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Saving money. Really.
See, I was buying lots of paper books from Baen. And I was a starving (mid-career) graduate student, with a serious cash-flow problem. Then Webscriptions went live, and I realized that I could purchase Baen's entire output in bits for less than I'd been spending on paper! The first-year savings (compared to my original spending on paper) more than paid for my first eReading device (an RCA1100).
Then I realized that bits don't require shelf space. And that meant we could slow down our acquisition of new bookshelves, saving yet more money. And, I could read more, too!
All wrapped up together, my net spending on reading (including readers, eBooks, paper books, bookshelves, etc.) stayed flat until I finished my Ph.D. -- but the total spent on books went up. And the number of novels purchased went up. And we haven't had to buy a new bookshelf since 2002!
Our spending on books is increasing now that I have a real income (of course!). But 10+ years and four reading devices later, I'm still ahead financially by any measure I use. Absolute number of dollars spent on reading; check. Cost per book purchased; check. Number of books purchased; check!
What's not to like?
Xenophon
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