the line after out-growing teenagerness. I have flirted with fiction since ... Erle Stanley Gardner and the Man from UNCLE tv series as books (don't ask) ... but my book shelves are mainly lined with music books, or philosophy, or plays or film criticism.
I love reading some of the classics -- they are classics for a reason: they stand the test of time, perhaps with some universal message, perhaps because they evoke a specific time and place so well. But I also love books, less easily identified as "classics" that nonetheless evoke their era: pulp fiction, like "real" jazz, is locked to its time and place and wallowing in it makes it just more fun to be in the present -- talk about pure escape! And some present day works, too: Ian Rankin, Elizabeth George, Louise Penny or the late Robert B Parker ... in their way as delightful as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman or Tennessee Williams. Owning the e-reader has encouraged me to explore fiction again, from across the past 15 decades or so, and I am reading now about 1 book a week -- which is possibly 35 more books of fiction than I had read this decade before the e-reader, putting Erle Stanley Gardner to one side. This re-opened door is unlikely to close anytime soon and for that I am grateful, and a more enriched person, co-worker and spouse. Yes, the e-reader for me has been a "life changer". |
09-14-2010, 08:01 PM | #12 |
Zealot
Posts: 123
Karma: 9550
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee, USA
Device: Kindle Touch, HTC Thunderbolt
|
I read a (whole) lot more, watch far less TV/movies, and spend much less time browsing the Internet, so in that way owning a reader has changed my life. And because I'm reading so much more, I've been more open to trying books I maybe wouldn't have before. I'm happy.
|
09-15-2010, 07:15 AM | #13 |
Wizard
Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
|
Not really, except I now read almost exclusively in English. I'm looking forward to a broader selection of e-books in my own language, though I've always had a preference for English and American authors.
I don't read "wider". Before, my usual method of selecting books, was by browsing the library shelves and that way I got subjected to a very wide variety, which I could even try out for free. Like phenomshel, I think the main difference between then and now is the Internet and its availability of information to help me discover new authors to read - not to forget the option of having people to talk with about books and get inspiration that way. |
09-15-2010, 07:34 AM | #14 |
Data Privateer!
Posts: 586
Karma: 62887
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fargo ND
Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite
|
Without a doubt.
I now have almost 4,000 books that can go wherever I go, available at the touch of a button. Its like a kid in a candy store, what flavor do I want today? |
09-15-2010, 07:41 AM | #15 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 7,089
Karma: 63038455
Join Date: Feb 2009
Device: Kobo Glo HD
|
Since I got my Sony, reading has become may main hobby, so I read a lot more then I used to. My reading has also varied a little more since I got my reader, I'm reading more "classics" and thrillers then I used to.
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Joe Konrath: Has He Changed Your Life Or Not | Robin O'Neill | Writers' Corner | 47 | 09-22-2010 10:05 AM |
Informal Survey: How Has Owning a Kindle Changed Your Life? | Andrew Kaufman | Amazon Kindle | 18 | 09-15-2010 02:23 AM |
Does falling asleep while reading in bed disqualify my from owning a reader? | badbob001 | News | 38 | 02-11-2010 01:20 PM |
Books that changed something in your life | rhadin | Reading Recommendations | 80 | 10-30-2008 10:30 AM |
What books have changed your life? | TadW | Lounge | 20 | 07-12-2008 09:13 AM |