Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom2112
You know, it's funny. I might have said the same thing before I got an iPhone. I had absolutely no intention of ever owning an e-reader or reading novels on a computer.
But then my employer handed me and iPhone (I wouldn't have bought it myself), and I'm pretty much forced to carry it with me all of the time. Then I discovered a free app called Stanza. While I was waiting for something... a doctor's appointment or something like that... I downloaded and read a free ebook and tried Stanza out.
I don't even remember what book it was, but I was hooked. I haven't read a print book since. I've read a ton of ebooks on my iPhone, and I love it. The fact that it's always in my pocket, and reading is only a moment away, is just totally awesome.
Combine that with the clever ease of use features of most e-readers, such as bookmarking (and never losing your place again), searching, configurable fonts and colors, and it beats a book every time.
Now, I know that the iPhone isn't the best platform for reading ebooks, but even so, it's better than a physical book in most ways other than my iPhone needs charged. I've never had to charge a print book. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. I'm a total ebook convert.
There is one area where I still rely on print books and prefer them: for reference materials. I do a lot of computer work, and juggling devices while trying to find some reference code for a program or script is not cool. I prefer to leaf through a print manual for that sort of thing. But recreational reading is ALL ebooks for me.
So, I guess we just need to get J.K. Rowling an iPhone or an e-reader!
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I had a similar experience with my first PDA. My employer offered me one for the job, and I was hesistant to accept it because I thought it would simply end up with the other devices that I simply didn't find useful.
Then I discovered ebooks.
Soon, I purchased my own PDA so I could freely use it as an ebook reader. I would spend hours reading ebooks, much more time than I spend reading pbooks. If you subtract the amount of time I spend reading manga and comic books (which are not yet suitable for most ebook readers), I do very little of my reading with pbooks.
This takes me to the Harry Potter books. I've enjoyed a few of them as audiobooks that I've borrowed from the library, but it is not a series that I'm likely to actually buy (partially because of cost, and partially because of space), unless it is available as in an ebook form for a reasonable price. Otherwise, I will just borrow them from the library when I want to read them.
In time, I think the resistance to ebooks will decrease as the number of ebook readers in use increases. When the number of ebook readers in use becomes significant (say 5 percent of the world's population), it will be a market that has too much potential profit to ignore, especially when that market will not buy books in a pbook format.